Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has all but shuttered operations in New Hampshire amid continuing campaign woes, and a surging Ohio Gov. John Kasich looks like the clearest beneficiary.
“There is no team in New Hampshire, he has no plans to come to New Hampshire. My unsolicited advice was to set up camp in Iowa and not leave,” Michael Dennehy, who had filled the role as Perry’s senior adviser in the state, told CNN. “If he can break out of a slump he can do it in Iowa.”
Dennehy told CNN on Wednesday that he’s had no contact with the campaign since Perry was in the state on August 4th for a presidential forum and that he would be moving to a role as a supporter. Dennehy also said Perry’s New Hampshire staff had not been paid since June.
Perry’s New Hampshire political director Dante Vitagliano, meanwhile, confirmed that he had joined Kasich’s New Hampshire efforts earlier in the week.
“It has become clear that the path forward for Gov. Perry is not through New Hampshire,” Vitagliano said in a statement provided by the Kasich campaign.
The news comes amid a free fall for Perry, who has not paid campaign staff since mid-August and has been toiling at the back of the field almost since the start of the campaign.
Dennehy told CNN he knew it would be an uphill battle for Perry but he’s been surprised by how the race has unfolded and how Donald Trump has been able to dominate the public stage.
“I still believe there’s a chance for Governor Perry to have a moment, but the reality is that there’s one candidate who is receiving more than 50% of the media’s attention and there’s a total of 17 candidates in the race so it’s remarkably difficult to break through,” he said.
Kasich, on the other hand, has been surging in New Hampshire, competing with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for key footing there — although both continue to trail clear front-runner Trump.