Republican Party of Florida chair Blaise Ingoglia continues to reel in the support of Republican politicians, announcing the endorsement of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater on Wednesday.
Atwater, who has served as Florida's CFO since 2010, said Ingoglia is the right choice to lead the party for the future, honing in on Ingoglia's grassroots network in his endorsement.
"The grassroots of our party should elect our Chairman," Atwater said. "I don't tell the grassroots how to vote. But, I have a responsibility to tell the grassroots who I am voting for to Chair our Party."
Ingoglia, he said, brings the "A" game to Florida politics.
"We need a fierce competitor who never blinks, works harder than anyone else, who is a relentless supporter of local parties, who will walk door-to-door, work the phones and never forget that the road to victory runs through the engine of our extraordinary grassroots leaders all across Florida," he said.
Atwater adds his name as one of many elected officials throwing their support to Ingoglia in the race. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio endorsed the Spring Hill Republican for a second term earlier this month and several Republican congressmen have also said Ingoglia is the man for the job.
Ingoglia is not without opposition in the race, however. Sarasota Republican Committeeman Christian Ziegler jumped into the chairman race in November, adding competition and intrigue to the race for party chair.
Part of that intrigue comes from an evident divide with President-Elect Donald Trump's Florida team, who don't agree on which candidate should lead the party.
Trump's Florida campaign manager Susie Wiles endorsed Ingoglia for the job earlier this month, noting his work in helping deliver Florida's 29 electoral votes to Trump last month.
"As Florida's Chief Strategist for President-Elect Trump's Presidential campaign, I can say that the organization built under Chairman Ingoglia's leadership was a crucial element to our success as we worked together with the Republican National Committee to deliver Florida," said Wiles. "To continue that success in the future, we need a steady hand and consistent leadership who will continue to focus on the grassroots."
Chief Florida strategist Karen Giorno said she was willing to go to bat for Ziegler over Ingoglia, saying the 33 year-old Sarasota Republican was a much more beneficial player in Trump’s Florida campaign than Ingoglia.
“He’s been one of the most influential and key political characters from the beginning,” Giorno told Sunshine State News.
Giorno told SSN Ingoglia was not a good choice for progress in Florida and explained he had been a roadblock in Trump's Florida campaign, making many steps in the ground game process -- at all levels -- incredibly difficult for Team Trump.
While Ziegler has not flexed endorsements from state politicos, he insists he has been running a grassroots game throughout the state and has been personally meeting with party members to secure a win.
Ziegler has been rumored to have the well wishes of Gov. Rick Scott, who has been at odds with the RPOF since Ingoglia took the reins in 2015.
Restructuring a fractured party, Ziegler says, would be a large part of his primary mission as chair.
"As we turn the page from the election, we have a lot of work to do over the next two years to ensure victory in 2018 -- work that takes focus and resources," Ziegler wrote last month. "In addition to supporting the Trump Administration, we will need to strengthen our Republican Party of Florida to send an ally to the U.S. Senate who will work alongside our great Senator, Marco Rubio. We will need to replace our term-limited Governor and the entire Cabinet, in addition to protecting majorities in the State Senate and State House of Representatives. And we will need to win the many local races across our great state."
The election will be held January in Orlando.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
