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Joe Gruters (born June 7, 1977) is Chairman of the a Florida Republican Party, elected January 12, 2019. He is a member of the Florida Senate representing the 23rd District, which consists of Sarasota County and part of Charlotte County.

He was the Campaign Manager for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan in 2006, was President of the Sarasota Young Republicans, Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, and for the last 10 years as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota. Gruters has been in that position longer than any other Chairman in Sarasota County’s history. He also Co-Chaired the Donald J. Trump's campaign for President in Florida and was Co-Chairman of the 2016 Republican National Committee's Platform Committee on Restoring the American Dream.

Political History
Gruters early political career was not successful, including a failed run for the Florida House of Representatives while still a student at Florida State University. He lost his first two elections and then worked behind the scenes on several more losing campaigns.

His political record changed when he joined U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s original successful 2006 campaign for the United States Congress. Political reporter Zac Anderson wrote in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "He has been on a hot streak ever since, winning the job of Sarasota GOP chairman in 2008, gaining clout as an early backer of Gov. Rick Scott in 2010 and becoming vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida this year."

Republican Party of Sarasota
Gruters turned around the Republican Party of Sarasota County. In 2008, Barak Obama came within 237 votes of beating John McCain in a GOP heavy county. A month after that election, Gruters became chairman of the Sarasota County GOP in his early 30s with the goal of ensuring the area's Presidential contest was never close again. And in 2012, Gruters delivered as Mitt Romney won Sarasota County by 15,400 vote margin for Mitt Romney over the incumbent president. In 2016, Sarasota County went for Trump by a margin of more than 26,000 votes.

Gruters’ political success with Gov. Rick Scott gained him a high-profile appointment to the Florida State University Board of Trustees and influential political backers when he ran for the Florida House of Representatives' seat in 2016.

Early Donald Trump supporter
His highest profile and most risky decision was jumping in to support Donald Trump early in the primaries, which resulted in him being Co-Chairman of the successful 2016 Trump for President campaign in Florida. Gruters forged a relationship with Donald Trump in 2012 after GOP leaders snubbed the New York celebrity Republican National Convention in Tampa, just north of Sarasota. As the Sarasota GOP Chairman in touch with the rank-and-file, Gruters understood what the GOP leadership did not — Trump was resonating with grass roots in the GOP. He cold-called Trump to invite him to speak in Sarasota the night before the convention. Trump agreed. "This Joe's some piece of work," Trump said when he took the stage that night.

In 2016, the same year he delivered Sarasota County resoundingly for Trump, Gruters won his election to the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 73rd District, which includes Eastern Manatee County and Northeastern Sarasota County, from 2016. In 2018, he won election to the Florida Senate representing the 23rd District, consisting of Sarasota County and part of Charlotte County.

Republican Party of Florida
Gruters was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida by a huge margin January 11, 2019 at the Republican Party of Florida's annual meeting in Orlando, handing out red “Keep Florida Great” hats ahead of the vote. His easy election was a result of the re-unification of the Republican Party of Florida after a split during the Governor Rick Scott's terms.

The Miami Herald reported on the election the next day, "One of Donald Trump’s closest allies in Florida has been named chairman of the state party, strengthening the president’s already strong grip on the nation’s largest swing state ahead of his reelection bid in 2020."

“We have a singular focus over the next two years,” Gruters said. “And that’s getting our president reelected.”

Gruters said expects Florida Republicans to be unified and focused on 2020. “I think we’ll have the resources we need. I think people understand the importance that Florida has on the national election,” he said. “Donald Trump can’t be our president if he can’t win Florida.”

Politics and Principles
Gruters is a pro-business, pro-life, pro-environment conservative who has gotten sideways from the Party leadership and conventional political thinking a few times.

He is supported by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and is given high ratings from pro-business organizations. He has also introduced pro-environment legislation regarding red tide and other water quality issues in Florida, such as restoring septic tank inspection rules that had been lifted during the recession.

Professional
Gruters is a licensed Certified Public Accountant by training and is a principle in Paoli & Gruters Certified Public Accountants, which has offices in Venice and Sarasota, Florida. Previously, Gruters was the Chairman of the Sarasota County Planning Commission, on the Board of Directors for the Florida Sports Foundation and on the Executive Board as Treasurer for the Sarasota Humane Society.

Personal life
Joe Gruters is a fourth generation Sarasotan. His great grandfather William Hobson moved the family to Sarasota in 1922 to serve as the chief tent maker for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Gruters graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1996 and is a graduate of both the Florida State University (undergraduate degree) and the University of South Florida (Masters in Business Administration, MBA). He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant.

Gruters lives in Sarasota County, is married to Sydney Gruters and they have three children.