Chris Jankowski, the chief executive of Never Back Down, the main super PAC backing Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid, resigned on Wednesday, following the creation of a new outside group supporting Mr. DeSantis and publicly aired infighting among his allies.
Mr. Jankowski sent a resignation note to the board of Never Back Down, according to a person briefed on the matter. The resignation was effective immediately.
The departure came after days of internal tensions within Never Back Down, which along with the DeSantis campaign has repeatedly pressed the boundaries of what super PACs usually do. Presidential campaigns are legally barred from coordinating with super PACs. The Never Back Down super PAC has been paying for some of the candidate’s travel and attempting to build a field operation across the country and in three of the early voting states. Mr. DeSantis routinely appears at fund-raisers coordinated by the super PAC and has traveled across Iowa on a super PAC-funded bus attending super PAC events as a “special guest.”
Mr. DeSantis has a long history throughout his political career of cycling through different teams, a fact that people who have worked for him have attributed to his micromanaging style.
A spokeswoman for Never Back Down provided a statement from Mr. Jankowski, reading, “Never Back Down’s main goal and sole focus has been to elect Governor Ron DeSantis as President. Given the current environment it has become untenable for me to deliver on the shared goal and that goes well beyond a difference of strategic opinion. For the future of our country I support and pray Ron DeSantis is our 47th president.”
In the past several weeks, allies of Mr. DeSantis and his wife have repeatedly complained about ads that Never Back Down aired attacking his closest rival in the primary, Nikki Haley, in connection with China. His allies have questioned the messaging and depth of the ad-buying by the super PAC, according to two people briefed on the matter. A third said some allies believed Mr. DeSantis was being blamed by voters for the negative spots.
Since they came into existence nearly 15 years ago, super PACs have traditionally handled negative messaging and advertising against a candidate’s rival. But some DeSantis allies have come to believe that his own super PAC is too closely connected to him in the eyes of the voters, and that Never Back Down’s work is a reason he is struggling in the polls.
Some of the tensions flared last week at a strategy meeting held by Never Back Down at its Atlanta offices. The group’s main strategist, Jeff Roe, and a board member, Scott Wagner, who is a college friend of Mr. DeSantis, had a heated argument during a discussion about money, according to people briefed on the matter.
Mr. Roe and Mr. Wagner declined to comment on the dispute, which was first reported by NBC News.
One of the issues discussed by Never Back Down last week involved the transfer of $1 million to a new entity, Fight Right, which was set up by close allies of Mr. DeSantis, to air spots attacking Ms. Haley.
Some members of Never Back Down — including Ken Cuccinelli, one of its original officials — expressed concern about how the group was handling the $1 million transfer. In an email to his colleagues, described by a person familiar with its content, Mr. Cuccinelli wrote, “The manner in which the Haley hit and its funding appears to be proceeding is exceedingly objectionable to me.” In later emails, another Never Back Down official indicated that the group had been given the sign-off to send the $1 million, and it went ahead, the person said.
Mr. Jankowski — a longtime political adviser to Leonard Leo, one of the most influential conservatives in legal circles in the country — was the architect of a 2010 Republican program known as Redmap, short for the Redistricting Majority Project, which helped conservatives achieve gains in redistricting efforts that lasted a decade.
Jonathan Swan contributed reporting.
