Sarasota, get ready to become Trump central.
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign announced Friday that it will open an office in Sarasota and that local GOP chairman Joe Gruters is joining the Trump team as the Florida chairman.
“My message is clearly resonating in Florida,” Trump said in a statement. “We have tremendous support from so many great people in the state. I am proud to watch that support grow, to see our team expand and to be leading in the polls here.”
The move is a big opportunity for the highly-ambitious Gruters that also comes with some risks.
As Trump’s top man in Florida, Gruters will be the face of a campaign that has rocketed to the top of the polls and is upending the GOP establishment.
Gruters said he expects to be intimately involved with all aspects of the Trump campaign in Florida and that the Sarasota office will be the state headquarters.
“The opportunity to lead a campaign that’s in the lead and going to win is really incredible,” he said.
The position will give Gruters statewide exposure and could create opportunities for him to advance in politics, especially if his candidate wins.
But Trump is a highly-polarizing figure, one who has turned off many with his constant insults and heated rhetoric on immigration and other issues. Gruters could be risking his future in elected office by taking such a prominent role with the campaign. He is currently running for the state House and could be a candidate for Congress or other offices in the future.