Jon Huntsman is reassigning staff from his Orlando headquarters to New Hampshire in a move "reflective of the diminished importance" of Floridas upcoming Presidency 5 summit, the campaign announced.
Campaign manager Matt David said in a statement, New Hampshire is a vital part of our strategy, and we want to ensure we have the best possible team in place to spread Governor Huntsmans message of serious solutions in the critical First in the Nation primary state.
He called the move "reflective of the diminished importance of Floridas P5, and the campaigns focus on success in New Hampshire."
At the same time, David stressed that the campaign is taking nothing for granted, and said Huntsman will remain "well-positioned" for the second and third primaries in South Carolina and Florida.
A call to Huntsman's Orlando headquarters was routed to a voice mailbox where the system was full. Campaign spokesman Tim Miller could not be reached immediately by phone or e-mail.
Miller, in a correspondence with Sunshine State News last month, foreshadowed the shift, saying, "Florida is a critical primary and general election state, but in order to do well you have to come in with a head of steam, and that's why he's competing hard in all the early primary states."
Republican Party of Florida spokesman Brian Hughes called the Huntsman staff shuffle and the downplaying of P5 "hard to understand."
"For a campaign which has based its national headquarters in Florida, and has frequently said how important Florida and Presidency 5 would be in their strategy, it's hard to understand this new sound bite.
"This newest news -- including a second wave of staff changes at a campaign that is just a few months old -- is indicative of the challenges it faces," Hughes said.
"I can't understand a strategy that describes Florida as 'diminished.' There's no winning the White House without Florida, and Presidency 5 would be the perfect place to take a stand," he concluded.
Huntsman, along with Herman Cain and Ron Paul, was among the first candidates to commit to participating in the upcoming P5 straw poll in Orlando.
On Thursday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the current front-runner in national opinion polls, added his name to the straw ballot, which is scheduled for Sept. 24 at the Orange County Convention Center. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum have also committed.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, winner of the Iowa straw poll last month, have said they will not participate in any future straw polls.
Meanwhile, the Huntsman camp announced the addition of four senior staffers:
- Tom Loeffler, campaign chairman.
- Ann Woods Herberger, senior finance director.
- Ben Porritt, senior adviser for communications.
- Sarah Crawford Stewart, New Hampshire senior adviser.
These new team members will be critical in our efforts in New Hampshire and across the country, David said.
Loeffler, a former four-term congressman from Texas, was the general co-chairman and national finance chairman for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.
Herberger, who most recently was a finance adviser for Rick Pawlenty's presidential bid, served as theBush family's Florida-based fundraiser for Jeb Bush, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush.She was the senior finance consultant for Romney's 2008 campaign.
Previously, Huntsman lost Florida campaign advisers Lanny and Susie Wiles, both of whom resigned amid continuing staff turnover.
Roger Stone, a veteran Republican adviser who worked in the Nixon administration with Huntsman's father, noted that the younger Huntsman's campaign has been dogged with problems, starting with the misspelling of the former Utah governor's name in a press announcement.
But Stone didn't necessarily disagree with the decision to redirect campaign resources to New Hampshire.
"Why would you pump anything into Florida? That was the [Rudolph] Giuliani strategy, and you see how that turned out.
"You've got to be competitive in Iowa and New Hampshire first," Stone said
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
