Florida GOP suspends entire Manatee Co. Republican Executive Committee

Elephant Eye. Image via Pixabay.

The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) has suspended the entire Manatee County Republican Executive Committee (REC).

RPOF Chair Evan Power took the drastic measure, he said, after roughly 100 grievances were filed against county party leadership, along with a break-in at party headquarters.

“The grievance committee decided it was impossible to understand the complex dynamics of all of these grievances,” Power wrote in an email to party members. “What is important right now is that we work to turnout every Republican voter for the most important election in our lifetimes.”

The move also happened weeks after April Culbreath, Manatee County REC Chair, lost a Republican Primary for the Manatee County Commission. The Primary vote brought a sea change in GOP politics in the region, with two incumbents losing Commission seats along with two allies. Supervisor of Elections James Satcher, a former County Commissioner appointed to the constitutional office by the Governor, also lost his election.

Power, though, said infighting within the party ultimately prompted the major action. With a Presidential Election and an important U.S. Senate race on the ballot in November, he said the party needs to focus on the core mission of turning out voters in the General Election.

“As part of the suspension, the RPOF Executive Board has tasked me as Chairman of coming up with a turnaround plan for the REC to be reviewed and approved by the RPOF Executive Board that will help grow the Manatee County REC into a strong local party to elect Republicans up and down the ballot,” he wrote in his email.

“Now more than ever, we as a party must put aside internal differences and work together to elect Republicans. We will be developing and presenting a turnaround plan for Manatee County REC to be approved by the Executive Board in the coming weeks.”

The official Facebook feed for the Manatee County REC has been taken out of public view. An X account for the county party hasn’t been used since 2022.