ANOTHER DEPARTURE

DeSantis’ Super PAC Suffers Yet Another Brutal Staff Loss

It’s the second major staff departure at Never Back Down in the last two weeks.

A day after Ron DeSantis debated California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Georgia, The New York Times revealed that the primary super PAC supporting the Florida governor suffered its second major departure in as many weeks. Adam Laxalt, a friend and former roommate of DeSantis, told the PAC’s board this week that he was stepping down as chairman of Never Back Down, the Times reported, citing a letter. Laxalt wrote that his resignation was to allow him to return his “time and attention to my family and law practice,” adding that he’s still backing DeSantis’ increasingly shaky presidential run. Laxalt’s departure comes on the heels of Never Back Down’s chief executive, Chris Jankowski, abruptly resigning on the eve of Thanksgiving over unspecified issues that he said went “well beyond” strategic arguments. Adding salt to the wound for DeSantis was the billionaire Koch Brothers endorsing Nikki Haley earlier this week, much to the governor’s dismay.