A Note from RPOF Chairman Joe Gruters

8/10/2020

In some great news, we’re continuing to win the registration war.

When former President Barack Obama won Florida in 2008, Democrats had a voter registration advantage of more than 500,000. The Republican Party of Florida has steadily cut that lead down, dropping it to about 259,000 in 2016 when President Trump won and is now down to 240,000 people, according to new data posted online last week by the Florida Division of Elections.

Read more here: https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2020/08/06/florida-democrats-aimed-to-register-1-million-voters-by-now-they-didnt-come-close/ 

Because we Republicans vote in higher percentages than Democrats, this sets a foundation for Florida becoming a more red state as we continue moving forward on this front.

On top of the voter registration successes, the Republican Party of Florida is gearing up like never before to deliver Florida into the Trump re-election column. The election depends in large part on Florida. That’s why you’ve seen so many visits by the president and the vice president, and you will see more. Florida is ground zero and there is intense energy and passion around the state to re-elect the President and Republicans down ballot. 

Right now, we already have 180 staffers on the ground across the state, which is a tremendous increase from the 62 we had during the 2016 campaign. And I’m fully participating in this ground game by walking and door-knocking precincts every Saturday in different locations around Florida.

This past Saturday Vice Chairman Christian Ziegler and I were in Lake County with Rep. Anthony Sabatini, Lake County Chairman Walter Price and Lake County State Committeeman Ralph Smith and a large group of volunteers. In the afternoon, I was in Gainesville going door to door with Alachua County Chairman Ed Braddy and State Committeewoman Raemi Glenn, along with many others. Then I spoke at the Headquarters opening with Sumter Chairman John Temple, Sumter State Committeeman John Black and State Committeewoman Marina Woolcock.

This Saturday I will be in Miami door-knocking from 9-11 a.m. Then we’ll be in Hendry County from 1-3 p.m. and Glades County from 4-6 p.m. If you want to get involved, sign up at http://armyfortrump.com as we walk across Florida!

 

Governor Ron DeSantis Update

Governor DeSantis held a roundtable discussion on the importance of youth sports in reopening schools during COVID-19. During the discussion held at the University of North Florida Arena in Jacksonville on Thursday, DeSantis said children need sports now more than ever because the COVID-19 pandemic has isolated them and increased mental strains.

“Understanding discipline, understanding hard work, the mentorship that you get from coaches is really, really important to the development of our young people,” he explained. The Governor also pointed out that not opening schools would mean many youth may not be able to go to college because of a lack of a sports scholarship.

Governor DeSantis was joined by Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and coaches from around the state. They said it is also critical to have boys and girls sports available to seniors who are thinking about life after high school and want to earn college scholarships.

Read more here: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/education/desantis-education-commission-in-jacksonville/77-1f651ecb-460b-407a-9ba2-5b43e26ca874

Governor Ron DeSantis announced late last week the formation of Florida’s Task Force on the Safe and Limited Re-Opening of Long-Term Care Facilities. Members of the task force develop guidelines on how to safely allow family members to visit their loved ones in Florida’s long-term care facilities. Visitation at these facilities has been prohibited since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The last four and a half months have been difficult for all Floridians, especially our residents in long-term care facilities and their families,” Governor DeSantis said. “I look forward to the ideas that arise from this task force on how we can continue our mission to protect the vulnerable while allowing for the much-needed human connection of spending time with family and friends.”

Members of the Task Force include:

• Mary Daniel, Caregiver
• Mary Mayhew, Secretary, Agency for Health Care Administration
• Richard Prudom, Secretary, Florida Department of Elder Affairs
• Dr. Scott Rivkees, State Surgeon General, Florida Department of Health
• Gail Matillo, President and CEO, Florida Senior Living Association
• Emmett Reed, Executive Director, Florida Health Care Association
• Michelle Branham, Vice President of Public Policy, Alzheimer’s Association

 

President Donald Trump Update

While in Ohio, President Trump signed an executive order to expand “Made in America” production, bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and ensure that our citizens have access to the life-saving medicines they need. This order comes crucially “as we fight this battle against the invisible enemy from China,” said White House Director of Trade & Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro.

The new order will: Establish “Buy American” rules for Federal Government agencies; Strip away regulatory barriers to domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing; Spark the manufacturing technologies needed to keep drug prices low and move more medicine production onshore.

President Trump signed the order while visiting a Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio. In January 2018, President Trump challenged years of one-sided trade practices by imposing tariffs that stopped American washing machine manufacturers, including Whirlpool, from getting unfairly undercut by Chinese imports. After President Trump took action, Whirlpool’s Clyde plant alone was able to create 200 new jobs for U.S. workers.

 Enthusiasm remains strongly on the side of President Trump and Republicans. The Trump Campaign, the Republican National Committee and authorized joint fundraising committees announced $165 million raised in July — not only a record for the month, but also more than the total raised in any single month of 2016. That brings the total raised in this election cycle to more than $1.1 billion, with $300 million cash on hand. 

The RNC has invested in the largest field and data operation in party history, recently announced the hiring of 300 new staffers, bringing the total number of Trump Victory staffers to 1,500 — double the Biden/DNC operation. The Trump Victory team includes a grassroots army of 1.8 million Americans. 

“The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent, providing reassurance that the labor market has kept up some of its post-lockdown momentum. The numbers were better than anticipated. Economists had forecast an addition of around 1.5 million jobs and a decline in the unemployment rate to 10.6 percent from 11.1 percent last week.”

 The economy has added more than 9 million jobs in the past three months, beating economist predictions three months in a row.

Read more here: https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/08/07/u-s-economy-adds-1-8-million-jobs-in-july-unemployment-rate-fall-to-10-2/

 

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