This is a brief explanation of the structure and function of the Republican Party in Florida. It is meant for people who know nothing about this, and for people who are newly interested and don’t have a complete understanding.
There is a national Republican Party, the Republican National Committee (RNC), which is comprised of representatives from every state. The Republican Party of Florida sends one man and one woman to be members of the Republican National Committee. They are known as the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. The Republican Party of Florida, RPOF, is comprised of approximately 260 members. Each county sends three representatives: the county Committee Chair, plus the county Committeeman and county Committeewoman, properly known as State Committeeman and State Committeewoman.
Each county has its own subdivision of the state Party. Each subdivision is a separate entity. There are 67 Republican Executive Committees in Florida, one for each county. Their structure and function is controlled mainly by the rules of the Republican party of Florida. But Florida state law also comes to play.
The county party is comprised of representatives from each precinct within the county. Each precinct is allowed one Precinct Committeeman and one Precinct Committeewoman. Then, for each 1,000 additional registered voters, there is another Precinct Committeeman and Precinct Committeewoman.
In Lake County, we have 91 precincts. Most have only two representatives, one man, one woman. The largest precinct, Mineola, has 11 Precinct Committeemen and 11 Precinct Committeewomen. In total, Lake County is allowed to have more than 500 precinct representatives. For the past four years, we have had approximately 100 to 120. The Precinct Committeeman and Committeewoman, plus the State Committeeman and Committeewoman are elected by voters in the primary election in August 4 years, the same years as Presidential elections. Their terms begin on December 1 and end on November 30. The State Committeeman and Committeewoman are elected by Republican voters from the entire county. Republican voters in each precinct elect the Precinct Committeemen and Committeewomen for the precinct in which they reside.
Normally, the same people are reelected again and again for these positions, until they choose to resign, because few people choose to take on this position. Occasionally more than one person qualifies for this position, and there is an actual election on the primary ballot. This only happens when there are more people qualifying than seats available.
When a person choses to join the Republican Executive Committee between election years, they may be appointed by the current members of the committee to fill the remainder of an unexpired term. The 4 year terms begin on December 1 and end on November 30 for both elected and appointed members.
ALL terms expire on November 30, so all members must re-qualify in June with the Supervisor of Elections for the county in which they reside. This is done by submitting two forms: DS-DE 84 and DS-DE 301C. This qualifies the individual for the position. After the Primary Election, newly elected members must also submit a signed and witnessed Party Loyalty Oath to the current County Chair in order to be fully qualified as a voting member of county Executive Committee.
In December of the election years, the newly qualified members hold an “Organizational Meeting” in which new officers are elected, the most important of which is the Chair. The Chair is one of the 3 representatives to the Republican Party of Florida, and sets the direction for the operation of the county Executive Committee. Executive Committee members (Precinct Committeemen and Committeewomen) in addition to State Committeeman and Committeewoman are elected to 4 year terms. The county Executive Committee officers are elected to a 2 year term.
In January, following the election years, the Republican Party of Florida meets to elect new officers to a two year term. These officers largely control the direction and operation of the Republican Party of Florida.
In addition to the county representatives, there are 30 members of the RPOF appointed by Tallahassee: 10 by the Governor, 10 by the Speaker of the House and 10 by the Senate President. Also, the 20 Republican members of Congress representing Florida are members of the RPOF. In total, this amounts to approximately 20% of the entire membership of the RPOF.
The RPOF and county Executive Committees are ruled by Constitutions and Bylaws drafted and voted on by members of the RPOF. MOST RPOF members are voted into office by Republicans voters in the county where they reside.