‘Preposterous’: Joe Gruters says there’s no secret plan for Legislature to assign Florida electors

Sen. Joe Gruters

If President Donald Trump’s team wants the Florida Legislature to simply assign the state’s electoral votes, nobody told Joe Gruters.

That’s notable considering Gruters serves both as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, and holds a seat in the Florida Senate.

“It’s idiotic and preposterous,” said Gruters, a Sarasota Republican. “Think about it. Nobody has discussed anything like that with me.”

Gruters’ account somewhat undermines a report in The Atlantic claiming members of Trump’s campaign team have spoken with leaders in swing states with Republican-controlled legislatures about the subject. The piece suggests a strategy has been explored: Challenging vote totals and leaving legislatures to decide who electors vote for in the Electoral College.

That, in fact, is a power confirmed by the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court decision in 2000, and a route then-Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney considered as a constitutional solution amid the infamous presidential election recount in Florida.

But of course that was a strategy conceived in the heat of a contested election, and ultimately the Supreme Court stopped continued recounts and Florida’s votes were awarded based on George W. Bush’s 537-vote lead over Al Gore.

The idea of kicking decisions on Florida’s electoral votes to the Legislature before voters even have the chance to cast ballots has set punditry ablaze.

But Gruters said that’s utterly unwarranted.

“It’s just using anonymous sources meant to create as much chaos as they possibly can,” Gruters said. “To me, it’s completely ludicrous.

“It’s just sad that people would put that type of stuff out,” he said. “But I think the goal is to undermine the process, and to create chaos, fear and uncertainty because they know they have a weak candidate and Trump is going to win.”

Gruters said the party’s internal polling shows Trump beating Democrat Joe Biden. Further, he feels confident Republicans will win in battleground Senate and House races around the state. The party may pick up as many as two Congressional seats, Gruters said.

The party has increased its registration numbers statewide by roughly 150,000 more voters than Democrats have signed up.

Most important, Gruters said there’s seamless synergy between his state party team, Ronna McDaniel at the Republican National Committee, and the Trump campaign itself.

“We have the largest, most organized, data-driven ground game in the history of Florida campaigns,” he said.