Pro-DeSantis super PAC fires interim CEO after 9 days
The chief super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, Never Back Down, has fired its interim chief executive officer after less than two weeks.
It was the latest in a series of shake-ups as tumult has continued to disrupt the super PAC for weeks.
Never Back Down fired Kristin Davison on Friday for unspecified “management and personnel issues” just nine days after she replaced Chris Jankowski as CEO, according to two people familiar with the decision. The super PAC named Scott Wagner, a longtime DeSantis ally, as interim CEO, according to an internal email sent Saturday night. Wagner is also replacing former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt as board chairman.
Davison did not respond to requests for comment Saturday. Representatives for Never Back Down referred POLITICO to Wagner’s Saturday night email.
Jankowski left on Nov. 22; Laxalt resigned four days later. Others have also split with the super PAC in recent days, said the two people, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel changes. It was not immediately clear how widespread the other departures were.
The continued shake-ups come amid widespread infighting inside the super PAC and ongoing conflict with the Florida governor’s campaign. Last week, NBC News reported on a near-physical altercation between Wagner and top Never Back Down strategist Jeff Roe.
The DeSantis campaign believes Never Back Down’s TV ads have been ineffective, those close to the governor say, and campaign manager James Uthmeier this week issued a memo implicitly suggesting the group instead focus on waging a get-out-the vote program.
As turmoil roiled Never Back Down, DeSantis allies formed a new super PAC, Fight Right. Never Back Down had been the only pro-DeSantis group — taking on more campaign functions than most super PACs normally do — and the creation of the new group raised questions about Never Back Down’s role moving forward.
DeSantis continues to trail far behind former President Donald Trump in the race for the GOP nomination, and polls show the governor, once considered a possible strong competitor to Trump, instead locked in a battle for second place with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
In the wake of Uthmeier’s memo, Never Back Down decided to focus on field deployment in the run-up to the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus, those familiar with the discussions said. Fight Right, meanwhile, will focus on TV advertising.
“I and the entire board look forward to continuing to work with the whole Never Back Down team to double down on its core mission of running the biggest and best ground game in modern American politics,” Wagner wrote in the memo Saturday.
Representatives for the DeSantis campaign did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.