CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis has visited each of Iowa's 99 counties. He has the endorsement of the governor and boasts the largest get-out-the-vote operation in the state. And he has predicted victory in Iowa's Jan. 15 caucuses.
But as the Florida governor works to project strength in the Republican primary and cut into former President Donald Trump's huge lead, DeSantis' expansive political machine is facing a churn of leadership, stagnant polling numbers and new concerns about potential legal conflicts.
Specifically, there has been concern in recent weeks among some within DeSantis' operation that interactions between his campaign and his network of outside groups are blurring the lines of what’s legally permissible.
Multiple people familiar with DeSantis’ political network said that he and his wife had expressed concerns about the messaging of Never Back Down, the largest super PAC supporting the governor's campaign, in recent months as his Iowa polling numbers stagnated in late summer and autumn.
The governor and his wife, Casey, who is widely considered his top political adviser, were especially frustrated after the group took down a television ad last month that criticized leading Republican rival Nikki Haley for allowing a Chinese manufacturer into South Carolina when she was governor.
DeSantis’ team shared those messaging concerns with members of Never Back Down’s board, which includes Florida-based members with close ties to the governor, according to multiple people briefed on the discussions. Some of the board members then relayed the DeSantis team’s wishes to super PAC staff, which was responsible for executing strategy, the people said.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.
Federal laws prohibit coordination between presidential campaigns and outside groups. There is no known lawsuit or federal complaint alleging DeSantis’ campaign broke the law. And in the super PAC era that began with the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, murky relationships between campaigns and allied outside groups have become commonplace.
Still, Adav Noti, legal director for the Campaign Legal Center, said that the reported communication between DeSantis' team and the super PAC goes “too far." Noti suggested the communications could draw the scrutiny from the Federal Election Commission, which is responsible for enforcing campaign finance laws but has been gridlocked by internal divisions.
“To actually have a conversation with the candidate’s agents and the super PAC's agents about strategy — there is no plausible argument that that is legal," Noti said. “This is not a gray area.”
DeSantis’ campaign has strongly denied the governor has tried to influence the network of outside groups supporting him given the federal laws prohibiting coordination. Asked for comment, DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo described the AP's reporting as “more nonsense from unnamed sources with agendas.”
“While the media continues to obsess over attacking DeSantis with anonymous tabloid trash to support a false narrative, we remain focused on organizing in Iowa and sharing our vision for how to help the many Americans struggling this holiday season,” Romeo said.
Never Back Down founder Ken Cuccinelli dismissed questions about DeSantis’ political operation as insignificant in the overall campaign, saying “not a single voter gives a flying rat’s tail about personnel stuff.”
“We’re going to be backing the governor all the way through this thing,” Cuccinelli said in an interview at last Wednesday’s GOP debate in Alabama. “We’re not going anywhere, and I fully expect to be right there for it.”
Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general, also made clear he was speaking of his own personal experience when asked directly if he felt any pressure from the DeSantises about the super PAC's strategy.