During a recent interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, DeSantis said, “We’re going to win Iowa.” The appearance capped a tour where DeSantis visited all 99 counties in a state many believe is key to building the momentum needed to secure the party’s presidential nomination. “It’s going to help propel us to the nomination. But I think we’ll have a lot of work that we’ll have to do beyond that. I don’t think you take anything for granted,” the Florida governor said. Though he remains chipper about his prospects in the lead-off primary contest, DeSantis faces headwinds largely due to campaign shakeups and donor flight. In recent weeks, the pro-DeSantis political action committee witnessed multiple high-level departures. Adam Lexalt, chairman of the Never Back Down PAC, resigned from his position on Nov. 26, just four days after Chris Jankowski, the PAC’s CEO, abruptly resigned. “After nearly 26 straight months of being in a full-scale campaign, I need to return my time and attention to my family and law practice,” Laxalt wrote in a letter to the Never Back Down board of directors. Within days, Jankowski’s successor, Kristin Davison, was fired for unspecified "management and personnel issues," according to POLITICO. From the onset of his campaign, DeSantis has outsourced much of the traditional operation to the Never Back Down PAC, which handles the bulk of the advertising and ground operations. As a super-PAC, Never Back Down is able to accept unlimited donations on behalf of a candidate, unlike a political campaign that has individual donor limits. DeSantis says his 99-county tour was successful, allowing his team to shore up support headed into primary season. “We went everywhere. We showed up and took questions and we’ve been able to build a really incredible organization,” he said. “We’ve got over 30,000 people who already committed to caucus for us. We’re adding more every day,” DeSantis explained. “I don’t think anyone’s done an Iowa caucus with this amount of institutional and grassroots support. And it’s only going to build for here and we look forward to being victorious on January 15th.”With just 42 days until the 2024 election season kicks off with the Iowa caucuses, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is predicting a big win.
