‘ROOKIE MISTAKES’

DeSantis’ Ex-Pollster Says He Doesn’t See a Path Forward for His Campaign

Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who worked for Ron DeSantis’ 2018 campaign, said his former boss “misunderstood the electorate.”

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove a quote the Miami Herald misattributed to Ayres.

Ron DeSantis’ former pollster didn’t mince his words this week when analyzing the state of the Florida governor’s presidential campaign, telling the Miami Herald that “rookie mistakes” and a “comedy of errors” have DeSantis “hanging on by his fingernails.” Whit Ayres, a member of of DeSantis’ successful gubernatorial campaign in 2018, said he no longer sees “a path forward” for DeSantis this presidential-election cycle, in which he’s plummeted from being a realistic challenger to Donald Trump to barely fending off Nikki Haley for second place in the Iowa caucuses on Monday. Things are only expected to get worse for DeSantis in New Hampshire, where polls suggest he could finish a distant third. “He misunderstood the electorate, he made a bunch of rookie mistakes,” Ayres told the Herald. “It’s almost been a comedy of errors, and it’s hard to see where he goes now.”