Julián Castro is the latest presidential candidate to lay off a chunk of his campaign staff.
The campaign notified its staff members in New Hampshire and South Carolina that their final day of work would be next week, an official familiar with the campaign told Politico.
The source said the 2020 Democrat will make Iowa and Nevada the focus as he hopes to keep his campaign alive. The former secretary of Housing and Urban Development has struggled to raise funding, and his poll numbers have been in the low single digits.
Castro has yet to qualify for the Nov. 20 primary debate in Atlanta, Georgia. He said in October he would drop out of the race if he did not raise $800,000 by the end of the month, but he ended up meeting his goal.
The news follows fellow contender Sen. Kamala Harris laying off staff and closing offices in New Hampshire as well as cutting dozens of staffers at her campaign headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland.
Last week, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke ended his 2020 campaign instead of making staff cuts.
