Florida GOP, Gruters Muzzle Hillsborough Republican Party

With Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appearing to be unstoppable in his quest for reelection, it appears that the only thing that could disrupt his path to victory is a self-inflicted wound or a total meltdown of the embattled Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), or Florida GOP.

While Gov. DeSantis continues to raise massive amounts of campaign dollars and has all but single-handily propped up the Florida GOP, RPOF Chairman Joe Gruters, who is considered persona non grata to DeSantis,  continues to make the case for being one of the most compromised leaders Florida Republicans have ever seen.

A recent grievance filed against Sen. Gruters for endorsing a Republican over another Republican in a contested primary race puts a spotlight on what Republicans around the state call the unethical practice of using his position to influence elections.

Now The Floridian has found out that Sen Gruter’s ruling with an iron fist atop the RPOF continues, and has recently ruled on a grievance filed in Hillsborough county.

On Oct. 4, 2021, Gruters signed a list of (5) demands or “action items”  the and RPOF demanded of the Hillsborough Republican Party in response to the grievance filed in that county against it Chairman, Jim Waurishuk.

Waurishuk was asked to release the letter sent by Gruters, but he refused to, saying that the letter was addressed to him, and him only, adding that the matter with Gruters “is being further discussed with the (state party).”

In the letter below, Gruters all but muzzled the local Republican Party, instructing and prohibiting the group from taking any vocal measures against any member of the committee, including Trump Republican Chairman Jim Waurishuk, a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel.

“There shall not be any straw poll votes, nonbinding votes, votes of no confidence, resolutions, or votes of any kind against any member going forward relating to censure, disciplinary, or grievance matters at the Hillsborough REC meetings, and any attempts of this sort shall be ruled out of order if presented in any format, with instructions to take such matters instead to the RPOF Grievance Committee,” stated Gruters.

Gruters also demands that “There shall not be any Hillsborough REC Legal Counsel or Parliamentarian appointed, or anyone else claiming to interpret the Party Rules or Roberts Rules, and questions regarding these matters shall instead be made in writing to the RPOF Legal Counsel with a copy to the Hillsborough Executive Board.”

Gruters is very familiar with grievances, including those he refuses to hear because they involve his close friend and Chairman of the Grievance Committee, Richard “Dick” DeNapoli, who a past RPOF Grievance Committee chairman called “weak and ineffectual.”

In 2019, upon taking office, Gruters told several members of the Executive Committee that he wanted the grievance (s) filed against DeNapoli to “go away.”

Two years later, Gruters has yet to address the grievance accusing DeNapoli of selling Republicans email lists to Democrats.

Meanwhile, Gruters has called for other grievances heard, including several filed against Broward County REC Chairman Tom Powers.

DeNapoli, who lied about his military service on an official gubernatorial request for an appointment and was investigated for allegedly voting twice in an election,  has been at odds with the local leaders because they appear to vote against any administrative measures DeNapoli is said to support.