(WASHINGTON) — The Republican National Committee on Friday elected President Donald Trump’s candidate of choice, Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, by unanimous voice vote.
Gruters’ ascendency underscores the RNC’s commitments to boosting those who share Trump’s political vision as the White House zeros in on its priorities ahead of the midterms.
The position had been left open by departing chairman Michael Whatley, who last month launched a bid for retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis’ Senate seat. While co-signing Whatley’s campaign on his social media site, Trump offered his “complete and total endorsement” to Gruters, who he said would do a “wonderful” job as chairman.
Trump’s backing cleared the prospective field instantly and Gruters ran unopposed.
Whatley also gave Gruters his stamp of approval to replace him.
Gruters chaired the Florida GOP from 2019 to 2023 – and Republicans told ABC News he was mission-critical in eliminating Democrats’ voter registration advantage in the state. After the 2018 election, Democrats had a voter advantage of 263,269. Yet, in the fall of 2022, Republicans expanded their reach, leading voter registration by 292,533 voters — a near 556,000 registered voter swing, per PBS.
“You’re registering almost a million new Republicans in Florida. That was what Joe’s chairmanship was, kind of the hallmark of what he was able to do …after Joe’s chairmanship, Florida slipped from battleground status,” said Scott Golden, a longtime friend of Gruters, who currently chairs the Tennessee Republican Party.
And Golden noted that Gruters, who is currently the RNC’s treasurer, is a “terrific, terrific” fundraiser, another key trait for a party chairman.
“I think everybody feels very comfortable that he’s going to do a very good job as Chairman. He’s a great analyst, a CPA by trade. Obviously, Florida is a great proving ground for politics,” said Golden. “I think most members around the country recognize that and know that he knows what he’s doing. He will run the party competently and make sure that all the resources are on the field to make us successful in ’26.”
Gruters was one of the earliest backers of Trump, throwing his support behind him way back in 2016. Trump paid the favor back and endorsed Gruters’ state Senate re-election run in 2022, and boosted him once again, this time to be Florida’s chief financial officer, noting the pair’s long history.
“Joe was on the ‘Trump Train’ before it even left the station,” Trump wrote on social media in May 2024. “As a State Senator and Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Joe has done more than anyone to help turn Florida RED, and elect Republicans across the State.”
While Gruters faced nearly no public opposition from members of the committee and members of the president’s political orbit – he does have one public detractor: Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.
During a news conference where DeSantis offered support to the candidate that would ultimately become Florida’s chief financial officer, he slammed Gruters.
“Joe Gruters has taken major positions that are totally contrary from what our voter base wants to do,” DeSantis said during the July event. “So, if George Washington rose from the dead and came back and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Will you appoint Joe Gruters CFO?’ My response would be ‘no.'”
Though Gruters told local publication Florida Politics, he is open to mending fences.
ABC News has reached out to DeSantis for comment.
Veteran Republican political strategist Brett Doster told ABC that Trump not only gets a fundraiser, but a fighter, in Gruters.
“I’ve known Joe for more than 20 years now – since before he was elected to the state house. Joe took a big risk and went with Trump back in 2015 when almost every leader in Florida, out of personal loyalty, was sticking with either Jeb or Marco,” Doster said.
“With Joe Gruters as GOP chairman, Trump gets a practiced mouthpiece who will go to war for the administration on the Sunday shows and will keep the RNC rigidly fixed on the Trump – Wiles playbook for the midterms. Gruters will be undistracted by Congressional or Senate power plays.”
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