MIAMI — Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has laid off more than one-third of its staff, the campaign has confirmed to the Miami Herald, part of an additional cost-cutting measure from the governor amid a disappointing start to the GOP primary.

“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden,” DeSantis campaign manager Generra Peck said in a statement. “Governor DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign.”

The campaign let go 38 staffers, a campaign source confirmed. The number includes a handful of campaign workers who were laid off earlier this month. Campaign finance records showed that DeSantis had about 90 staffers working for his campaign.

News of the additional layoffs was first reported by Politico .

The layoffs are part of a sweeping effort to retool DeSantis’ campaign as it struggles to make up ground with former President Donald Trump, his chief rival for the 2024 Republican nomination.

DeSantis and his top aides laid out their vision for the campaign during a retreat with donors over the weekend, including plans to cut campaign costs and reposition the governor as a leaner, insurgent candidate.

DeSantis started off the year on a high note, coming off a nearly 20-point reelection victory that helped jolt him to the top of the list of 2024 Republican presidential contenders. But his standing in the race began slipping as he waited months to formally enter the race and faced a series of attacks from Trump.

In the days before he launched his campaign, DeSantis reassured donors that the Republican primary was effectively a two-person matchup between him and Trump, and that he remained the GOP’s best hope to defeat Biden in the general election.

But a series of early missteps, including exorbitant campaign spending, have rattled confidence in DeSantis’ chances among some Republicans, who argue that there’s still plenty of room for his primary challengers to catch up to him.

“He has made some significant missteps,” Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who worked on DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign, said. “He has spent wildly on aspects of a campaign that do not move polling numbers and he’s left the door open to a number of other candidates to get a serious look.”

Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor who’s backing DeSantis’ presidential bid, insisted that DeSantis is still the only viable alternative to Trump in the primary, but stressed that he desperately needs an early win.

“It’s still a two-person race,” Eberhart said. “DeSantis needs to make a shift and make a decisive showing in Iowa or it’s going to be a one-man race.”