Former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign is bringing on a Republican consultant who formerly worked on rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2012 congressional campaign.
Florida Politics reported Friday that longtime GOP operative Brian Hughes will oversee Trump's campaign effort in the Sunshine State.
Hughes worked on DeSantis' successful 2012 congressional bid with fellow operative Tim Baker. The politically powerful duo was known as "the boys," the Jacksonville Daily Record reported in 2016.
The pair went on to work with Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, helping him defeat incumbent Mayor Alvin Brown in 2015.
"From the start of that race to today, the two of us and Lenny have become this sort of political entity," Hughes said in that report.
Hughes confirmed to Florida Politics that he is joining the Trump campaign as DeSantis is shedding staffers to overtake Trump's 20- to 30-point lead in GOP primary polls.
The report said DeSantis laid off some campaign workers, including campaign manager Generra Peck, whom he praised for his 2022 reelection bid for the governorship, calling it "the best-run campaign in the history of Florida politics."
Hughes is not the first Trump recruit to come from DeSantis' camp.
According to the news outlet, Trump's campaign also picked up Susie Wiles, a consultant dismissed from the governor's camp in 2019.
Politico reported that an angry DeSantis got rid of Wiles for leaving, then rejoining the Trump 2020 campaign after he initially urged her to quit that campaign and give up her position with the powerful state lobbying firm Ballard Partners.
While the state's Republican Party proclaims its neutrality in the race with Trump and DeSantis, Florida Politics reported that most of the state's congressional delegation will appear with the former president at the Iowa State Fair, where he is scheduled to speak Sunday.
Meanwhile, DeSantis is trying to gain ground on Trump, hoping his staff changes and campaign "reset" will change his presidential fortunes in the primary race, The Hill reports.
According to the report, DeSantis is trailing Trump by 37 points in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll among likely GOP primary voters.
The latest national polling average has Trump leading DeSantis 53.7% to 14.3%, according to the FiveThirtyEight website.
Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is in third place but gaining on DeSantis, with 7.5%, according to the site.
Charles Kim ✉
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
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