Julián Castro lays off staff in NH, SC; nets new Texas endorsements in bid to spark campaign

After what he called a successful October fundraising scramble to remain in the presidential race, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro has laid off staff in New Hampshire and South Carolina while landing new endorsements in his home state of Texas.

Castro’s spokesperson Sawyer Hackett would not describe what exactly the campaign’s presence would be in the the two early voting states moving forward, but acknowledged its “teams in SC and NH are very small compared to others.” And that it is “just focusing on Iowa and Nevada and Texas” and not laying off those staff.

The news of the layoffs arrive with a positive turn for the former mayor of San Antonio who landed several endorsements from Texas Democrats who previously supported El Paso-native Beto O’Rourke until he ended his presidential bid last week.

The Castro team is also releasing a new ad in Iowa. The 30-second spot highlights some of his most recent policy releases and glowing headlines surrounding them.

The campaign hopes the ad can boost his polling in Iowa and propel him to a debate appearance before the end of the year. He has met the 165,000 donor threshold, but has not landed any qualifying polls for November debate. He has been polling between 0% and 2%.