As was reported last week, there seems to be some rancor within the ranks of the Freshman Class of the Florida House. Originally, Rep Eric Eisnaugle(R) was the unanimous choice of that class to be their speaker at the start of the 2021 term. As the initial session wore on, however, support for Rep Eisnaugle dwindled down, with many freshmen reformers, supposedly led by Rep Blaise Ignolia, and also RPOF chairman, questioning the process of selecting the Speaker with some even accusing the RPOF chair of wanting the Speakership himself. Rep Ignolia denied any kind of a power play coup. Ignolia started his RPOF chairmanship earlier this year amid controversy after defeating GOP establishment and Governor Rick Scott’s handpicked choice, Leslie Dougher, out of Northwest Florida.
Immediately after the vote for RPOF chair was taken in April, Orange County Republican Executive Committee Chair Lew Oliver, in a strongly worded message to state GOP leaders, accused Ignolia of threatening to pull RPOF resources from the reelection bids of three Central Florida legislators, in an effort to drain pledges of votes from Eisnaugle and towards himself, instead. Things settled down a bit after that, but threaten to come to a head again. Just this past Monday, the Orange County Republican Executive Board, led by Oliver, voted to establish an independent campaign account to protect these three Central Florida legislators from expected financial and resource retaliation during their re-election bids. If approved by the full OCREC membership, the account would be protected from any potential tampering from the State GOP. And with the RPOF quarterly meeting coming up the weekend of August 28-29, in Tampa, things could get interesting. Stay tuned.