“People will be pissed if we keep Trump off the ballot,” said one state GOP member.
ORLANDO — The latest contest between former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida came down to aTop officials in the Republican Party of Florida, under pressure from Trump supporters, voted to remove a provision in its state bylaws that required any candidate seeking to be on the March 19 presidential primary ballot to pledge loyalty to the eventual GOP nominee.
“It’s not about the pledge,” Gruters said. “It’s about creating unnecessary roadblocks late in the game that makes it perceived that it’s anti-President Trump.” Trump and DeSantis are the most powerful Republicans in Florida, upping the stakes for party members who dare cross them or even fail to offer a full-throated endorsement. Some risk seeing their political aspirations fall apart by voting for or against the pledge, while others open themselves up to seeing prized policy goals perish.
“We don’t really want to be in a position of picking sides here, but we want to do what’s fair,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt Ron DeSantis if Donald Trump’s on the ballot in Florida. It’s going to be on Ron DeSantis to win the Florida primary or Donald Trump. It’s on them. It’s not on us.” The loyalty pledge has been in place since May, when the Republican Party of Florida passed it with little fanfare. It’s similar to the Republican National Committee’s requirement for participants in the