Things are heating up this legislative session in Tallahassee as conservative Republicans square off with new Republican Party of Florida chairman, Joe Gruters. Florida Senator Gruters who has been a close ally of President Trump, shocked the Party weeks ago when he wrote Senate Bill 438 which included LGBTQ wording in it. Many state conservatives believe the bill would put Florida small businesses in jeopardy, like the cake bakers who have been sued and have lost their businesses for refusing to go against their faith and moral convictions. And now Gruters has a serious conservative credibility problem that is not likely to go away anytime soon.
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In January 2019, Gruters won the RPOF Chairmanship easily because Republicans from around the state viewed him as a staunch supporter of the Trump agenda and politically aligned with the President. However, Gruters is proving himself to be as unpredictable as most cagey politicians who have been in office too long.
Many of Gruters’ Sarasota constituents have called and emailed him asking him to explain why he wrote SB438 and have received no response. In a surprise move, the Sarasota Republican Executive Committee abruptly canceled their March meeting as the complaints against Gruters escalated and members were demanding he shows up to explain his vote. It is unclear at this time what role the Acting Chair, Jack Brill, of the Sarasota Republican Executive Committee had in canceling the meeting or if it was a board decision. They resume meeting on April 11 and all Republicans are being encouraged to show up and demand the SREC hold Gruters accountable. The meeting is at 6:30 pm at the South Venice Civic Center, 720 Alligator Drive, Venice, FL 34293.
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John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Policy Council, immediately called for Gruters to resign upon learning Gruters filed SB438. On Monday, March 18, Stemberger, addressing a crowd of 200 citizen activists and conservative supporters, stated never in Republican Party history has the Chair of any State filed LGBTQ legislation. Stemberger said since calling for Gruters resignation, he has been persona non grata in Tallahassee during this legislative session as Gruters circled the wagons around him to shut out critics.
Several conservatives who confronted Gruters in his Senate office last week were told directly by Gruters that the bill had to pass to attract out of state businesses to come to Florida. He stated most Florida municipalities already passed such laws and the state of Florida needed to keep up with the times. However, to Republican leadership insiders, Gruters explained the bill was filed with the expectation it was going to die in committee, implying the bill was for show. If so, who exactly was the bill for? A source close to Gruters gave yet another explanation for the bill which was, “It was filed because everything is about Trump 2020.” This explanation is the most deflective, using Trump as cover. Anyone who has followed the Trump Administration’s actions knows Gruters’ bill does not align with the Trump agenda.
The Republican Party of Florida will have a much larger crisis ahead if the rumors of Trump supporting Gruters to run for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s seat are true. Rubio, a fierce critic of the president voted last week against Trump’s national emergency declaration. Trump won the presidency mostly on the issue of building a wall at the southern border to stop the influx of illegal drugs, dangerous cartels, and sex trafficking. Florida Republicans flooded Rubio’s offices with angry calls and emails. By last Thursday, Rubio’s D.C. phone was no longer answered and the voice mailbox was full. With the full weight of angry Florida Republicans behind Trump, Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate is now in danger of being challenged by a Trump supporter. However, it is becoming clear that Gruters likely has a different agenda than the President and would not be the best choice to primary Rubio.
Florida Republicans have every reason to be angry right now. The RPOF seemed to be moving in the right direction– away from a Florida Rubio machine with loyalist foot soldiers and toward a Trump supporting conservative movement to help the president get re-elected in 2020. Now it’s clear that there must be a shakeup within the leadership of the RPOF before the end of 2019 to assure Trump is elected in Florida in 2020.