Ron DeSantis Suffers Another Tough Week

Ron DeSantis' team is reportedly letting go of staff, as his nomination campaign struggles to gain traction amid reports of fundraising difficulties and mounting criticism of his performance as governor of Florida.

DeSantis' campaign could be in serious trouble after reports that although it raised more than $20 million for the first six weeks that he was in the race, it burned through almost $8 million over the same period.

He continues to trail former president Donald Trump by a wide margin in opinion polls as he seeks the Republican nomination for president, although the governor has remained adamant throughout that the race is not over.

The numbers suggest that solvency could be a threat to DeSantis' campaign, according to NBC News, especially as the majority of his donations came from high-dollar donors who won't be able to contribute any more money.

Trump, on the other hand, has built a strong network of small-dollar donors. His campaign reported more than $22.5 million in the bank as of June 30.

Amid the alleged fundraising struggles, DeSantis' campaign has reportedly dismissed around a dozen staffers, according to NBC.

Those team members were involved in event planning, Politico reported. Some may soon be working with the the pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, which has reportedly received resumes from staffers who have been let go.

The DeSantis campaign has spent heavily on payroll, with about 90 people listed as being on the staff for at least some time during its first fundraising period, according to campaign finance reports recently filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Meanwhile, Politico first reported that two senior advisers on the campaign—Dave Abrams, the campaign's communications adviser and media director, and Tucker Obenshain, who led external affairs—have left to work on a pro-DeSantis nonprofit.

Newsweek contacted DeSantis' campaign for comment via email on Sunday.

The signs of financial strain came as DeSantis has faced criticism for his handling of the insurance crisis in Florida, after Farmers Insurance became the latest firm to leave, citing risk exposure in the hurricane-prone state.

Critics say DeSantis should have done more to make housing and insurance affordable. The state legislature has tackled the issue in recent years, but much of the focus has been on shielding insurance companies from lawsuits and setting aside money for re-insurance to help protect insurers.

As Floridians face insurance premiums rising even higher, DeSantis has said that reforms need some time to work.

But he was further criticized after saying during a Wednesday radio appearance on the Howie Carr Show that insurers would return to Florida after hurricane season "so knock on wood, we won't have a big storm this summer." Carr is a conservative radio talk-show host that broadcasts on WRKO 680 in Boston, MA.

Democrat lawmakers have called on DeSantis to put his campaign on hold and return to Florida to deal with the fallout.

Trump used the crisis to attack DeSantis and, during a speech at the Turning Point Action Conference on Saturday, urged him to drop out of the Republican presidential contest. "We want him to get home and take care of insurance, because you have the highest insurance in the nation," Trump said.

DeSantis' press secretary Jeremy Redfern said new laws targeting frivolous litigation against insurance companies show the governor has been focused on the issue.

"Many of the insurance companies in Florida are still saddled with the tailing litigation stemming from recent hurricanes, most notably Hurricane Irma," Redfern told Newsweek on July 12. "But due to implemented reforms, we are seeing some new companies entering the market."

He added: "Even the most aggressive reforms will take time to affect the insurance industry. The 2021, 2022, and 2023 legislative efforts will be effective."

DeSantis also touted those efforts during the radio interview on Wednesday.

"I think what's going to happen is, because we did those reforms, it is now more economical for companies to come in," he said. "I think they're going to wait through this hurricane season, then I think they're going to be more willing to deploy capital to Florida."

DeSantis is also facing pressure after it emerged that two public-health roles related to combating the spread of diseases have been left vacant for months. It came out while a number of cases of the mosquito-borne virus were reported in the state. Six cases were among the first instances where malaria has been contracted within the United States for 20 years.

But despite trailing Trump by almost 30 points nationally, according to FiveThirtyEight's current polling average, and facing calls to drop out of the Republican contest, DeSantis has said the race is far from over.

He said negative headlines were attempts by the mainstream media to sink his chances of winning the nomination.

"I think that they've tried to create a narrative that somehow the race is over," he told Fox Business on Monday.

"This is going to be a state-by-state contest," he added. "We've worked really hard to build the type of organization in places like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that you need to actually be able to win these early [nominating] contests. And we're gonna continue doing that."