Global Courant 2023-05-16 15:00:00
In late April, Juliet Harvey-Bolia, a New Hampshire Republican state representative, was one of dozens of elected officials whose endorsement former President Donald Trump announced at a packed rally in Manchester.
On Tuesday, officials at Never Back Down, the super PAC that supports Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said Harvey-Bolia is lending her support to their man. She is one of four New Hampshire legislators — the others being Representatives Brian Cole, Lisa Smart and Debra DiSimone — who identified Never Back Down as moving from Trump to DeSantis when it rolled out support from 51 state lawmakers who signed a pledge to back DeSantis.
But Harvey-Bolia doesn’t see it that way.
“I endorse both,” she said in a telephone interview. “DeSantis is promising a lot for the future and Trump is great right now.”
The unusual double approvals added an intriguing twist as DeSantis tries to show he’s building momentum as he nears making his offer official. Last week, his super-PAC unveiled approvals from 37 Iowa lawmakers just before launching a three-city sweep across the state.
And NBC News confirmed Tuesday that it has summoned its top backers to meetings in Miami on May 25 in conjunction with its anticipated campaign launch.
DeSantis’ team expects more than 100 donors and other supporters to attend a briefing with him and his senior team, a person familiar with the plans said.
But Harvey-Bolia’s ambivalence also points to an intense behind-the-scenes battle for approvals — and the tremendous pressure on lawmakers to avoid making an enemy in the final candidate — as Trump and DeSantis jockey for position. The three other New Hampshire Republicans who supported Trump in April and DeSantis on Tuesday did not call back to ask for comment on this story.
Still, DeSantis’s allies say there is excitement for him in the states with early elections and those holding primaries later in next year’s calendar. Iowa and New Hampshire are of great importance in the Republican nomination battle because their primary and primary are the first two contests.
“I think you get a sense from what you saw in Iowa last weekend that those regulatory approvals are indicative of what we’re seeing and feeling on the ground,” said a Never Back Down strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss political machinations. “And I think what you see and feel on the ground in New Hampshire will be very similar.”
DeSantis, whose polls have leveled off in recent months, has an uphill battle to replace Trump, the two-time GOP nominee, as the party’s standard bearer. In the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Trump is at 55% and DeSantis at 21%. Public polls of Iowa caucus attendees and voters in New Hampshire show Trump leading in every state.
DeSantis allies say the recommendations in Iowa and New Hampshire are just the beginning of their effort to close the gap and clinch the nomination.
“This is about building a movement,” said the Never Back Down strategist. “This is about building an organization to win. So this is just one step in the process. It’s not the endgame.”
