The Republican Party of Florida says come one, come all, to Orlando this October to the party’s Presidential Summit, which will gather all the Republican presidential hopefuls in one area to make their pitch to the Sunshine State.
The event is being dubbed the “Sunshine Summit” by RPOF Chair and State Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, who is making his pitch to all primary nominees to pack their bags and join the summit Oct. 23-24 in Central Florida.
FloridaPolitics.com first reported Ingoglia expects to welcome around 2,500 people to the event, which will be held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort on bustling International Drive. The resort has previously been the site of several RPOF quarterly meetings.
The summit will bundle the RPOF quarterly meeting with the summit. Like the recent quarterly meetings, the summit will follow a somewhat similar schedule -- candidates will be urged to speak to party members, donors and activists through a speaker series and there will be breakout receptions as well.
Saturday events are likely to include a speaker series and breakout receptions. There will also be a debate between Republican candidates for U.S. Senate at the Summit.
As a departure from previous years, there will no longer be a televised debate or a straw poll in this year’s summit.
Party members had specifically suggested the straw poll change throughout several meetings over the last year, with some members explaining they did not want to send the wrong message of favoring one specific Florida-based candidate over another.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have already thrown their hats in the ring for the GOP nomination.
So far, there are no confirmed names attending the summit, but Florida is a key state for any presidential candidate hoping to seal a victory in the race for the nation’s top political job.
Florida is a notorious swing state (and a purple one at that) which has 29 electoral votes. It’s almost certain the winner of the 2016 presidential contest will need to win Florida to emerge victorious.
Ingoglia remained hopeful the GOP would claim success in the Sunshine State come 2016.
“I know that our party will be in a strong position to take back the White House with whoever wins our party’s nomination,” Ingoglia wrote.
Tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Each campaign will be given credentials for the candidate and five more staff members, but additional attendees will need to purchase tickets through the campaign allotment.
It’s uncertain exactly how much each ticket will cost.
RSVP’s for nominees close July 31.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen
