Thrasher to lead state GOP

Greer resigns suddenly amid discord

By PETER GUINTA

State Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, on Tuesday accepted the temporary chairmanship of the Republican Party of Florida after the sudden resignation of embattled RPOF Chair James A. "Jim" Greer.

Thrasher said he's already received many phone calls in support.

"I'm overwhelmed by it," he said. "What the party needs is a temporary steward to right the ship a little bit. Our job is to raise money, recruit good candidates and get the vote out.

"We're going to be grass-roots and get back to the unity we've had for so many years."

His job as chairman will end after the elections in November.

"This is not something I sought. We'll have a new governor who will put in the people (he or she) wants," he said.

Thrasher said he didn't know Greer very well, but the attacks on the chairman were a "distraction" to the party.

"We have a great opportunity (in 2010) with what's going on in Washington," he said.

Greer, a former Oviedo city councilman, said he would step down Feb. 20. He made $192,025 per year.

Gov. Charlie Crist, a strong Greer supporter, issued a statement after the chairman's announcement, saying the governor now "fully supports" Thrasher.

"(He) is a dedicated public servant, and I look forward to working with him to ensure Republican victories this election cycle," the statement said.

To get Thrasher as state chairman, he needs to be a member of the state committee.

Jon Woodard, St. Johns County's Republican state committeeman, said late Tuesday that he would step down from his seat so that Thrasher may step into it. The chairman must be a member of the state committee to serve.

"I'm honored to be able to help the party," Woodard said. "He can bring people together, and that's what the party needs. It'll be a great thing to have the state party chairman to be from St. Johns County."

Taking his leave

In a conference call Tuesday, Greer touted the successes of the Florida GOP under his three years of leadership. For example, Florida held onto every Republican seat in the House and Senate and returned every Republican to the Legislature, he said.

"I'm very humbled that I've been allowed to serve," he said, adding that Republicans should not continue the self-destructive arguing over the party's direction that has been happening.

"There's a very vocal, very active group that has sought to oust me as chairman. These people planned to use every parliamentary procedure possible to embarrass me. They said they'd continue this fight all the way through the elections in November," Greer said.

His future as chairman was to be decided at the annual state Republican convention in Orlando, set for Saturday.

Accusations against him included mismanagement of party finances and favoritism toward Republican officers who supported Crist rather than Marco Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

Crist and Rubio are contending in a Republican primary to fill a Florida Senate seat.

Greer calls these claims "political rhetoric" with no accuracy or basis in fact. "But they don't want to hear that."

"I've always put the party first. I would not always respond to those criticisms. A chairman should not engage in those battles," he said. "Their efforts and statements led me to recognize that I cannot participate in shredding and tearing the fabric of the Republican Part."

He, like Thrasher, believes the party will do well in the mid-term elections this year.

"We have the greatest opportunity in the last 40 years to win," he said. "It's now time for all Republicans in Florida to focus on electing Republicans in 2010," he said.

He said his decision to resign was made over the last 24 to 48 hours.

"It was obvious to me that these people were not going to stop," he said. "I recognized that I had a higher obligation to the party than others did."

The roots of discord

Creative Loafing, a Tampa alternative newspaper, wrote a long piece on Greer in December taking the chairman to task for his "spendthrift ways, dictatorial style, bloated ego, bad advice, and general buffoonery ... with a penchant for strip clubs, private jets, and buddies like disgraced Crist fundrasier Scott Rothstein."

"The list of party leaders who have signed a recall petition (on Greer) is long and deep and includes representatives from Lee, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Charlotte, Collier, and Duval counties (among others)," the story said.

In addition, there is Greer's distaste for opposition by the right wing of the party.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida, an independent conservative organization inside the party, released a statement last year claiming that Greer had instituted a "party purge" designed to eliminate all RLC members statewide.

Will G. Pitts, a construction company owner who is chairman of the St. Johns County Republican Liberty Caucus, said, "Greer effectively eliminated (from the party structure) those who supported Marco Rubio, and he didn't allow anyone to challenge him."

Pitts was a former precinct captain who was removed from that post by Greer in September and barred from holding any other party leadership post in Florida until 2013. A complaint filed said Pitts had refused to support Arizona Sen. John McCain during the presidential election of 2008.

"The complaint said I embarrassed the party," Pitts said.

The crime?

Pitts and Republican precinct captain and Caucus member John Stevens attended the Libertarian Party's national convention in Milwaukee, held at the same time as the GOP convention, and both wore a "Ron Paul" button.

Neither Pitts nor Stevens denies these actions but stand on their constitutional rights of free speech.

The RPOF's State Committee had this on its complaint against Greer: "That Mr. Greer, as Chairman, has financially mismanaged the RPOF resulting in a 2009 RPOF Core Activities Operations deficit of approximately Four Million dollars ($4,000,000) due to excessive spending."

The opposition's response

Florida's Democrats decided Tuesday not to let slip the opportunity to comment on Republican disarray.

Democratic Leader Al Lawson, D, Tallahassee, release a statement saying he was "deeply concerned" with a fellow legislator taking over the head of a major political party while still in office.

"In a body that has long been known and respected for its collegiality, its decorum and most of all its bipartisan independence, a decision to simultaneously remain in this Senate while leading the Republican Party of Florida threatens its very foundation," Lawson wrote. "You cannot serve two masters."

He said "cynicism and distrust of government" have deepened from scandals and from politicians following their own self-interest.

"In addition, our own rules not only bar any senator from raising money for a political party during a session, they also preclude any senator from allowing personal employment to 'impair his or her independence of judgment in the exercise of official duties,'" the statement said.

He said the state Republican Party had raised $4.5 million in contributions in the last quarter of 2009.

"As lawmakers, our primary duty must be service to the people. Not the party machine," Lawson said.