Huckabee senior staffer leaves campaign

Alice Stewart, the communications director for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, has left his 2016‎ campaign, Fox News has learned.

Stewart, who also was the 2008 press secretary for the 2008 Iowa caucus winner, left the campaign last week, according to a Huckabee campaign insider.

‎Huckabee's White House bid has been struggling in recent months. In the latest Fox News poll in Iowa -- a state his campaign acknowledges they initially expected to do well in -- the presidential contender only garnered 1 percent.

Last week, Huckabee’s friend Bob Vander Plaats, head of the influential Iowa conservative group The Family Leader, endorsed his primary rival Sen. Ted Cruz instead of Huckabee.

Cruz is leading in Iowa, according to the same Fox News poll, with 28 percent. In 2008, Vander Plaats campaigned across the Hawkeye State for Huckabee’s insurgent win over Mitt Romney.