A potential mass exodus from Ed FitzGerald's gubernatorial campaign is afoot, with several of the Democratic nominee's top aides and experienced Ohio political consultants transitioning away from a campaign seemingly under a siege of negativity. FitzGerald's campaign manager Nicholas Buis and communication director Daniel McElhatton have left their posts. Press secretary Lauren Hitt may also leave, and consultants Aaron Pickrell and Louis Capobianco also are leaving, numerous sources said.

A potential mass exodus from Ed FitzGerald�s gubernatorial campaign is afoot, with several of the Democratic nominee�s top aides and experienced Ohio political consultants transitioning away from a campaign seemingly under a siege of negativity.

FitzGerald�s campaign manager Nicholas Buis and communication director Daniel McElhatton have left their posts. Press secretary Lauren Hitt may also leave, and consultants Aaron Pickrell and Louis Capobianco also are leaving, numerous sources said.

The situation appears to be �still fluid� with Hitt, multiple sources said, meaning she could ultimately stay. Buis and McElhatton may consult with the campaign as needed.

It�s unclear what kind of campaign operation FitzGerald will have just seven weeks before Ohioans can start casting early votes.

�The campaign will undergo some staff and administrative changes this week in order to maximize our resources and provide the best chance of success for Ed, (running mate) Sharen (Neuhardt) and the entire Democratic slate in November,� said Hitt, who at least for the next few days will remain FitzGerald�s �point of contact for press inquiries.�

Hitt added that other staff changes will be announced later in the week.

Sources indicated that Buis and McElhatton had not been fired but chose to leave after weeks of being bombarded by questions related to FitzGerald�s lack of a regular driver�s license over a 10-year period and his early-morning drive and stop two years ago with a woman who was not his wife.

Those two issues, said several people inside the campaign, exacerbated FitzGerald�s longstanding problem of campaign cash, making it more than likely FitzGerald would not have enough money to recover and pose a serious challenge to Republican Gov. John Kasich.

Sources said a meeting of Democratic Party elders was held last week to discuss the right course of action for the party over the campaign�s final weeks, including whether FitzGerald�s money should go toward a negative ad against Kasich or to help the party boost its down-ticket races.

Aides and consultants who have been working for FitzGerald could be repositioned to help other Democrats try to salvage their races.

FitzGerald has been outraised by Kasich by a roughly 4-to-1 ratio, and his cash-on-hand disadvantage might be even larger. With FitzGerald�s most recent TV ad purchase last week, his campaign coffers were estimated to hold $1.5 million � which excludes any salaries or other campaign expenses as well as the small amounts of cash that sources say the campaign has continued to receive.

Sources say FitzGerald�s current path financially would make it difficult for him to have any TV presence after Labor Day, when air time for ads is more expensive.

Buis, who ran President Barack Obama�s successful Florida campaign in 2012, has been in Ohio since early 2013 and was in charge of FitzGerald�s day-to-day operations through multiple crises. The first came in December, when state Sen. Eric H. Kearney was forced off the ticket because of revelations that he owed about $1 million in unpaid taxes.

McElhatton and Hitt joined the campaign after the Kearney fiasco, as part of FitzGerald�s first staff shake-up. McElhatton is from Philadelphia, where he worked on numerous state and federal campaigns. Hitt is from Baltimore and worked on the successful 2013 campaign of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Pickrell ran Democrat Ted Strickland�s successful 2006 gubernatorial campaign as well as the campaign in Strickland�s narrow loss to Kasich four years ago. Capobianco was also a close Strickland aide.

The FitzGerald campaign has always struggled to raise money (his first chief of fundraising, Sarah Slavik, left the campaign months ago), and FitzGerald has always trailed Kasich in public polling. But there was still hope among Democrats that FitzGerald, the Cuyahoga County executive in Democrat-rich Cleveland, could overcome those obstacles, even with the Kearney misstep.

But on Aug. 1, reports surfaced that FitzGerald was found early one morning in a parked car in Westlake with a woman who was not his wife. Both FitzGerald and the woman � Joanne Grehan of Ireland � have said that nothing inappropriate happened in the car, but there were inconsistencies and remaining questions after FitzGerald�s explanation that he had pulled into a vacant parking lot so they could figure out the location of her hotel.

And then on Aug. 4 and 5, The Dispatch reported that FitzGerald had only a temporary driver�s license that night in 2012 when he was found with Grehan, and that FitzGerald had gone a decade without a valid driver�s license. During that period, FitzGerald continued to drive alone (a misdemeanor for first-time offenders) and drove taxpayer-funded vehicles when he was the mayor of Lakewood and Cuyahoga County executive. Last week, news surfaced that FitzGerald punished county employees for driving without a license.

In the past two weeks, FitzGerald has also suffered a backlash over an email he and his wife sent to supporters informing them that their eldest son remained cancer-free. The email was written within the context of the driver�s-license and parked-car incidents. He issued a second email to supporters offering a blanket apology without making it clear what he was apologizing for.

Shortly after The Dispatch broke the story of the staff shake-up on dispatch.com yesterday, Ohio Republican Chairman Matt Borges tweeted: �As @FitzGeraldForOH campaign staff abandon his effort it�s hard to blame them. Hard to work for dishonest candidate.�

Meanwhile, the Republican Governors� Association is releasing a new TV ad statewide today hitting FitzGerald on his driver�s-license issue. The spot is a 30-second collage of TV news reports.

jvardon@dispatch.com

@joevardon