The Florida 2024 Presidential Primary held March 19th: Pull the Thread
OP-ED by Priscilla Grey; FNR is Citizen Driven Media
It's 2024 and Florida News Report is going to be relentless in publishing what’s happening around the state with local Republican Executive Committees (your local county GOP) and the Republican Party of Florida. We welcome you to submit articles about your local GOP because FNR is citizen-driven media.
Since election night 2020, most Republicans across the nation began thinking of 2024. The 2020 election was a catalyst for many Florida Republicans to get involved in their local county party. And as I reported in 2022 and 2023, these MAGA/America First Republicans found they were as welcome as the plague by the Republican Establishment.
The 2024 Presidential Election
In Florida the Presidential Preference Primary will take place March 19, 2024 and only registered Republicans can vote for one of the seven declared Republican presidential candidates. Our Florida delegates review the votes cast by you and me and then they are supposed to choose the candidate who represents the “the will of the people” at the Republican National Convention.
We have to vote in the primary in order for them to know who we want on the November ballot as the Republican Presidential Candidate.
Just Wondering
Have you heard a word on the Presidential Primary from your county REC? Did your REC raise money in 2023 for a 2024 Presidential Primary “Get Out the Vote” effort ? Does your county party leadership have a plan to “Get Out the Vote” for the Republican candidates in March?
From what I’m hearing, educating Republican voters about this Primary is not a priority for the party. Make of that what you will, but in the meantime, here’s what we need to do:
Tell your Republicans friends to vote (the last time we had to vote in this primary was for the 2016 election … many Republicans have no idea)
Tell your friends and neighbors who are transplants. Many people from other states don’t know Florida is a closed primary state (they have to registered as Republicans to vote in a primary) Time is running out for them to registered as Republicans.
Check your own party affiliation on your County Supervisor of Elections website. Voters have reported that when they got a new drivers license, their party affiliation was changed to NPA (NO PARTY AFFILIATION). Guess who will be turned away at the polls? That’s right, NPAs and Independents (Green Party, Constitutional Party members)
What Failure Looks Like
In Manatee County, the Republican Establishment leadership failed to hold their biggest fundraisers in 2023: the Lincoln Day Dinner and the Reagan BBQ. Every county GOP around Florida holds these two fundraisers yearly. Big promises of “principled leadership, forward thinking vision and replenishing the county GOP coffers to advance Republicans” ended up being more empty promises. And it wasn’t just a failure of the Chair. And the Manatee REC Board wasn’t shoved into the backseat against their will…. they willingly crawled into the trunk to silently ride along.
The Republican Party in Manatee is dragging itself into mid-2024.
Democrats couldn’t have neutralized Republicans better than the current leadership of April Culbreath. Apparently two of the Board members had smelling salts, woke up to the crazy and resigned, creating two vacancies last month: the Treasurer and the Secretary. Instead of following the Republican Party of Florida’s Rules and Procedures, the Chair allegedly appointed replacements.
Let me be clear: NO CHAIRMAN OR BOARD HAS THE AUTHORITY TO APPOINT BOARD MEMBERS according to the Party Rules and Procedures.
Manatee’s Chair: “Rules? We don’t need no stinkin’ rules!”
Also Manatee: No Republican Party meetings are scheduled until March 25th making the county party useless in the Presidential Primary. No “Get Out the Vote” efforts are being implemented. No Precinct Committeemen or women are being deployed to contact Republican voters in their home precinct to participate in their Parties’ Presidential Primary.
What are We Even Here For?
The mantra of the Republican Establishment is: “The purpose of the Republican Party is to elect Republican candidates.” What they fail to admit is there are two kinds of Republican candidates from which to choose; MAGA/AMERICA FIRST or the STATUS QUO/REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT.
There are fundamental differences between the two types of Republicans. The current Florida MAGA/America First candidates want the 2016 Trump Agenda in place… because it worked. The Florida Republican Establishment wants to return to the pre-Trump era when they had eighty percent of Republican voters completely duped.
We fully acknowledge that the Republican Establishment possesses excellent skills in deception and that is why they have been so successful in obtaining and retaining power since 2020 across Florida counties.
The Florida Republican Presidential Primary: It’s all about the Super Voters
It will ALWAYS be about the Republican Super Voters. The Republican Super Voters participate in every single Primary and General Election… and that’s how they earned the moniker of “SUPER VOTERS.” The Republican Establishment loves manipulating and deceiving these Super Voters…..in the Republican Primaries to get their RINO Republican candidates elected and destroy the America First Republican candidates by hit piece mailers, rumors and innuendo.
For the Republican Establishment, their time, attention and money is focused almost solely on the Republican Primaries. They know that in the marketplace of ideas, Florida mostly reject Democrats ideology and agenda. It doesn’t take much to defeat Democrats in this state. However it is a herculean effort to defeat the Republican Establishment Primary candidates because the state party (RPOF) and most counties’ leadership appear to either covertly or overtly sabotage America First MAGA Republican candidates.
How the Republican Establishment Retains Control
Most Florida county RECs - under the control of the Republican Establishment - do not hold meetings in July of an election year. It is a well established and documented strategy they use. And again why? The Republican Primary is in August and they only want their manipulated, targeted, 65 and older Super Voters to vote in the primary. The Republican Establishment knows their Super Voters’ demographics well and can use targeted messaging that is highly effective at deceiving them. This voter demographic still watches the local news and mostly trust it.
The messaging the Republican Establishment uses that works with the Super Voters sounds like this:
“Only a moderate Republican can beat Democrat Candidate in the General Election.”
“You have to vote for Mr. Republican Incumbent (who voted for gun control and a myriad of other anti-Republican Party Platform issues) or lose the seat to a Democrat” (even though Mr. Republican Incumbent votes just like a Democrat every chance he gets).
“The Democrats are evil and destroying America” (as if the Republicans in office haven’t allowed that)
They simply paint Democrats as a boogeymen to distract the Super Voters from the harsh and awful reality: Establishment Republicans are just as dangerous to America as the Democrat Party. Don’t bristle: if they vote the same way, they are equally as dangerous. It’s time to admit that.
Fear messaging works and that is why Republican political consultants and campaign managers use it.
But you know what else works? Precinct committeemen and women having conversations with the Republican Super Voters about the Republican Party Platform and encouraging them to us it to gauge which Republican Primary candidate is more aligned with the Platform. And that is why your county Republican Establishment controlled RECs don’t have “Get Out the Vote” efforts in July for the August Republican Primary.
The Republican Establishment has spent their money, time and effort securing the support of the Super Voters and they are not going to let you, AMERICA FIRST Republicans, get a crack at them.
And that is why the Republican Party of Florida is silent.
That is why most Florida County REC Chairs and Boards aren’t educating or taking action for the March 19th Republican Presidential Primary.
They aren’t talking about it. They aren’t canvassing. They don’t want to “get out the vote.” They hope you’re not even aware that there’s an election with Early Voting starting in seven weeks.
By the very act of joining the Republican Party, earns you the right and the responsibility to vote in the Presidential Primary, just as you would any other. Double check that you are still registered as a Republican and then find your early voting and Election Day precinct voting location. Then go vote.
Trump is on the ballot. DeSantis is on the ballot. Nikki Haley is on the ballot. Vivek Ramaswamy is on the ballot.
This March election is FOR YOU, Dear Republican.
And share the news.