A trio of top fundraisers have abandoned Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, citing concerns that the former Florida governor is losing steam and support, Politico reported Saturday.
According to Politico, three leading fundraising consultants in Bush’s home state — Kris Money, Trey McCarley and Debbie Aleksander — left his campaign while continuing to work on his super PAC. However, others reportedly said Money, McCarley ad Aleksander were dismissed because their roles no longer needed to be filled.
“This wasn’t a shock to anybody,” a campaign source reportedly told Politico. “There were just some personality problems [which] happens when you have a big organization like this, a big campaign.”
Others told the Virginia-based news source that the three employees were let go due to their inability to keep up with the campaign’s second quarter fundraising goals. According to FEC filings, Bush’s principle campaign committee and Right to Rise super PAC raised a combined $114 million in the first fundraising quarter, more than any GOP candidate and nearly twice as much as Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Tim Miller, a spokesperson for Bush’s campaign. told Politico Saturday that Bush has “the widest and deepest fundraising operation of any candidate in the field.
According to the report, longtime Bush aide, Ann Herberger, will take over as lead fundraiser for Bush’s campaign headquarters in Miami.
The Florida Republican has struggled to gain an edge in Republican primary polls after being ousted from his No. 1 spot by billionaire businessman Donald Trump. Polling data from RealClearPolitics currently shows Bush trailing Trump by double digits among likely Republican voters with 9.8 percent support.
However, additional data shows Bush performing better in a general election match-up against Clinton, trailing her by just 2 percentage points.
