With 2016 around the corner, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) will be hosting the Sunshine Summit in Orlando from Nov. 12-Nov. 14 and the stakes will be high. The presidential hopefuls will take most of the spotlight but there’s another important race already taking shape as Rubio has said he will not run for a second Senate term. Florida Republicans Ron DeSantis, David Jolly, Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Todd Wilcox are already off and running and they will be at the Sunshine Summit trying to win support for their Senate bids.
This is the last in a series as Sunshine State News looked at the presidential hopefuls who will be on stage at the Sunshine Summit and what is at stake as they take their messages to Republicans across Florida.
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Jim Gilmore heads into the Sunshine Summit having to remind Florida Republicans he is actually in the race.
Unlike the other Republican hopefuls, the RPOF did not trumpet Gilmore attending the event. The former Virginia governor has an impressive background and led the RNC but now, making his second presidential bid, Gilmore has been a total non-factor in the race. While Gilmore made the first undercard debate, he has been shut out of the others, leading him to take to Twitter and ripping into the process.
But Gilmore has his strengths outside of hailing from the Old Dominion which is increasingly a swing state in presidential elections. Unlike all of the candidates outside of Lindsey Graham Gilmore has a military background. Gilmore served in the Army and worked in military intelligence during the 1970s. After serving as Attorney General of Virginia, Gilmore was elected governor in 1997 and was at that post during the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. During his term as governor, Gilmore focused on reducing taxes and fees on cars and on education reform.
On the international front, Gilmore chaired the Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction which presented reports to both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush from 1999-2003. Gilmore led the RNC but often clashed with the Bush White House.
But things have turned south for Gilmore in the last decade. Since his single term in Richmond, Gilmore has made two unsuccessful bids for federal office. In April 2007, Gilmore entered the Republican presidential primaries but pulled the plug on his bid less than three months later due to fundraising difficulties. In the 2008 election cycle, Gilmore turned his focus to running for the U.S. Senate after John Warner announced he was retiring. Conservatives came close to denying Gilmore the Republican nomination at the state convention and, in the general election, the former governor was trounced by Democrat Mark Warner, losing 65 percent to 34 percent.
Since then, Gilmore has remained active in political affairs, serving as president and CEO of the conservative Free Congress Foundation and working on homeland security issues. Gilmore sits on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Scheduled to speak to the Sunshine Summit at noon on Saturday, Gilmore has his work cut out for him. Despite his high profile past, Gilmore is largely unknown and has been written off since officially entering the race over the summer. In recent days, Gilmore has been swinging away at some of the top candidates, contrasting his background with those of Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
At the Sunshine Summit, Gilmore needs to make an impression, reminding Florida Republicans that he is still in the race. It’s a tall order and his previous presidential bid and his 2008 Senate try don’t exactly inspire confidence. Gilmore needs a major turn around quickly if he wants to break into the third tier and the Sunshine Summit at least provides him that opportunity.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
