Never Back Down, the main outside group that's been supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis throughout his presidential campaign, has canceled all of its advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2024.
The super PAC said it will focus on field operations to support DeSantis on the ground in the early states and will cede advertising to a different super PAC backing DeSantis, "Fight Right, Inc.," which has spent close to $7.7 million on advertising in Iowa, according to AdImpact, a political advertising tracking firm.
"We are thrilled to have Fight Right and others covering the air for Governor DeSantis while we work the ground game in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and beyond," wrote Never Back Down Chairman Scott Wagner. "Never Back Down is laser focused on its core mission — running the most advanced grassroots and political caucus operation in this race and helping deliver the GOP nomination for Governor DeSantis."
Never Back Down had $2.5 million scheduled to run in the first two presidential nominating states in 2024, according to AdImpact. Since launching, it has spent over $40 million in advertising in support of DeSantis.
Fight Right Places $2.5 Million in Ad Reservations in Iowa
Fight Right, a spokesperson for the organization, announced today that it will be placing $2.5 million in ad reservations in Iowa. This move comes as a response to the reservations that were recently canceled by Never Back Down.
Another super PAC called "Good Fight," which is also supporting DeSantis, has filed its registration and will begin airing its own advertisements in Iowa starting on December 27. The ties between Good Fight and Fight Right are currently unclear.
Never Back Down, on the other hand, has been facing significant challenges in recent months. DeSantis, who is trailing behind former President Donald Trump in Iowa polling, has also fallen behind Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in New Hampshire polling. As a result, multiple senior officials from Never Back Down have either resigned or been fired due to disputes over the group's advertising strategies and personnel decisions.
Fight Right was established by DeSantis allies in Florida following a disagreement in November between Wagner and Jeff Roe, the former chief strategist for Never Back Down. The disagreement centered around the effectiveness of Never Back Down's attack ads against Haley.
According to sources, Fight Right has received at least $1 million in funding from Never Back Down, and DeSantis himself has attended fundraisers in support of the outside group.
Fight Right's advertising strategy in Iowa has solely focused on attacking Haley. Instead of promoting their own candidate, they have chosen to target Haley with a series of negative ads. One particular ad accuses Haley of bringing in Chinese businesses during her time as South Carolina's governor, attempting to paint her as having questionable ties to China.
This issue of China has become a contentious point of debate between DeSantis and Haley throughout the campaign. In a previous GOP primary debate, the two candidates engaged in a heated exchange, each trying to discredit the other by highlighting their state's connections to Chinese companies.
However, not all of Fight Right's ads have been accurate. Fact-checking organizations like PolitiFact and the Washington Post have found some of their claims linking Haley to 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to be misleading.
In response to these attack ads, a watchdog group has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging illegal coordination between DeSantis' campaign and Never Back Down, a super PAC that supports him. The complaint argues that DeSantis' campaign, which is subject to fundraising limits, has been working in conjunction with a PAC that has no such restrictions.
DeSantis' campaign has dismissed the complaint, calling it "baseless" and stating that the FEC does not act on unverified rumors. DeSantis himself has distanced himself from the complaint, claiming he has no control over the actions of the super PAC.
During his campaign stop in Iowa, DeSantis derided the complaint as a "farce" and emphasized that he has no influence over Fight Right, the group responsible for the attack ads. He has often praised the grassroots organizing efforts of the organization.
Iowa holds its caucuses on Jan. 15, and New Hampshire's primary on January 23.
