A month after Florida Republicans posted an impressive victory, winning by double-digit margins in statewide races and sweeping various local races, they are already pivoting towards a race for the next Chairman of the Florida Republican Party.
The next Chairman will be tasked with protecting the significant gains that Florida Republicans have made in the last four years and expanding on it by winning down-ballot races in cities and on school boards.
Chairman Joe Gruters is leaving the position after building up an impressive resume, leading to two similarly impressive Florida Republicans announcing their candidacy.
Gruters will run for Treasurer of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Sarasota state Senator Joe Gruters runs for Republican National Committee treasurer https://t.co/W23AyQSLnw
— Sarasota Herald-Tribune (@HeraldTribune) December 9, 2022
Evan Power, Chair of the Leon County Republican Party and the Florida Republican Party’s ‘Chairman of Chairs,’ was the first to announce a bid for the position after rumors swirled that Gruters would not run for re-election.
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Power has already earned endorsements from multiple state committeemen.
Honored to have the support from @Billhelmich
"From Key West to Pensacola Evan has walked doors, raised money, and showed support for candidates from Mosquito Control Board to President. The Republican Party of Florida will be lucky to have Evan Power as our Full Time Chairman." pic.twitter.com/LVG5voRxfK
— Evan Power (@EvanPower) December 8, 2022
Being the chairman of a county party himself, Power wants the state party to direct more resources to county parties to secure Republican victories both up and down the ballot.
“I think one of the things we have to focus on and keep people motivated on is we don’t have a majority in every school board, we don’t have a majority in every city commission or county commission. So we need to win those races because if you look at what Democrats are doing, they’re trying to govern on the local level and un-do what we’re doing on a state level. So we have to emphasize those races and work hard to win majorities on all of those commissions.” He said.
Imagine having a Republican Party that provided counties the resources to fight for every county and city race, where damage is being done to our freedom. #fightnevertcounty
— Evan Power (@EvanPower) December 11, 2022
Current Vice Chairman of the Florida GOP Christian Ziegler also announced that he would run to replace Gruters.
Ziegler touted his experience as Vice Chair and expressed his desire to build on Republican victories in Florida.
.@ChrisMZiegler throws hat into race to lead @FloridaGOP
Reporting by @JacobOgleshttps://t.co/jeJ8cf1eZN#FlaPol
— Peter Schorsch (@PeterSchorschFL) December 6, 2022
“For me, it’s very appealing because obviously I have been vice chairman and have been on the ground helping throughout, but now to be able to take the lead is a passion of mine.
I’m very aggressive. I think until we have every Democrat out of office, our work does not stop. I want to continue to move the state of Florida to the right and continue to make it darker and darker in ruby red and be able to support Governor DeSantis in his legislative agenda. If I could wake up every day and my job is to go after Democrats and stopping the destruction that they are trying to impose on our local community/state/country, that’s a dream job for me.”
Other stories you may want to read:
County GOP Races Show That Floridians Are Divided on the Future of the Republican Party
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