Florida makes a play for the Republican convention

MIAMI — President Donald Trump’s allies in his newly adopted home state of Florida are making a play to snatch the Republican National Convention from North Carolina.

Moving the presidential nominating convention to Florida — with Republican-led Jacksonville as a likely host city — was raised as a serious option to Trump in a phone call Sunday by one of his new favorite congressmen, Florida Rep. Michael Waltz, who represents Jacksonville and Orlando.

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During the call, which concerned Trump’s plan to attend Wednesday’s SpaceX launch in Cape Canaveral, the congressman made a point of drawing attention to a Washington Examiner article last month in which the president expressed frustration with social distancing rules enforced by North Carolina’s Democratic governor that would make a traditional convention nearly impossible.

“That’s what kind of sparked the neuron there,” Waltz said he thought after reading the Examiner report.

“Hey, Mr. President, Florida will roll out the red carpet for you,” Waltz said he told Trump when the president returned his call Sunday. “We’re excited to have you for the launch. We had you for the reelect rally, which was just phenomenal. And we would love to have the RNC convention. Orlando and Jacksonville are both in my district. I’m from Jacksonville, so I’m a tiny bit biased.”

The following day, Trump tweeted his concerns about North Carolina.

Republicans familiar with negotiations over the convention, however, said a move from Charlotte would be difficult because contracts already are signed. And while the president outwardly seems bent on having as traditional a convention as possible, there’s still a chance it will be too much of a risk to have thousands of people mingling if the coronavirus outbreak doesn’t lift.

In contrast to Trump and Republicans, Democrats and their presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden are discussing ways to scale back their Milwaukee convention and hold some of it virtually.

But in Florida, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry told POLITICO that a convention could be held safely in his city and he would welcome it. Local Duval County Republicans also tweeted their support of the idea.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump ally whose old congressional district is now represented by Waltz, voiced his own support for the move Tuesday.

“Florida would love to have the RNC. Heck, I’m a Republican, it would be good for us to have the DNC in terms of the economic impact,” DeSantis told reporters in Miami. RNC officials, he noted, already have raised a lot of money for the event planned for North Carolina.

„If it ends up in Florida, a lot of that work in terms of raising funds has already been done,“ DeSantis said. „It would kind of be a plug-and-play thing.”

Waltz said he’s coordinating with DeSantis and Curry.

Jacksonville has adequate hotel space, its political leaders are Republican and its electorate leans that way. It shares a media market with nearby bordering Georgia, another political battleground that the president is considering for his nominating convention.

But Georgia’s Republican governor lacks the kinship Trump has with DeSantis. Trump recently changed his home address to Florida, which is a must-win state for the president’s reelection.

“You can win without those other states, but Florida is critical to you winning,” Waltz said he told the president. “And the other piece, a little bit selfishly for me: It would be such a shot in the arm for our economy.”

Having a convention in Florida, though, is no guarantee of a win there. In 2012, Republican Mitt Romney lost the state after Tampa hosted the Republican convention. President Barack Obama lost North Carolina after Democrats held his nominating convention in Charlotte.

Waltz acknowledged that there are risks bringing 50,000 people to a convention, but said “everyone needs to follow the guidelines.“

“Florida is not going to be able to relaunch without tourism,” Waltz said. “And that means bringing people in. We just have to all be adults.“

„That’s at the crux of this debate,“ he said, „the personal responsibility element versus government mandates.”

Contrary to speculation that the president would want the convention in the South Florida cities of Doral or near Palm Beach, where Trump owns properties, those areas were never part of any discussion. Both are in Democratic strongholds, as is Orlando, where local political opposition would be greater than in Jacksonville.

South Florida also has higher coronavirus infection rates and is under more stringent lockdown regimens.

A Northeast Florida Republican who did not want to be identified said Jacksonville sees the convention pitch as a “no-lose” situation.

“We’re told the contracts are signed in North Carolina and there’s a low chance of this happening in Jacksonville,” the official said. “We’ll take it. But we’ll also help the president force a Democrat governor to honor his commitments and hear the howls of hoteliers and businesses in Charlotte who desperately need the money. Either way, we win. Trump wins.”

Waltz said the “leverage” issue wasn’t discussed with Trump and that he’s serious about having the convention here.

“If the government in North Carolina is going to stick hard and fast to absolute, strict lockdowns, then I think he has to look at Plan B, and I’m pushing Florida as hard as I can for that,” Waltz said. “It behooves us to speak with one voice for our state.”

Gabby Orr and Matt Dixon contributed to this report

Source: politico.com
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