World news – Joe Gruters was re-elected chairman of the Florida GOP

Joe Gruters unanimously won re-election for a second term as chairman of the Florida Republican Party.

Immediately after Governor Ron DeSantis, at an annual party’s meeting in Rosen Single Creek, Orlando, Gruters praised the volunteers and committee members who who had helped the party outperform the Democrats in voter registration and turnout this year. « That’s why we won in Florida, » he said. « And won big! »

The effort resulted in Donald Trump tripling his Florida profit margin in 2016 despite losing other battlefield states to Joe Biden.

Gruters spoke to Florida Florida Politics about the upcoming election cycle , in which five nationwide races will take place. That means the party will focus on keeping a Senate seat and the governor’s mansion, defending two cabinet posts and turning over a third. Every nationwide Republican, including Senator Marco Rubio, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and CFO Jimmy Patronis, attended this year’s meeting, which Gruters sees as a sign of unity.

« We agreed this past election cycle, and this is this Reason we’re going to be successful in the future, « he said.

While there have been news articles about friction between Gruters and DeSantis for the past two years, the state chairman hoped the governor’s high-profile speech at the annual meeting showed that All moving together in the right direction as Republicans turn attention to 2022.

Unity can be more difficult in some places than others. There is already speculation that some Republicans are starving for a primary challenge for Rubio over the next year. This intensified among Trump believers after Rubio’s opposition to calls to protest Biden’s electoral college win. Some expect Ivanka Trump or Donald Trump Jr., both moving to Florida, to challenge the seated senator in a GOP elementary school.

While Gruters said the party would not take sides, he dismissed much of it as noise .

« I don’t approve because I don’t know who else is running, but I think Sen. Rubio is the best person possible to defend this seat, » said Gruters. « We have a great candidate in Marco Rubio. »

Gruters himself has enjoyed national fame in Florida for several years because he was one of the first Florida district chairpersons to give Trump in the 2016 area code over favorite sons like Rubio and the former governor Jeb Bush supports. When the president is defeated and left on charges, Gruters said Trump will still have a strong voice in GOP politics in the Sunshine State, where he will live in his residence in Mar-a-Lago.

« The core tenets that Trump stood up for – America First, the forgotten man who helps working class Americans – this is here to stay, » he said. « One cannot overlook the successes he has had in international relations. We have not started any wars. The Middle East is at peace and we are withdrawing our troops. One of the most successful legacies is the creation of the Space Force. That policy will, too races will dominate in the years to come. « 

Over the next two years, as party chairman, Gruters will seek to replicate much of the success of his first two years as state chairman. He believes it is possible to fill a voter registration void not just closing with Florida Democrats, but eliminating them entirely and having more registered Republicans in the state to vote in the next election.

« That’s still my # 1 priority, » he said Admitted last week that Republican registrations were down, but that will change, he said.

« We put down the local Democrats gen, we knocked them down in voter registration and we knocked them down in voter turnout, « he said. « This is how you measure a party and its successes. »

It is a great honor to be unanimously re-elected as chair of @FloridaGOP. Hard work, organization, and quality candidates played a vital role in achieving resounding victories in our state. Until 2022 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wRySKxbdGE

Jacob Ogles has been reporting on Florida politics for regional outlets such as SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, the news press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg since 2000. His work has been published nationwide in The Advocate, Wired, and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of the most respected political analysts in Southwest Florida, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota showcased his findings. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Florida Politics is a statewide new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, politics and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content is owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Editor: Peter Schorsch

Contributing & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Renzo Downey, Rick Flagg, A. G. Gancarski, Joe Henderson, Janelle Irwin, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Scott Powers, Bob Sparks, Andrew Wilson, and Kelly Hayes.

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