Strategist for pro-DeSantis PAC resigns amid turmoil

Jeff Roe, the chief strategist for the leading super political action committee supporting Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid, resigned Saturday night, the latest and perhaps most significant departure from the group, which has been consumed by turmoil in recent weeks.

Since the day before Thanksgiving the pro-DeSantis super PAC, which is called Never Back Down, has seen the resignation of one CEO and one board chairperson; the firing of a second CEO along with two other top officials; and now the late-night quitting of Roe. All have come after intense infighting and finger-pointing as the Florida governor has slipped in the polls.

“I can’t believe it ended this way,” Roe wrote in a statement he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday night.

His decision to quit followed comments from the new chairperson of the super PAC’s board, Scott Wagner, a DeSantis loyalist and appointee in Florida. Wagner had explained to The Washington Post why the previous CEO and two others — all of whom had worked for Roe — had been fired.

Wagner accused them of “mismanagement and conduct issues” as well as “numerous unauthorized leaks.” The Post reported that a lawyer for those employees contacted Wagner, who then revised his statement to add hedges to those accusations.

“I cannot in good conscience stay affiliated with Never Back Down given the statements in The Washington Post,” Roe wrote in a statement. He said he still hoped DeSantis would be the next president and praised the Never Back Down team as “political warriors.”

Wagner did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

From the start, Never Back Down has been something of a Frankenstein’s monster in its composition, with Roe and some of his top lieutenants forced to coexist with a decision-making board comprised primarily of longtime friends and loyalists of DeSantis. The arrangement has raised questions about how closely the campaign and the super PAC have adhered to rules barring coordination.

The future of internal operations at Never Back Down, which had raised more than $130 million as of July, is unclear.