(Image Source: PublicRadio.org)

BY MILA MIMICA
ANCHOR ANTHONY MARTINEZ

All of Michele Bachmann’s staff in a key primary state reportedly quit the campaign this week. CNN explains.

“New Hampshire TV station WMUR is reporting all five of Michele Bachmann’s staffers in the state resigned, and at least one is jumping ship to Rick Perry’s team.”

James Pindell, who broke the story for WMUR, told NPR on Friday the staff was frustrated with the campaign itself, not Bachmann personally.

“It's not that the staffers, a half dozen or so, had soured on the Minnesota congresswoman … it's that her campaign has pretty much ignored New Hampshire since her visit to the state in late June to kick off her candidacy.”

Bachmann’s former New Hampshire campaign director, Jeff Chidester confirmed the staff exit to CBS and the National Journal on Friday.

“Chidester's confirmation … followed a confusing day in which Bachmann insisted that reports of the staff departures were untrue. But Chidester said he left last week and informed ‘people that are closest to Michele.’”

According to ABC News, Bachmann’s campaign has suffered one tough loss after another during the past couple of months.

“The departures are the latest in a string of high-profile exits from the campaign and do not bode well for a candidate who spent more money than she raised in the most recent quarter, according to FEC filings released last week.”

While Bachmann had a strong start in the primary race, her campaign has hit a rough spot. CBS explains some of the trouble she’s faced recently.

“The mass departure is another serious blow to Bachmann's campaign, in steady decline since she won the Iowa straw poll in August. Perry's entry into the race in mid-August seriously cut into Bachmann's conservative base of support, and she was hurt further by statements she made that proved to be misleading or inaccurate.”

ABC also reports, the staffers hadn’t been paid for a month.