Peter Schorsch
Fresh off of his victory as the new Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, state Representative Blaise Ingoglia is tapping two respected political veterans to lead his transition.
David Johnson and Pablo Diaz will head the new Chairman’s transition efforts, Ingoglia confirmed to FloridaPolitics.com late Saturday night.
Johnson is a former Executive Director of the RPOF and political consultant who has worked with several bold-name candidates both in Florida and throughout the country. In 2014, Johnson helped direct Carlos Curbelo to his congressional win, in addition to serving as an adviser to Senate President Andy Gardiner, Senator Aaron Bean, and State Representative Holly Raschein, as well as the Republican Party of Florida. DJ has worked with Gardiner since their first campaign together in 2000.
Diaz is coming off a strong 2014 cycle during which he managed Pam Bondi’s successful re-election campaign. Previous to that, Diaz was Legislative Affairs Director for the National Federation of Independent Business. Before joining the NFIB, Diaz had served with the RPOF, eventually becoming Deputy Executive Director.
On Saturday, Republican activists rejected Gov. Rick Scott’s hand-picked party chairman Saturday and instead elected Ingoglia to lead the state GOP.
Ingoglia won decisively on a second ballot, defeating Leslie Dougher 132-90. Dougher took over the Republican Party of Florida last May with Scott’s endorsement. The governor again backed her for re-election.
Ingoglia has served as party vice chairman since 2011. In a speech before the vote, he noted President Barack Obama carried Florida the last two presidential elections and it’s important that Republicans are successful here next year if they want to win the White House.
“We in the Republican Party do not need to change our message, we need to change the way we deliver that message. We do not have a message problem, we have a marketing problem,” he said. “The only thing holding this party back is us.”
After his victory on Saturday, Ingoglia issued a letter that served notice to all officers, staff members and consultants.
“From this moment forward,” he wrote, “the Republican Party of Florida shall not process payment, incur costs, issue checks, transfer money or make any financial commitments without strict written approval of myself or a designated member of my transition staff.”
That was only the beginning.
The new chair also summarily revoked responsibilities of all “previously delegated” staff and consultants, as well as access to the George Bush Republican Center in Tallahassee. Ingoglia will grant new access on a “case-by-case basis.”
Failure to follow the new directive will result in “immediate termination and possible litigation.”
“Please govern yourselves accordingly,” Ingoglia concludes.
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Material from the Associated Press was used in this post.
