A GOP official chuckled at a question I posed. Why would the far right try so hard to take over local party apparatuses. Aren’t these intra-party battles just ego flexes when people should focus on real elections?  “The Republican Party is a powerful tool,” replied Jonathan Martin, Lee County Republican Party chair at the time.

It’s no wonder he laughed at the question. To someone within the system it seemed obvious. Control the local party and you suddenly have access to resources that matter in bigger efforts.

In Sarasota County, a recent attempt by hard right activists, led by Michael Flynn, failed to seize the local Republican Executive Committee chairmanship from Jack Brill, outgoing Chairman Joe Gruters’ chosen successor. In Manatee, there was a similar failed attempt to unseat Chairman Steve Vernon, who ironically had spent years trying to push aside former Chair Kathleen King.

But Flynn and cohorts, including Collier County donor Alfie Oakes and former lawmaker Anthony Sabatini, succeeded in snagging other chairmanships around the state. They have enough power to force Gruters as Republican Party of Florida chair to call a special meeting and maybe pass a resolution saying Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel should go away.

If most of these names mean nothing to you, that probably means you live a happier life than us political junkies. Intraparty squabbles employing byzantine bylaws to compel public statements that someone mildly famous is bad at their job sounds like a serious waste of time.

Except there are higher stakes. The coming resolution is as much a show of force as anything. Flynn’s army of malcontents want control of the state party, indeed a powerful tool. 

Look at the Midterms. Not to take credit from Gov. Ron DeSantis for lifting the GOP ticket statewide, but Florida over-performed other states because of voter registration efforts by Gruters that were not matched by anyone.

Those who followed Gruters' career in Sarasota know his focus on growing raw numbers produces results. He took over the Sarasota party after an election where Barack Obama came a few hundred votes shy of winning the county for the first time since any Democcrat since Harry Truman. Some 14 years later, it’s a solid Republican County. Gruters was rewarded for that four years ago with his elevation to state chair, and expanded his strategy statewide to bountiful results.

Yet to hard right activists, Gruters’ failure to push a red meat agenda mars his time. It’s why Flynn found eager voices among the Proud Boy set who felt they were not heard in the local party. In some counties, enough hardcore extremists bought that message a new set of leaders was elected.

As we sit, Gruters aims to join McDaniel’s team as Treasurer for the RNC. Close Gruters ally Christian Ziegler, while no McDaniel fan, wants to replace him as state chair. But the Flynn set wants none of that. Sabatini notably recruited Evan Power, Ziegler’s chief rival for state chair, to sign onto the petition demanding the special meeting on McDaniel. Many expect Sabatini to run for state chair, if not this year then soon enough.

Those who hate the direction of the state under Republican leadership may hope chaos consumes the organization. A mutiny may sound like good news. But remember the state party still holds power. If it starts passing resolutions demanding statewide election audits, the Legislature and Governor may listen. The state chair could greatly influence a GOP Presidential Primary in 2024.

Never forget. The Republican Party is a powerful tool. Pay attention to who wields it.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor to SRQ MEDIA.