RNC chairman weighs in on Florida primary results

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters is reacting to state Rep. Angie Nixon’s victory over Alex Vindman in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Nixon, who is a Democratic Socialist, will square off against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in November. 

“I thought before [Moody] was going to win by 10 or 15 points. Now, it’s probably more like 15 or 20 points,” Gruters said in an interview with Spectrum News on Wednesday. 

Gruters said he talked with President Donald Trump Tuesday night and said the President was excited about the GOP candidates in place in Florida heading into the general election. 

In the GOP primary for Governor, Rep. Byron Donalds, who was endorsed by the President, secured victory with 48 percent of the vote. Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins came in second place, garnering 25 percent of the vote. Donalds will face off against Democratic candidate and former Congressman David Jolly in November. 

“It’s tough to be the frontrunner for over a year, and that’s the position that [Donalds] had. But listen, he handled it. He’s raising the resources,” said Gruters.

President Trump also made several endorsements for congressional district races in the Sunshine State, including Gruters’ wife, Sydney Gruters, in the 16th District, who won. 

Catalina Lauf in the 19th District and Rep. Cory Mills in the 7th District were also endorsed by the president, but lost their primaries. Mills is under House Ethics Committee investigation. 

“I would say that Lauf lost because she got the endorsement with two days to go. I think it was probably too late in the cycle. I think too many people already voted. And Cory Mills, one of the things you may not have saw is he was endorsed about a year ago. He had some different issues that he was dealing with, and when Trump came out with the secondary, and actually, he put out the endorsements a third time, Cory Mills was omitted from that second and third tranche,” Gruters said. 

In a social media post Wednesday, President Trump said he had told Cory Mills to leave the race, and has now endorsed the GOP candidate who defeated Mills, Ryan Elijah.