Florida delegates may vote against -- or voice their disapproval of -- a portion of the national partys platform aimed squarely at the Sunshine State.
The Republican Party's Convention Rules Committee on Sunday approved stricter regulations for any state that in the future violates party rules by moving a scheduled presidential preference primary up on the calendar.
The new rule would reduce Floridas delegation from 99 members to 10 if the state decides for the third consecutive cycle to move up its primary.
Currently, states that move up on the schedule have their delegations cut in half.
That is something well have to really think about, National Committeewoman and RNC Co-Chairwoman Sharon Day, from Fort Lauderdale, told the Republican Party of Florida's executive committee at Innisbrook Resort and Spa in Palm Harbor.
We can vote against it, not that it would matter, answered Ray Valdes, a district committeeman from Seminole County.
Members of the Republican-led state Legislature moved up the primaries in both 2008 and 2012 to give the state more of a say in the selection process.
This year, Floridas delegation was cut from 99 to 50 because of an early primary. The party has somewhat relented by allowing the 49 others to join the delegation on the convention floor as "nonvoting guests."
In fact, the Innisbrook is the resort where Florida conventioneers were assigned to stay. The far-flung resort is part of the NRC's punishment. Conventioneers face an hour long drive each way to the Tampa Bay Times Forum and convention headquarters. Buses have been reserved for the trips, but those who ride them are being urged to "be vigilent" about departure times.
The preferential primary issue may not arise in four years, it was noted, if Mitt Romney is seeking a second term in 2016.
Day noted that the rules committee rejected an effort to give states like Florida that have closed primaries -- where voters can decide at the last minute their political preference -- additional delegates.
An effort also failed to allow states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina, which traditionally have early primaries, to avoid being penalized.Both states were sanctioned after advancing their primaries in response to Florida's move.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
