DeSantis launches major shakeup, replaces presidential campaign manager amid low polling

In a major shakeup weeks in the making, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign announced Tuesday it had replaced its campaign manager amid low polling in the 2024 GOP primary.

DeSantis' gubernatorial chief of staff James Uthmeier replaced campaign manager Generra Peck, DeSantis' team confirmed to The Hill.

Peck will now work as the campaign's chief strategist.

"People have written Governor DeSantis’s obituary many times," Uthmeier told The Messenger. "He’s breaking records on fundraising and has a supporting super PAC with $100 million in the bank and an incredible ground game. Get ready."

Additionally, David Polyansky, former chief of staff for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, will also join the campaign after serving as an adviser at the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC.

"David Polyansky will also be a critical addition to the team given his presidential campaign experience in Iowa and work at Never Back Down," DeSantis' communications director Andrew Romeo said.

Republican strategist and former Trump adviser Roger Stone predicted that 2024 presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will completely run out of money by the first of October.

"By my calculations, given the lack of small donors who can give again, given the reliance on large donors who cannot give again-I think there's a high probability Ron DeSantis will be completely and totally out of money October first," Stone said on "The Great America Show with Lou Dobbs."

The largest donor to the Florida governor said earlier this week that he was going to hold off funding until DeSantis could appeal more to moderates.

“He does need to shift to get to moderates. He’ll lose if he doesn’t," Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow said, according to the New York Post. "Extremism isn't going to get you elected." 

Trump is ahead of DeSantis in Republican primary polls with 53.2% to the Florida Republican's 15.1%, according to an average of polls analyzed by FiveThirtyEight.

The staffing changes come after the DeSantis campaign laid off more than one-third of its employees last month.

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