How the will of Sarasota County Republican voters was overturned in 2012
In 2012, Sarasota voters witnessed how important loyalty is to the Florida GOP. It was more important than the will of their voters, as the clear winner of the 2012 Sarasota County Republican State Committeewoman race was unseated. Why? She wasn’t “loyal” enough.
Linda Long actively campaigned in 2012 for Sarasota County Republican State Committeewoman. She campaigned at local GOP clubs. She pressed the flesh. She gave speeches. She smiled for the camera. She made phone calls. She spoke to the press. She spent money ($8,000!) on billboards and campaign materials. Linda Long won her race with 9,249 votes – more votes than any of her female competitors. The second place candidate, Casey Pilon, got 7,268 votes. Long also got more votes than the 2012 winner of Sarasota County Republican State Committeeman race, Christian Ziegler, who got 7,189 votes. Long was the clear winner.
But Linda Long forgot to do one thing. She forgot to sign one of the Florida GOP loyalty oaths.
Long acknowledged her mistake. Somehow she missed signing the State GOP’s loyalty oath.
But here’s the thing. Long DID sign two other loyalty oaths. Long signed a GOP loyalty oath as a state committeewoman candidate, an oath which was notarized and filed with the Sarasota Supervisor of Elections. The second oath Long signed, with wording identical to the oath demanded by the state, was filed with the local party. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for the Florida GOP. The Sarasota County Republican Party State Committeewoman position went to the candidate who came in second, Casey Pilon.
“I’m heartbroken about it,” Long said at the time. “This is painful, upsetting and embarrassing. It’s extremely unfair to a party loyalist like me.”
The Florida GOP had no problem overturning the results of their own local Sarasota County election. The Florida GOP had no problem disenfranchising their own Sarasota Republican voters due to a missing loyalty oath. It didn’t matter to the Florida GOP that Long had already signed an identical oath with the Sarasota GOP. Why? Word is, at the time, the Florida GOP was looking to block seating “tea party” candidates who had won their races but were unfamiliar with the state GOP rules and hadn’t signed (or were reluctant to sign) loyalty oaths. Long wasn’t a tea party member, but the Florida GOP didn’t mind sacrificing her to block winning GOP “tea party” candidates who failed to file their loyalty oaths.
Today, this past weekend the Florida GOP eliminated their loyalty oath requirement to accommodate Donald Trump supporters. Apparently the Florida GOP’s loyalty requirements are -hmm- more flexible these days.
Too late for Linda Long.
But, a good lesson for us all. In Florida GOP politics, loyalty is in the eye of the beholder. It will be invoked, or discarded, as the winning GOP faction sees fit.
What about voters, you say? It’s clearly not about them.
Nice to hear that the GOP cares no more for themselves than the non-Republican voters
Politics at all levels of the govt in this country are so corrupt. I’m getting to the point where I am ashamed to be a citizen of this country. I’m not at all surprised to hear of something like this happening here in SRQ after having lived here over 50 years and following the politics. The more things change, the more they stay the same.