Former Tim Scott adviser is running new pro-DeSantis effort in Iowa

A top adviser to Sen. Tim Scott’s now-defunct presidential campaign is now helming a new super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa.

Blake Harris, who most recently served as senior political adviser to Scott, will lead Fight Right, the super PAC confirmed first to POLITICO.

The group launched last week with a $980,000 television ad buy likening GOP rival Nikki Haley to Hillary Clinton. It will focus on airing ads in Iowa attacking Haley, the former South Carolina governor, as DeSantis struggles to maintain his No. 2 position in the state. While lagging behind former President Donald Trump for months in the first caucus state, the Florida governor now also has Haley on his heels there, despite focusing the vast majority of his time and resources in Iowa since the summer.

The formation of Fight Right came amid increasing turmoil among the DeSantis campaign and his allies about how to keep Haley at bay in Iowa and beyond. That included infighting among officials at Never Back Down, the super PAC that has raised more than $100 million to boost DeSantis’ presidential bid, and which transferred $1 million to Fight Right ahead of its first ad buy, according to a person with knowledge of the arrangement.

The two groups are expected to “work alongside” each other while sharing the “same objective,” according to a person with knowledge of their efforts, granted anonymity to discuss the allied super PACs’ plans.

Officials at Never Back Down have not yet said whether they will continue to transfer money to the new group, though DeSantis on Monday met personally in Palm Beach with potential donors for Fight Right, according to a person familiar with the meetings. In a Monday memo to donors from DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier, obtained by POLITICO and first reported by ABC, Uthmeier said Fight Right would be providing “welcomed air support” for the governor.

Fight Right’s board of directors includes three allies from DeSantis’ time as governor: Jeff Aaron, David Dewhirst and Scott Ross.

The newly formed super PAC was formed to “tell voters the truth about politicians who break their promises and abandon conservative principles — politicians like Nikki Haley,” Dewhirst said in a statement.

Fight Right is expected to continue to go after Haley in Iowa ahead of the Jan. 15 caucuses. The group’s first ad came under fire from both Haley allies and media fact checkers, saying comments by the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador were taken out of context.

Harris, a longtime adviser to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, in a statement to POLITICO described the Fight Right team as “lean but powerful,” and called Desantis a “change agent who consistently leads, fights, and wins for the everyman.”