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Update: Gingrich's national campaign co-chair, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, has quit to go work for 2012 rival Tim Pawlenty, Jake Tapper reports.
Just a day after he returned from vacation--and only a month into his presidential campaign--Newt Gingrich's senior staff has resigned "en masse," the Associated Press reports. Politico's Jonathan Martin says Rob Johnson, Sam Dawson, Dave Carney, Katon Dawson, and Craig Schoenfeld have all quit the campaign. The Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs reports that all six members of Gingrich's paid Iowa staff has quit too.
The Associated Press' David Espo says the resignations--which include staff in early voting states South Carolina, Iowa, and New Hampshire--leaves Gingrich's "hopes of winning the Republican nomination in tatters." Nevertheless, "Gingrich told the group he intends to stay in the race, they added."
Among those who quit are Gingrich's campaign manager, Johnson, and his spokesman, Rick Tyler. Carney and Johnson both used to worked for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Ben Smith says the resignation of Carney, who headed Gingrich's New Hampshire effort, means "the Perry buzz is going to get louder." (Carney later emailed Smith to say, "This is totally unrelated to Rick Perry." On the other hand, Republican consultants tell the National Review's Jim Geraghty, "Perry is in this thing sooner rather than later--these guys aren't jumping off without somewhere else to land.")