George Riley is new executive director of Fla GOP

The Florida Republican Party released a statement several hours after the Ron DeSantis U.S. Senate campaign announced that the state party's executive director, Brad Herold is DeSantis' new campaign manager. He starts that job Jan. 16, and George Riley will become the party's acting executive director.

"Brad Herold has played a vital role of our State Party's preparation for the 2016 election and has been an instrumental part of the dynamic team that continues to reform and expand our great party. We're grateful for his hard work and want to congratulate him on his new role," said RPOF Chairman Blaise Ingoglia.

"Additionally, we are excited to announce that George Riley will take over as Acting Executive Director of the RPOF. Riley has served in various roles with the State Party since 2008 – from field director, regional victory director, to member relations director, political director and for the past year as the director of party development. His experience will be a key asset as we continue to grow our operations to ensure that we deliver Florida's 29 electoral votes to the Republican presidential nominee," added Chairman Ingoglia.