With the election of state Rep. Blaise Ingoglia as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, party operatives and consultants are still reeling from his surprise victory over the candidate favored by Gov. Rick Scott and Senate President Andy Gardiner, Leslie Jennings Dougher.
Former Executive Director Justin Johnson resigned within hours of the final vote and the Senate majority moved out of the George Bush Republican Center and withdrew more than $800,000 from state party accounts, transferring it to Gardiner's Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Ingoglia then issued a decree that froze all current spending and vendor contracts, and secured the George Bush Republican Center, headquarters of the RPOF -- not allowing anyone to enter without approval from the new chairman. Florida Politics revealed Saturday night that former RPOF executive director and lauded GOP consultant David Johnson will lead Ingoglia's transition team.
Johnson most recently propelled Carlos Curbelo to victory for a South Florida congressional seat and has longstanding relationships with Gardiner, Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Holly Raschein, R-Key Largo.
Ingoglia also tapped former Charlie Crist campaign staffer Pablo Diaz for the transition team. Diaz, who led Attorney General Pam Bondi to a second term in 2014 is a former high-ranking staffer of the National Federation of Independent Business and one-time deputy executive director of the RPOF.
Let's now examine who some of the top contenders are for executive director, deputy executive director, communications director and political director positions Ingoglia will need to fill in the next week:
EXECUTIVE AND DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mike Shirley. Shirley served as Central Florida field director for the Rick Scott for Governor campaign in 2010 and then as a regional field director for the presidential campaign of Scott's man-crush, Texas Gov. Rick Perry. He is well-respected and a familiar face in Scott World, but also close to Ingoglia' s inner circle. He could work to restore confidence between Scott and the new chairman.
Shirley also has statewide leadership experience, having been selected as RNC's statewide director in Alaska and as the state director for the NRA in the presidential battleground state of Iowa. Insiders tell me Shirley was also part of the Rubio campaign's power structure in the very important I-4 corridor.
With Shirley at the helm, the state GOP has a good shot at getting back on good terms with the governor and Senate Republicans.
Kevin Cleary. Cleary is now a top consultant with Andy Palmer's Tallahassee 96 Consulting Firm, which specializes in digital and direct mail. Cleary served as the Northeast Florida field director for the RPOF from 2008 to 2010.
He then successfully led Ben Albritton's 2010 campaign for State House and was appointed as the Florida Congressional Campaign's director for the RPOF in 2012. Cleary now works as legislative aide to Albritton, R-Bartow. Cleary is congenial, has already worked through two different state party chairmen and has a solid rapport with Jefferson Street power-brokers.
Carolyn Johnson. I first met Johnson when I was statewide chairman of the Florida Federation of Teenage Republicans and was immediately impressed with her management skills. Johnson, a longtime top ally and district secretary for former State Rep. Chris Dorworth, was an effective organizer and leader for the Florida Young Republicans.
Recently, she served as a legislative aide and assistant campaign manager for a statewide ballot amendment. In 2013, she was appointed as director of business and economic development for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a role she has held for the past two years.
Johnson's position with the Florida Chamber would be hard for her to leave, considering the hefty monthly retainer and access she has to industry and business leaders. She is, nonetheless, a good fit.
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Dan Dawson. Does anyone have better hair in Florida politics? Dawson is easily the most hipster Republican operative in the state. He dresses like Ryan Gosling and knows how to communicate the message. Ingoglia has long said that the Republican Party's message is not the problem, it's the communication of that message.
That's where Dawson comes in. Cutting his teeth in field ops for the RPOF in 2008 and 2009, Dawson went on to be Jeff Atwater's travel aide and new media director -- where he was lauded for his digital media efforts for the chief financial officer's campaign. Atwater would go on to win and Dawson would be appointed to lead the war room for presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.
He would parlay that into securing a job as director of New Media of the RPOF and as press ecretary for the Florida Senate. Dawson has the experience to handle communications for the party statewide, but more importantly, the knowledge of how to market the GOP's message to millenials.
Dawson can easily quote Bright Eyes lyrics, knows craft beer better than Rush Limbaugh knows cigars and would pair nicely with Ingoglia, who has a record of embracing social media. He recently opened up his own consulting firm after a solid stint as communications director for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. If Dawson wants back in the game, the RPOF could do no better.
Honorable Mention to Rebecca McLaughlin. She is field director for Americans for Prosperity, treasurer of the Florida College Republicans and district secretary for State Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando. A little green, but I have no doubt she could excel with a little guidance in a statewide role.
POLITICAL DIRECTOR
Alex Melendez. Melendez might not have reached age 30, but his resume would put most politicos 40-plus to shame. Earning his keep as an intern on the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008, he would go on to serve as an intern in the executive office of Gov. Charlie Crist, managing the marketing and communications for Florida's film incentives program.
In 2009, he was appointed as special assistant to then-Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and then as Tampa Bay regional field director for Rick Scott's campaign in 2010. Over the next three years, he would be deputy director of legislative affairs for the Florida Department of Corrections, a regional field director for the Virginia Republican Party, and most recently, deputy campaign manager for the first top-tier gay GOP congressional candidate, Carl DeMaio of California.
If the statewide GOP wants him, they will have to get him to come back across the pond. He is currently in the United Kingdom managing a campaign for Parliament. With his deep connections across the state, in both bureaucratic and political circles, Melendez is a serious contender.
Honorable Mention to Billy Schmidt. The former Tampa Bay regional field director for the RPOF is a supervisor in the Florida Department of Professional and Business Regulation and now a top investigator for the agency. He's got an eye for nonsense, and enough of a political background and connections to make a go of it.
Jacob Engels, is the founder of East Orlando Post & Seminole County Post and keen political observer of Florida politics. He can be reached at info@eastorlandopost.com
