Jacob Ogles
Republican activists left a Republican Party of Florida Spring Quarterly Meeting this weekend excited for 2020.
“We were just talking about how to continue to win here in Florida,” said RPOF state chair Joe Gruters. “We had a lot of wins this legislative cycle.”
Heading into this presidential election, state party leaders feel good about the state of the party.
Unlike the 2016 election, when a 17-person presidential primary field divided loyalties, Republicans this year can rally behind a sitting President, Donald Trump.
Moreover, the state party now is led by Gruters, who co-chaired Trump’s Florida campaign in 2016.
“The Party and Presidential Campaign are completely and seamlessly integrated this cycle,”said Christian Ziegler, RPOF vice chair.
The party also enjoyed success in statewide races despite a national Democratic wave, with Republicans holding the Governor’s mansion and flipping a Senate seat red.
“I have never seen the grassroots activists of the Republican Party as unified as they are right now, in 2019,” Ziegler said.
Gruters for this quarterly get-together brought state leaders to the Hyatt Regency Sarasota. That was convenient for him and for Ziegler, who live in Sarasota County. Gruters officially serves as Sarasota County’s chair and Ziegler as its state committeeman.
Jack Brill has acted as county chair as Gruters took on a state role. He considered holding a quarterly meeting in Sarasota somewhat historic and important for party politics in the region.
Gruters got to select the locale, and enjoyed picking his hometown.
“We exposed a couple hundred people from throughout Florida to the best of Sarasota,” he said.
But there’s also strategy in the site selection. The party through this election cycle plans to hold meetings throughout the state, and not just in population centers like Orlando and Tampa.
“I decided to bring our meeting on the road to allow more people to highlight their areas,” Gruters said.
Ziegler said it’s a good move to take the quarterly meetings into various corners of Florida.
Party members proposed venues for coming meetings, and Gruters selected from that list. Meetings won’t always be in mid-sized markets, but there’s more variety in cities than in past years.
On August 16 and 17, the party will hold its Summer Quarterly at Sandestin Beach & Resort in Miramar Beach.
The Fall Quarterly and Statesman’s Dinner takes place Nov. 7 through 9 at Coronado Springs at Walt Disney World.
Then next January, RPOF leaders convene at the Wyndham Grand Jupiter.
The Spring Quarterly in May next year takes place at the Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills.
The Summer Quarterly in 2019 will happen at the Republican National Convention in North Carolina.
No decision has yet been made on the Fall meeting next year, but it will likely be ties to the Victory Dinner.
