Rosanne Dunkelberger
While Paige and Nick Primrose felt a spark when they first met, the thing that brought them together — political campaigns — might have become the thing that kept them apart.
They met in 2018 at an Orlando Unity Rally — a gathering of all the Republican Primary winners teeing up for the (ultimately very successful) General Election in November. He was dispatched out of Washington, D.C., to work on the U.S. Senate campaign of then-Gov. Rick Scott. After working as a fundraiser in D.C. and Montana, she was recruited by GOP strategist Melissa Stone back to her home state to join the campaign of CFO Jimmy Patronis’ first election.
“He gave me his business card. It said the National Republican Senatorial Committee. It said Washington, D.C.,” Paige said. “I was not super warm and friendly because I was like, “Oh, this guy is from D.C. … but I was also very attracted to him at the same time.”
Their first date, where they closed down the restaurant talking, was in October. A full-day football-watching second date followed.
“Obviously politics was a big connection point, but we also had a lot of other interests,” Nick said. “We both like history. We both like hiking and being outdoors. We both like cooking.”
The early November election, however, loomed large.
“When Paige and I first started dating, I had no idea what my future would hold and I don’t think Paige did either because she kind of always jumps from campaign to campaign and sometimes they would take you in different places,” Nick said.
“Neither of us really knew where it would go or what would happen. Obviously, my hope was that Sen. Scott was going to win the election, and maybe there’d be an opportunity to go to D.C. I also was a huge fan of then-Congressman (Ron) DeSantis. So we just kind of started dating, not really having a discussion about, you know, long term.”
Fast forward to 2019: Paige went to go work for CFO Jimmy Patronis at the Department of Financial Services and Nick was working as an attorney for Gov. DeSantis, ultimately working as General Counsel for the Division of Emergency Management and later advising the Governor’s Office on COVID-related executive actions. The relationship was headed to a wedding, which happened in November 2021.
But before that, the couple decided a move was needed. They wanted to relocate to Northeast Florida, where Paige grew up.
“At some point we kind of both mutually came to the same conclusion, which was Tallahassee was great, but it didn’t feel like home,” Nick said.
Nick was able to get a job first, as an attorney for JAXPORT. It would be nine months before Paige could join him. In what could have been relationship buster, in the interim he moved into his future in-laws home in Fleming Island — into Paige’s “girly” bedroom, which featured a poster of John Travolta.
Paige does not apologize: “I was attracted to like dark-haired men with blue eyes and that’s what you are,” she told her husband.
“In most marriages, you don’t get the chance to really get to know your in-laws, and for four days a week, I would sit there with her parents, and we’d chat about life, work, family, what was going on in the world,” he said. “And we were planning a wedding.”
Paige was not alone in Tallahassee at that time. Nick commuted every weekend and left her his golden retriever, Hudson, as a cuddle buddy.
Hudson is now a big brother to the latest addition to the Primrose family.
The couple welcomed their son, Vincent Ignatius — you can call him Vinny — on Jan. 4. Both are in the midst of maternity/paternity leave and gush about their tiny guy who was named after his great-grandfather.
“It’s been one of the best things that’s ever happened and the best job so far,” Nick said. “You don’t really get it until you have a baby, honestly.”
Nick will be answering the call of politics soon, though. He’s one of two Republican candidates vying for an open seat in House District 18. There is no Democratic opposition so far for the recently redistricted seat, which covers the northern section of St. John’s County.
Vinny could be his father’s second secret weapon on the campaign trail. Nick has already met plenty of members of his wife’s fan club at campaign events. “It used to be that I was the second-favorite Primrose, but now that Vinny’s here, I think I’m the third-favorite Primrose,” he said.
The little one has already traveled to Tallahassee for a photo op in front of the Capitol, so there may be a next-gen politician in the family.
“We were talking about how at some point we would love to bring him to the Governor’s Office to see where I used to work and … we’re looking forward showing him, the awesome public servants that are out there and how rewarding it can be to give back to your community and to your state,” Nick said.
