Peter Schorsch
Joe Gruters will report raising more than $87,000 for his House District 73 campaign, sources close to the campaign tell Florida Politics.
That figure would rank Gruters, the Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Florida, as the the third-highest monthly fundraising total of any legislative candidate this cycle.
Gruters was already shaping up to be a shoo-in to replace incumbent Rep. Greg Steube – who is leaving the seat to pursue Sen. Nancy Detert‘s Senate seat – in HD 73, which takes in large inland portions of Sarasota and Manatee counties.
But the staggering fundraising effort Gruters has put together will only lead to further speculation of Gruters possible ascendance to leadership within his caucus.
That would be another coup for the House within the RPOF, who is chaired by another party official/lawmaker in Rep. Blaise Ingoglia. Ingoglia, who memorably bested Gov. Rick Scott‘s hand-picked candidate to assume leadership, handed off fundraising duties to Gruters and another member of the state party brass during 2015’s Legislative Sessions due to a prohibition against fundraising during the annual lawmaking period.
Gruters, no stranger to Florida’s GOP landscape, evidently made the most of the opportunity.
Gruters is a CPA with Shinn & Company and sits on his alma mater Florida State University’s Board of Trustees.
