John Thrasher is entering the final stretch in his year-long run as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
It's been a tumultuous ride -- more challenging in many ways than his turns as Florida House speaker, lobbyist, lawyer and state senator -- but the St. Augustine Republican feels the best is yet ahead.
Predicting a GOP sweep of state Cabinet offices this fall, as well as further gains in the Legislature, Thrasher says the party's "dark days are behind us."
Thrasher announced at the RPOF's Statesman's Dinner in Orlando last weekend that the event raised "more than $2 million." That was a marked improvement over the party's 2009 fund-raiser, which, he said, actually lost $90,000.
"Things were going downhill," Thrasher recalled in an interview with Sunshine State News this week. "(Charlie) Crist was still a Republican at that time, but he wasn't fund-raising," Or at least not raising funds for the party he would officially desert three months later.
The job of exorcising the ghosts of Crist and Crist's crony, disgraced party boss Jim Greer, fell mainly to Thrasher, who was elected at the party's annual meeting last January. Thrasher agreed to serve one year, and he is sticking by that self-imposed term limit.
He's also reluctant to take credit for whatever changes and reforms have occurred inside the party.
"It's a collective undertaking," he said. "There's a new culture at the party in terms of responsibility and adult leadership."
Calling the indictment of Greer on charges of fraud, grand theft and money-laundering "extraordinarily disappointing," Thrasher said the RPOF has moved forward on the strength of its volunteers.
"It's the enthusiasm of grass-roots folks, sustained by grass-roots people," he said.
With a forensic audit of the Greer era complete and criminal cases in the hands of prosecutors, Thrasher said party activists are focused on the fall campaign -- and he's bullish about the GOP's prospects.
"What I sense in talking with people around the state is that more and more Democrats are worried about the economy. It's straining their loyalty to their own party," he said.
Seeing similarities to 1994, when Republicans swept to power on Capitol Hill, Thrasher predicts that many Florida Democrats "will stay home or vote Republican" this year.
"The intensity is greater than I've seen in my lifetime," he said.
In addition to the GOP winning races for governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner and chief financial officer, Thrasher said Republicans are in position to increase their majority standing in the state Senate from 26 seats to "27 or 28." He suggested the party could even extend its domination in the state House, where it already holds a commanding 76-44 advantage.
In Congress, Thrasher thinks Republicans may pick up three or perhaps four seats, building on their current 15-10 edge.
Contrary to the prevailing media narrative, which argues that all incumbents are at risk everywhere, Thrasher believes Florida's Republicans will survive and thrive in an angst-ridden political climate.
"It's not about incumbents, it's about the Democrats who will pay a price this fall," he says.
The 2010 races are especially significant because state lawmakers, in tandem with the governor, will draw legislative and congressional boundaries for the next decade -- and Thrasher hopes to be in the mix as he runs for re-election to his Jacksonville area Senate seat.
But he's clearly looking forward to turning over the keys of a refurbished party organization to the next RPOF chairman.
"We had two or three people who had the benefit of using (party) money for their own benefit," Thrasher recalled. "Financial controls are now in place. The money doesn't belong to us -- it belongs to the people who gave it."
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
