DeSantis Super PAC Fires New CEO and 2 Staffers in Latest Shakeup

The Never Back Down super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign fired new CEO Kristin Davison in the third wave of departures to rock the embattled entity, sources tell The Messenger.

Two other staffers may be on their way out over “personnel and management issues,” a source said. The Associated Press reported that spokeswoman Erin Perrine and operations director Matt Palmisano were also let go, which a source confirmed to The Messenger.

Davison had just taken the reins of the enterprise after the surprise departure of Chris Jankowski, who resigned Nov. 22 amid an internal dispute on the board over its direction in supporting DeSantis’s campaign. Four days later, DeSantis’s longtime friend, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, quit as chairman and was replaced by another DeSantis friend, Florida attorney Scott Wagner.

After a board meeting, Never Back Down “separated” from Davison on Saturday, according to a source familiar with her departure, which Politico first reported.

“Scott Wagner will now serve as Chairman of the Board and interim CEO of Never Back Down," the organization said in a written statement. "Never Back Down has the most organized, advanced caucus operation of anyone in the 2024 primary field, and we look forward to continuing that great work to help elect Gov. DeSantis the next President of the United States.”

The turmoil at Never Back Down has stemmed from a split between the national political consultants -- Jankowski and Davison -- and Florida-based DeSantis loyalists on the board: Wagner, former DeSantis Chief of Staff Adrian Lukis and Florida political consultant Tre Evers. Wagner and consultant Jeff Roe recently had a heated exchange at a board meeting when the two clashed over budget issues.

At the same time, some in the DeSantis campaign has grown increasingly frustrated with Never Back Down’s creative direction and a separate group of DeSantis loyalists – including DeSantis’s acting chief of staff -- formed a new super PAC, Fight Right, to handle more advertising issues. That prompted even more mistrust and paranoia.

Never Back Down, however, was sandbagged this summer by DeSantis's campaign when it had to lay off staff due to financial problems, burdening the super PAC with campaign-like duties it never expected.

DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier issued a memo indicating the campaign liked Never Back Down running the ground game operation to turn out voters in Iowa and New Hampshire and it approved of Fight Right’s advertising initiatives.

“Basically, the national consultants like Kristin and Jeff think the Florida people are a bunch of rubes and the Florida people aren’t impressed with what the national guys are doing,” said a second source who had been briefed on some of the conflicts.

“Ultimately, it’s a giant personality dispute,” the source said. “But the problem is all this drama just hurts DeSantis.”

Davison's departure overshadowed DeSantis's Iowa visit on Saturday when he celebrated visiting the last of the state's 99 counties. DeSantis allies bemoaned the bad luck, which has cursed the candidate for months as he has lost altitude and financial support, dropping to a distant second behind frontrunner Donald Trump.