Lenny Curry: 'I Will Work to Fulfill Dave Bitner's Wishes'

Lenny Curry says he is humbled to be asked to succeed RPOF Chairman Dave Bitner and gratified by the support he's received thus far.

The party's vice chairman was tabbed by Bitner to be the party's next leader when Bitner announced he would be stepping down for health reasons, effective Sept. 23, at the party's Presidency 5 summit in Orlando.

"He asked me and I will work to fulfill his wishes," Curry told Sunshine State News on Thursday.

"I consider Dave a friend. We met a year ago, and he's more than a chairman," said Curry, who was elected vice chairman at the same time Bitner took the helm of the RPOF last winter.

Curry, who resides in the Jacksonville area and heads the Duval County Republican Party,
was grateful for the early, seemingly unanimous statewide support in the wake of Bitner's announcement.

"That's a testament to Dave's leadership," he said.

Curry would not speculate on his long-term plans for the office or who will succeed him as vice chairman, saying, "I'm just focused on serving through the term, and electing the next Republican president of the United State and defeating [Senator] Bill Nelson."

To accomplish those goals, Curry did not say if he would be relocating to Tallahassee, but indicated that he expects to be traveling a lot in the coming months.

"I'll be sleeping in a lot of hotels," he related.