Florida Republicans abandon pledge of loyalty to potential presidential candidate

The Florida Republican Party voted Friday to abandon a rule passed earlier this year requiring all 2024 presidential candidates to pledge support for the eventual nominee if they wish to run in the state’s March 19 primary election. state, several media reported.

The move is seen as a victory for one Florida resident, former President Donald Trump, who has flatly refused to sign such a pledge, and a loss for his main rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has already signed one. A.

Pledges of loyalty have become an issue as infighting within the Republican Party opens up the daunting prospect of unifying Republican voters behind a single candidate in 2024.

Nationally, Republican leaders have pushed for this commitment. Candidates were told they had to sign if they wanted to participate in the first Republican primary debate held in Milwaukee last month. (Trump refused to sign, but he also refused to debate, thus sidestepping the issue.)

The Florida Republican Party quietly implemented a loyalty pledge in May, CNN reported, in a move that appeared to boost DeSantis.

However, behind the scenes, Trump’s allies are reportedly pressuring the party’s Florida chapter – Trump’s home state – to abandon this pledge.

At Friday’s meeting, Trump supporters within the Florida GOP predicted anarchy if the pledge was not abandoned. One man said, “The Republican Party of Florida would cease to exist,” according to Politico.

Another said: “People will be mad if we keep Trump off the ballot. »