Florida GOP Chair Joe Gruters draws Senate primary opponent. Could Dems decide his fate?

Florida GOP Chair Joe Gruters could be in the unusual position of campaigning for support among Democrats after he drew a primary challenger in his state Senate race and a write-in candidate may fail to qualify.

Republican Michael Johnson qualified Friday to run against Gruters in Senate District 22, which includes all of Sarasota County and part of Manatee County.

Whether Johnson can mount much of a campaign remains to be seen. He lives in Seminole County in the Orlando area, roughly 150 miles from District 22, and seems to be running mainly because he is upset with how Gruters handled a complaint he brought before the Florida GOP regarding the Seminole GOP.

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But Johnson could be a magnet for voters disgruntled with Gruters, particularly Democrats. Democrats can cast ballots in the August GOP primary race if no Democrat or write-in candidate qualifies to run in District 22. Under state election law, any voter living in a district can cast a ballot in a primary race if the primary will decide the election.

Robert Kaplan filed to run as a write-in candidate in District 22 but may not have qualified. Qualifying ended Friday at noon and Kaplan is not listed as having qualified on the state Division of Elections website.

Kaplan said late Friday that he was notified by state officials this week that he made a mistake on the $1,187.88 check he sent to pay the qualifying fee, and also failed to have his financial disclosure form notarized. He said he fixed the errors and sent a package with the correct information via UPS Thursday, and received confirmation that it arrived before noon Friday.

Kaplan hopes that the state simply hasn't processed his qualifying paperwork yet and updated the website, and that he will end up on the ballot.

“We have to sit tight and be cool calm and collected," he said. "That’s what I’m trying to do.”

But the Florida Department of State, which oversees the Division of Elections, posted on Twitter late Friday that "all qualifying paperwork has been processed" and said it's website contains the unofficial list of those who qualified. Kaplan no was longer listed as a candidate on the website. The Division of Elections has until June 24 to officially certify qualified candidates.

If Kaplan fails to qualify it could complicate Gruters' re-election bid. Gruters, a Sarasota native who is seeking a second Senate term, could be an enticing target for Democrats because of his status as one of the most prominent and highly partisan Republicans in Florida. Not only does Gruters chair the Florida GOP, but he was co-chair of former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign in Florida.

Democrats could flock to Johnson to try to send a message to Gruters and the Florida GOP. Johnson also would need to peel off some of Gruters' GOP support in a district that favors Republicans.

It's not clear, though, that Democrats would be any happier with Johnson representing them than Gruters. Johnson is a GOP activist who is involved with his local party and a group called Grassroots for America, which says on its website that it has challenged mask mandates and critical race theory in schools and "uncovered much voter fraud in Seminole County."

Gruters noted in an interview that he has worked on issues "that we all agree on" such as supporting the foster care system and protecting Sarasota County school funding.

"It’s going to be an interesting race because essentially it’s going to be the Democrats who will control my future," Gruters said. "And the question they have to ask themselves is do they want a local leader who has gone to bat for our community on issues like trying to protect funding for our local schools, funding for our local community organizations and on and on, or do they want to some outsider who has probably never even visited Sarasota who obviously is disgruntled?”

Johnson could not be reached for comment. He said in an email to Gruters that he plans to use $100,000 of his own money on the campaign.

"It's going to be fun," Johnson wrote in the email, which Gruters shared with the Herald-Tribune. "Millions of Republicans in this state despise you and your stupidity."

Democrats may not agree with him on many issues, but Gruters said that "over some guy whose from out of town whose obviously a sad, disgruntled angry person I would hope that they’d give me the nod.”

Follow Herald-Tribune Political Editor Zac Anderson on Twitter at @zacjanderson. He can be reached at zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com