Florida governor Ron DeSantis is all but abandoning New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary next week and instead is relocating staff and focusing on South Carolina, where he hopes to pressure rival Nikki Haley in her home state.
The decision highlights the extent to which the DeSantis campaign is scrambling to reset after its big bet on winning Iowa failed to pay off. Mr DeSantis came in a distant second to former US president Donald Trump in Monday's Iowa caucuses, the first Republican presidential nominating contest.
Although Mr DeSantis faces exceptionally tough odds in New Hampshire, there is no obvious road for a comeback anywhere else, including in South Carolina, where polls put him at a distant third.
Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley are battling to emerge as the top alternative to Mr Trump, the runaway frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
The DeSantis campaign now appears to be vying to edge Ms Haley out of the race after South Carolina, a state where she was governor and where the primary will be held on February 24th.
"When Nikki Haley fails to win her home state, she'll be finished and this will be a two-person race," a senior DeSantis campaign official told Reuters on Wednesday, confirming the report.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say whether Mr DeSantis would return to New Hampshire, but the candidate has scheduled South Carolina events over the weekend.
Mr Trump is ahead of both Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley by a wide margin in South Carolina, with polling averages showing him with nearly 55 per cent support, compared with Ms Haley at almost 25 per cent and Mr DeSantis at 12 per cent.
After his disappointing finish in Iowa on Monday night, Mr DeSantis flew directly to South Carolina, rather than going straight to New Hampshire, as is tradition.
Only about 6 per cent of New Hampshire residents plan to vote for Mr DeSantis, according to polling averages, versus about 30 per cent for Ms Haley and 43 per cent for Mr Trump. Some recent polls have shown Ms Haley and Mr Trump in a much closer battle.
In Greenville, South Carolina, on Tuesday, Mr DeSantis criticised Ms Haley at a campaign stop.
"She was governor here for six years. Can you name major achievements under her tenure?" he said. "I mean, tell me if there are, because she hasn't been able to do it."
Asked for a response, Ms Haley's campaign said: "South Carolina is a great state. We hope they enjoy their vacation time here."
Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis fundraising super PAC that has played a major role in his campaign, has transferred several Iowa political staff to other early nominating states and has laid off other staffers.
