DeSantis fires campaign staff amid cash crunch as he lags far behind Trump in polls

Gov. Ron DeSantis is trimming his campaign staff after burning through nearly $8 million of his $20 million second quarter fundraising haul in the first few weeks of the campaign.

DeSantis filed his second quarter fundraising report with the Federal Election Commission Saturday. It covers the period from the launch of his campaign on May 24 through June 30, and shows he had $12.2 million in cash on hand at the end of June, and $3 million of that only can be spent in the general election, not the primary.

Now the campaign is looking to cut costs.

Fewer than 10 staffers were fired Thursday, each of them involved in event planning, the campaign confirmed. There has been reporting that more terminations are expected amid concerns that the campaign is spending money too quickly.

There were 92 people on the campaign's payroll at some point in the second quarter, which NBC News described as "by far the most of any Republican presidential candidate."

DeSantis spent more than $1 million on payroll in the second quarter, according to his fundraising report.

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DeSantis' fundraising report also shows he is relying heavily on larger donors. His campaign reported that $2.9 million of the $20 million came from donors who have given less than $200 to date, while the rest came from donors who gave $200 or more in aggregate.

DeSantis' reliance on larger donors contrasts with former President Donald Trump, who has powered his campaign with an army of small donors.

Strong small donor fundraising can be a sign of grassroots enthusiasm for a campaign.

Trump currently leads DeSantis by 32 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of national GOP presidential primary polls.

DeSantis announced on July 6 that he raised $20 million in the second quarter, but the FEC report filed Saturday provides detailed information on his donors. It is the first fundraising report filed by DeSantis' campaign.

The campaign reported $2.9 million in unitemized contributions from individual donors, and $16.9 million in itemized contributions. Presidential campaigns only are required to itemize contributions of $200 or greater, or when the aggregate of an individual's contributions tops $200.

DeSantis is drawing more donations from his home state of Florida than any other state.

Among the itemized contributions DeSantis received, $6.8 million came from Florida, followed by $2.1 million from California, $2 million from Texas and $1.1 million from New York.