On a private conference call Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged his presidential campaign's national finance committee to recruit donors from Sen. Tim Scott's newly defunct operation, according to a participant. Hours earlier, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she would spend $10 million on ads in Iowa and New Hampshire starting the first week of December.
When other candidates are dropping out or fading away, the aggressive moves bolster the assertion of an increasing number of Republican strategists and operatives: that the GOP presidential primary campaign is coming down to a fight between Haley and DeSantis to pull into second behind former President Donald Trump. The field is already winnowing, long before the first votes are cast in Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses. Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his bid late last month, and Scott, R-S.C., abruptly followed suit Sunday after a lackluster showing in last week’s NBC News-hosted GOP debate. Former New Jersey Gov