Jacob Ogles
Chief Financial Officer candidate Joe Gruters just hired two high-powered political consultants from President Donald Trump’s orbit. The move came as Gov. Ron DeSantis prepares to appoint Sen. Blaise Ingoglia in the role for the next 18 months.
Gruters named Chris LaCivita, Trump’s Co-Campaign Manager in 2024, and Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s top pollster, as senior strategists for his campaign.
Both made clear that they see DeSantis’ support of Ingoglia as a minor hurdle for Gruters’ first statewide run.
“The choice between a MAGA first patriot and a Never-Trumper is never really a choice,” LaCivita said. “I’ve worked with Joe Gruters for years and can say that few have done more in Florida to advance the America First agenda. I fully support President Trump’s endorsed candidate for CFO and will work to defeat any posers that stand in our way.”
Trump endorsed Gruters months before the Sarasota Republican filed for the Chief Financial Officer contest in June 2024. Gruters filed for the race well before an open congressional seat prompted Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to resign the statewide office early, which created the vacancy for DeSantis to fill.
But DeSantis still decided to pick Ingoglia, who previously chaired the Friends of Ron DeSantis committee that raised and siphoned $82.5 million to the Governor’s failed presidential campaign last year. Ingoglia also rallied endorsements among Florida Senators for DeSantis as he ran against Trump for the Republican nomination.
Gruters’ campaign made it clear that work against Trump’s return to the White House will be treated as a massive liability in a statewide Republican Primary.
“Joe is a rockstar who has earned the trust and support of President Trump,” Fabrizio said. “DeSantis learned the hard way that opposing President Trump in statewide Republican contests is a recipe for disaster. Appointing a Never-Trumper for CFO over Trump’s endorsed candidate will be viewed as a direct rebuke to the MAGA agenda and will end up just like DeSantis’ other anti-MAGA efforts.”
The Gruters campaign pointed to a poll commissioned by Florida Politics that shows the Sarasota Republican with a massive advantage over Ingoglia. If likely Primary voters are informed of Trump’s endorsement, Gruters wins 60% support to Ingoglia’s 10%, the poll found.
DeSantis dismissed the connections between Trump and Gruters, and said Trump never personally lobbied him to appoint Gruters instead.
‘I don’t know how high it is on his radar,” DeSantis said. “I know there are political operatives that stand to gain by certain things. I get that. But in terms of him (Trump), it isn’t anything we ever discussed.”
The division between Gruters and DeSantis has simmered for some time, but wasn’t always there. Shortly after DeSantis won election as Governor in 2018, he promoted Gruters as the best choice to lead the Republican Party of Florida.
Gruters held that post for four years, including leading the party when DeSantis won re-election in 2022 by a landslide. Ingoglia preceded Gruters as state chair, when DeSantis won office by a recount margin.
And as recently as a few weeks ago, DeSantis administration leaders were pushing for Gruters to become Chancellor of the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus, a position Gruters declined, according to sources close to him.
