They may all be Florida Republicans, but each delegate representing the Sunshine State at the Republican National Convention is far from identical.
Nearly 100 of them will be Florida’s voice in selecting the GOP presidential candidate in Cleveland next week, each contributing his or her own story and narrative to the delegation.
Some delegates are young, others not so. For many, this will be their first Republican National convention, but several have been-there-done-this before, a few lots of times, in fact.
Some are state lawmakers, some lobbyists. Others are local volunteers who became involved in politics as a way to get involved in their community.
Seventy-five-year-old Donald Pickard, oldest Florida delegate, told Sunshine State News he’s been active in his community over the years, but not necessarily politically.
Politics -- and becoming a delegate -- was something he ... well ... stumbled into.
“I’m not really politically minded myself, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do,” said Pickard, who was elected Martin County Republican Party chair in 2014.
This will be Pickard’s first convention. He will go the hard way, driving 18 hours to Cleveland.
“I think it’s an experience I’ll look back on,” Pickard explained.
He’s not the only one looking forward to next week. Forty-five years separate Pickard from the youngest delegate, 30-year-old Jessica Fernandez.
Despite a generation gap, Pickard and Hernandez’s emotions are similar.
“There are a lot of personalities who are going to be there,” she told SSN. “It’s going to be really exciting to be in that environment. It’s a Republican ‘kumbaya’ moment.”
Hernandez, a first-generation American of Cuban descent, has had her hand in the Republican Party from a young age, volunteering for former President George W. Bush in his first campaign in 2004. After working on other presidential and statewide campaigns, Hernandez was elected president of the Miami Young Republicans Club in 2015.
Her voice, she says, represents a generation the party needs to hear from.
“I think it’s important for the millennial voice to be expressed and represented,” she explained. “I think my experience is crucial.”
The Florida delegation is varied, but so are the Republican conventions.
They’ve been full of groundbreaking and controversial moments, too.
Former state legislator and former Mayor of Orange County Richard Crotty, has been to eight Republican National Conventions. He recalled the 1972 RNC in Miami, held in a swirling continuum of controversy and criticism over U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Republicans chose Crotty -- just a kid, really -- and hundreds of other “clean-cut” college-aged students to offset protesters who showed up to the convention to make their voices heard.
“While we were being transported, the protesters tried to tip over the bus we were on,” Crotty remembered. “Police tear-gassed the protesters but they tear-gassed the bus [we were on,] too.”
Crotty has seen the development of the GOP through Nixon, through Reagan, through the Bush administration and beyond.
He’s met celebrities at conventions, like Muhammed Ali, who showed up at the 1988 RNC in New Orleans as Sen. Orrin Hatch’s guest.
Crotty has rubbed elbows and made connections with some of the country’s most powerful politicians as a delegate. In 1980, he hitched his political wagon to former president George H.W. Bush, who that year the delegation voted to secure as the vice presidential nominee.
“Because of that very early 1980 involvement with George H.W. Bush, I’m personal friends with George W. Bush and Jeb,” he told SSN. “When George W. Bush ran, it was a thrill to be involved in that effort because I knew him, and I knew him well. He and his dad and I flew around Florida in this private plane for 11 hours at one point.”
The conventions always have an element of fun involved -- usually something tied into the host city. This year, the Florida delegation, like all the others, will head to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a private tour of the museum's newest exhibit, which focuses on music's involvement in politics.
This year’s RNC has been mired in controversy after a highly publicized primary, with businessman Donald Trump coming out on top and delegates taking their time to unify around him.
Trump wasn’t many Florida delegates’ first or second choice -- or even their third -- but the Florida delegation has promised it will hold fast to the voters’ will and go for Trump, despite the controversy.
"I think my responsibility as a delegate is to vote for Trump,” Pickard said, adding he had received some pushback from the #NeverTrump movement, urging him to change his vote. “I believe the first ballot will take [the nomination.]”
Trump won’t be without some discussion, but veteran delegates like Crotty say they think conventioneers will ultimately fall in line with the party’s presumptive nominee.
“You are going to have conversation still regarding some pushback on the Trump candidacy, but at the end of the day, a united party would involve giving the nomination to the man who has earned the majority and to do otherwise would be more injurious to the GOP over the long haul,” Crotty told SSN. “I suspect he will be nominated, it may go more smoothly than some folks think.”
Other delegates like Hernandez say Trump has been a good conversation-starter for issues the party gravely needed to hash out.
“Trump’s candidacy represents disrupting the political cycle, the status quo,” Hernandez said. “In a lot of ways, we needed this. We needed to get woken up. He’s provided the space to discuss topics like immigration that neither party has discussed before. I hope he has a unifying message.”
The RNC will take place in Cleveland next Monday-Thursday.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
