Jacob Ogles
While state Rep. Byron Donalds may have ambitions to become Republican Party of Florida state chair, he faces opposition first in a bid to chair his county executive committee.
Russell Tuff, a longtime Naples conservative activist, already had plans to run for Collier County Republican Executive Committee chair, before Donalds expressed interst, and has no plans to step aside.
“I had enough phone calls from everybody saying I should run,” Tuff said. “Then once I accepted that, I heard Byron mentioned.”
But Tuff has concerns about a sitting lawmaker serving as chair of the county party, something he views as a year-round responsibility.
“He’ll be out of town doing legislative business, and it will be difficult to carry out the mission here,” Tuff said.
As for his own credentials, Tuff ran two years ago for Collier County Commission, but ultimately came in third in the Republican primary to now-County Commissioner Burt Saunders and current county GOP chair Ron Kezeske.
But Tuff, a former member of the local media, boasted the endorsement of the Naples Daily News and maintains strong connections within the party.
Kezeske said earlier this week that while Donalds holds a great reputation as a conservative legislative voice for the region, Tuff will pose a strong obstacle to any desires of the county chair position.
Tuff won’t disparage Donalds but plans to make a case with party regulars the chief concern of a county chair should be party building at the grassroots level. Tuff plans to employ his professional marketing experience to promote the party message and grow its membership.
“I can portray a positive message of what we can accomplish,” Tuff said.
Of course, the goal of Donalds’ candidacy largely seems to become the state GOP chair. Many party leaders expect Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis to throw his weight behind Donalds as a choice for that job.
But if that’s the case, Tuff would rather see DeSantis name Donalds to one of 10 positions on the state steering committee filled at a Republican governor’s discretion.
While such an appointee has never gone on to be selected as state chair, Tuff said it may be a better way to go for Donalds to take that role and run for state chair.
