With less than a week to go before the Florida Republican Party names its new chairman, the four candidates-current RPOF Chairwoman Leslie Dougher, RPOF Vice Chairman Blaise Ingoglia, former state Rep. Kurt Kelly, and Committeeman Eric Miller- have all been out pushing the political flesh, hoping to garner enough support and commitments leading up to this Saturday’s chairman’s election.
We reached out to all of the candidates and asked them to give us a quick overview of the state of the GOP here in Florida, as well as what gains the party stands to make in the upcoming 2016 presidential election cycle.Ingoglia couldn’t be reached for comment and was rumored to be at a Dunkin Donuts eating a “Blaize donut” whilemeeting with a possible voter, but Dougher, Kelly, and Miller, all sent over a statement.
Miller went a bit further and insisted that he speak to us in person. Miller’s drive down on a rainy Sunday afternoon just to see me, touched my heart. Ahahaha! I am of course kidding, but it was a nice gesture.
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Hold the presses! Ingoglia put down that donut and just sent over this fashionably late statement:
Here is what the others said:“While the Republican Party of Florida has had recent success, we cannot repeat the election outcomes of 2008 and 2012. In order the beat the Democrat Presidential machine in 2016 we must work harder and smarter than ever before. In my opinion, there are three areas we need to focus on (among others) in order for Florida to be successful in helping to put a Republican in The White House: grassroots organizing, marketing in the digital space, and data acquisition and micro-targeting. The lack of focus on these areas were the biggest areas of concern after the 2012 election and most would say the reason we lost the last two Presidential elections. We can do better. We will do better”
Kurt Kelly
The state of the Republican brand is clearly improving and now more favorable than the Democrat brand. Thanks to dynamic candidates with winning messages, we did very well in 2014. The RPOF can be a dynamic partner and supporter for our candidates. For 2016, we will build a ground game that matches or exceeds the Democrats and win back the White House while building on our strong majorities in our Congressional delegation and the legislature.
While I am looking for success in 2016, my candidacy is about election cycles after the next one. We can, and should, develop a “bench” of future statewide office holders. From my meetings with Republican leaders around the state, we need to unify our party through a refocus on our grassroots organization by educating them on what we need done, engaging them to make sure we are all on the same page, and encouraging them as they fight the good fight. This takes leadership from someone that has both vision and the experience to get the job done. -Kurt Kelly
Chairwoman Leslie Dougher
“Florida Republicans had a great year in 2014. I am extremely proud of the hard work of the entire RPOF because our grassroots played a very significant role in re-electing our Governor and Cabinet, as well as making big gains in the Legislature. We are going to continue to build on the successes of 2014, which included the biggest ground game in Florida history and an unprecedented digital effort not duplicated by any other campaign or state party. We’re going to give our grassroots the tools they need to be successful because we are about continuing to win elections.”-Chairwoman Leslie Dougher
I was feeling a bit lazy this morning, so I didn’t transcribe Miller’s video. So, watch his video statement:
Knowing how much he despises former RPOF boss Jim Greer, I couldn’t help but ask Miller, if he were chairman, and it came down to Florida again, would he try to pull a Jim Greer, and attempt to muscle into the GOP presidential nomination someone like Jeb Bush?
