2020 Democratic White House hopeful and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro will be cutting campaign staff in South Carolina and New Hampshire, according to Politico.
Castro, 45, will be focusing his efforts on Iowa and Nevada as the former Obama cabinet official struggles to gain momentum moving into the next phase of the Democratic primary.
California Senator Kamala Harris also cut staff in several early primary states to center her efforts on Iowa, the site of the nation’s first caucus to be held on Feb. 3.
“I’m all in in Iowa. I’m all in.” Harris declared on CBS Sunday.
Harris let go dozens of staff located at her Baltimore headquarters, in addition to New Hampshire, Nevada, and her home state of California to redirect scarce resources to the Hawkeye State where her campaign has pledged a third place finish.
According to Real Clear Politics’ latest aggregate of polls, Harris is currently polling in sixth place with 3 percent support.
Castro, however, is doing far worse in both Iowa and Nevada, not even breaking 1 percent support and is struggling to meet the qualifying thresholds to participate in the December primary debate.
Harris became the fifth candidate to earn a podium on stage with new polls released Sunday where the California senator clinched 4 percent support in a national poll. To qualify, candidates must register 4 percent or more in four pre-approved polls by the DNC or earn 6 percent in two early primary or caucus state polls. Castro has yet to qualify for the December stage, and still has not come close to qualifying for November’s despite the qualifying thresholds being much lower.
A campaign official told Politico that Castro will be launching a $50,000 advertising campaign set to begin Tuesday morning to drum up support in Iowa and Nevada in hopes of landing a spot on stage and staying in the race.
