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At your request, I have prepared the following memorandum involving the interpretation
of Republican Party of Florida Rule 9 (Party Loyalty Oath). You specifically asked me to
determine whether the Party Loyalty Oath would allow state and county executive committee
members to support a registered Republican running with no party affiliation in a general
election over the candidate nominated in the Republican primary election. As described below,
my conclusion is that the Party Loyalty Oath forbids Republican Executive Committee members
from supporting any candidate other than the candidate nominated by the voters of the
Republican Party through its primary election.
The Republican Party of Florida requires members of all political party committees
organized under the RPOF to abide by a Party Loyalty Oath. The loyalty oath is contained in
Rule 9 of the RPOF Rules of Procedure. The Rule provides, in relevant part, that
At the heart of the Party Loyalty Oath is the requirement that members of the Republican
Party of Florida’s Executive Committees – from precinct committeemen and committeewomen
in each county all the way up to the national committeeman and committeewoman – cannot
provide their active, public, or financial support to any candidate other than “the Republican
candidate” in a general election. The requirement of party loyalty is appropriate given the
leadership roles within the party performed by executive committee members.
RPOF Rule 9 contains a few limited exceptions to its general requirement that members
support “the Republican candidate.” For “non-partisan” races, in which no partisan primary is
held and in which the party affiliation of the candidates does not appear on the ballot, the loyalty
oath requires executive committee members to refrain from supporting any candidate other than
a registered Republican (if there is a registered Republican running for the office). Because
judicial races are specifically exempted from the loyalty oath, executive committee members
may support judicial candidates of their choosing without regard to political party affiliation.
In sum, Republican Party of Florida Rule 9 prohibits any member of the Republican State
Executive Committee or of any County Executive Committee from “actively, publicly, or
financially” supporting a candidate running with no party affiliation over “the Republican
candidate” chosen in the primary election. Any member who fails to formally revoke his or her
public support and request the return of any contributions made to a candidate running against
the candidate of the Republican Party would be in violation of the RPOF Rules and would be
subject to removal from party office and membership on Republican executive committees.