Republicans in Disarray in Donald Trump's Backyard

Florida Republicans in Palm Beach County are holding a vote of no-confidence on their chairman Thursday evening, roughly nine months before the 2024 election.

The vote, called on by the Palm Beach County Republican Party's vice chair, threatens to remove Chairman Kevin Neal, who was elected to his leadership position in June 2023. Critics of Neal have expressed concerns over his fundraising and voter mobilization efforts—both potential hurdles for Republicans nationwide ahead of the next presidential election, according to a report by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Palm Beach County, home of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, has swung in Republicans' favor in recent years. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis swept the county in 2022, despite President Joe Biden beating Trump in Palm Beach by over 12 percentage points in 2020. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also beat Trump in the 2016 election in the county. Trump won the state of Florida, however, in both years.

According to the Sun Sentinel's report, Republicans in Palm Beach spent more than they have received in contributions in the second half of 2023. The party brought in around $77,000 between July and December but spent roughly $246,000 during that same time.

Neal is also being sued for libel by a member of the county's GOP ruling body, Anthony Ruffa, a physician in West Palm Beach who claims that the chairman made several "false statements of fact" during an October 19 meeting held by the county's Republican Executive Committee. According to court documents, Neal falsely accused Ruffa of bombarding the chairman's personal email account and repeatedly threatening Neal's family. Neal told the Palm Beach Post in December that the allegations were "false."

Other critics of Neal include Florida State Rep. Rick Roth, the vice chair of the county's Republican Party who told the Sun Sentinel that Neal "has a different philosophy of how to run a board and how to run an organization."

"This is a membership organization, which requires the chair to provide leadership and direction so that the members can support a plan," Roth said. He called the special meeting Thursday evening to vote on removing Neal. "Unfortunately, there's been no plan."

Neal also turned heads after he removed the party's longtime events chair, Linda Stoch, who was previously in charge of the annual Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser hosted in March at Mar-a-Lago. Roth told the Sun Sentinel that removing Stoch was "a major problem," and other state Republicans have claimed that preparations for this year's fundraiser are behind.

Speaking with Newsweek on Thursday, Neal said that the changes under his leadership were necessary for his county's GOP because Republicans have historically lost in Palm Beach County.

"The problem is we've been losing, and I credit my critics don't want to acknowledge that," Neal said.

According to the chairman, since 2008, Republicans have won only 30 percent of elections at the local, state and national levels in Palm Beach County. He noted, however, that the county is starting to turn in the GOP's favor, with Republican voter registration beating out Democrats in recent years.

"Florida's growing, the county is growing, and it's getting more and more red," he told Newsweek. "And our strategies need to reflect that."

Neal also touted the Lincoln Day fundraiser coming in March, saying that while "it's an easy thing to say that the money hasn't come in, but that doesn't mean the money isn't going to come."

"Republicans in Palm Beach County look forward to this event," he added. "We've gotten great feedback from people who already signed on to save the day...people want to attend, they're excited to attend and we will raise money in the process."

The issues plaguing Trump's backyard are an insight into the trials the Republican Party is facing ahead of the November election. Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel's leadership has been repeatedly questioned by members of her party in recent years over concerns with the GOP's fundraising efforts and the disappointing election results in 2022 and 2023.

Florida's Republican Party also faced tribulations after the state's former GOP chairman, Christian Ziegler, was accused of raping a woman with whom he and his wife previously had a three-way sexual encounter. Ziegler was ousted from his position in a 199-3 voice vote earlier this month.

Ziegler was replaced by the state party's former vice chair, Evan Power, a lobbyist from Tallahassee, Florida, who said that being appointed to the chairman position was "the honor of a life."

"Under his strong leadership, we will Keep Florida RED, deliver Florida's 30 electoral votes to the GOP presidential candidate, and elect Republicans up and down the ballot," the Florida GOP said in a post to X, formerly Twitter, regarding Power's election.