Joseph Ryan Gruters (born July 6,1977) is an American politician and accountant who serves as chairman of Republican National Committee.[1] He has been a member of the Florida Senate since 2018 and formerly the treasurer of the RNC. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2018 and was the chair of the Florida Republican Party from 2019 to 2023. He became chair of the national party during the summer meeting of the party on August 22,2025.
Gruters lost his first two elections and worked behind the scenes on several more losing campaigns.[3] He joined Vern Buchanan’s original successful 2006 campaign for Congress.[4] Gruters subsequently was chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota for ten years,longer than any of his predecessors.[5]
Gruters advanced politically as an early supporter of Rick Scott during his successful 2010 campaign for governor of Florida. That support earned Gruters an appointment by the governor to the Florida State University board of trustees. In 2015,he became vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) and had strong political backers when he ran for a Florida House of Representatives seat in 2016.[4] Gruters also is one of Donald Trump's closest political allies in Florida.[6] An early Trump supporter,Gruters was Florida co-chairman of Trump's 2016 campaign.[7] Gruters forged a relationship with Donald Trump in 2012 after Republican leaders snubbed the New York celebrity at the Republican National Convention in Tampa,Florida that also would advance him. Trump accepted an invitation from Gruters to speak in Sarasota the night before the convention.[8] Gruters arranged for Trump to be declared "Statesman of the year" several times at Republican political functions in Sarasota.[citation needed] In 2023,Gruters was appointed by Trump to manage the funds in a tax-exempt nonprofit that allows dark money donors to Trump to remain anonymous to both the public and to the IRS under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code,the Patriot Legal Defense Fund that is described as Trump's legal defense expense fund.[9][10] On April 17,2025,the president announced that he appointed Gruters to the latest version of the White House Homeland Security Council and a local Florida publication noted the continuing financial dividends Gruters reaps from his relationship to the president.[11][12]
Florida party chair
Gruters was elected to a two-year term as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida on January 11,2019,at the party's annual meeting in Orlando,winning a two-year term. He defeated Bob Starr of Charlotte County and succeeded state Representative Blaise Ingoglia. Gruters passed out red "Keep Florida Great" hats ahead of the vote and declared that his "singular focus over the next two years" was winning reelection for Trump in 2020. Gruters's easy election coincides with more internal unity among the Florida Republican Party,which had been divided after a Jim Greer scandal and had suffered internal fractures during Governor Rick Scott's terms,when Scott withdrew financial and organization support for the party after Ingoglia had defeated Scott's preferred candidate.[6] Although President Trump nominated Gruters to the Amtrak board of directors,subject to confirmation by the United States Senate,[13] the confirmation was neither confirmed nor rejected,but was sent back to the president.[14]
Gruters unanimously won a second two-year term as RPOF chairman in 2021.[15]
Florida party voter registration surge
Because relocation of many Republican voters from other states among the growing state population the gradual narrowing of the gap between Democrats and Republicans in Florida began to speed up and in two years,Florida Republicans had overtaken Democrats in voter registration.[16] Florida voter registration numbers had risen to approximately 5.15 million registered Republicans compared to 4.47 million Democrats —translating into a GOP lead of more than 680,000 registered voters more than the Democrats.[17] Data further showed that the emphasis on Republican voter registration was resulting in a 2022 registration advantage that was growing by roughly 30,000 voters every month.[18] When Gruters took over the RPOF in 2019,Democrats held a 225,000 voter registration advantage,according to the Florida Division of Elections.[16]
During his four-year chairmanship of the Republican Party of Florida,Gruters made voter registration a party priority. With funding help from Governor Ron DeSantis,[19] the number of registered Republican voters surged in Florida during his tenure,[17] This increase in voter registrations for the party and an associated get-out-the-vote campaign resulted in record wins for Florida Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections,including DeSantis at the top of the ticket winning 62 of Florida's 67 counties (which included the normally Democratic Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties).[20] The election also saw Republicans winning a super majority in both the Florida House and Senate.[21]
Florida saw substantial electoral victories for the party in both the 2020 presidential election and in the 2022 midterms. President Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden 51.22 percent vs. Biden 47.86 percent,a 3.36 percent margin,greatly expanding his narrow 2016 Florida victory margin. In 2022,Republican Governor Ron DeSantis defeated Democrat Charlie Crist 59.4 percent to 40 percent,a 19.4 point margin,while Republican Senator Marco Rubio defeated Democrat Val Demings 57.7 percent to 41.3 percent,a 16.4 point margin.[22] The Florida GOP also flipped four U.S. House seats in the midterms.[23] In the same time frame,the Republican Party won super majorities in the Florida Senate (28–12) and in the Florida House (85–35).[24]
Florida legislature
Gruters in 2017,Florida state representative portrait
Gruters introduced three environmental bills in December 2018,ahead of the legislative session to address red tide and other issues:one bill would restore septic inspection regulations that had been lifted during the Great Recession and another would fine polluters for sewage spills.[27][28]
In the wake of a fatal shooting at a California synagogue in 2019,the Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill by Gruters to combat anti-Semitism,including by requiring schools to deal with anti-Semitic behavior the same way they do racial discrimination.[29]
Gruters was a driving force behind Florida's 2019 law (S.B. 198) that forces local and state law enforcement to honor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,(ICE),detainers and prohibits local government from implementing "sanctuary" policies (which no Florida government had adopted). The controversial bill passed the Florida Senate 22-18,[30][31] and was signed into law by Florida's Republican governor,Ron DeSantis.[31]
Gruters filed a bill to ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization.[33]
Gruters sponsored Senate Bill 230,a piece of legislation that would reinstate Florida's controversial quest to identify purported noncitizen voters. The legislation would require the supervisor of elections in each Florida county to enter into a local agreement with court officials to obtain a list of jurors who have self-identified as non-citizens. That list would then be compared to the registered voter rolls and the non-citizen names would be purged from voter rolls.[34] Prior efforts to purge the voters in Florida have been botched,with lists of purported "noncitizens" containing some U.S. citizens. The president of the League of Women Voters of Florida called Gruters' piece of legislation "most likely a politically motivated proposal".[34]
Gruters also proposed legislation that would ban smoking at public beaches statewide. Convicted violators would be fined up to $25 or sentenced to ten hours of public service.[35]
In 2019,he introduced the Florida Inclusive Workforce Act to ban employmentdiscrimination against LGBT people.[36] This was a scaled-back version of the legislation;unlike the anti-discrimination bill Gruters had previously supported,it would not extend the anti-discrimination provisions in housing and public accommodations.[37] The omissions were opposed by the LGBT rights group Equality Florida;Gruters defended the bill's incrementalist approach,saying it would maximize the chances of passage.[37]
After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump refused to concede while making false claims of fraud,Gruters pushed for legislation in the Florida legislature that would restrict voting rights in the state. In 2021,Gruters called for cancelling all existing mail-in ballot requests,saying they would be "devastating" for Republicans up for re-election in 2022.[38]
He sponsored Bill HJR 31 and guided it through the Florida legislature so that it would be a constitutional amendment proposal presented to the voters on the 2024 ballot as amendment 1. The proposal intended to do away with an existing state constitutional requirement that school board candidates run in non-partisan races,without party labels. During the discussion on the Senate floor,Gruters tried to assure opponents of the politicalization of school board races that the proposed amendment was a move toward "transparency".[39] The proposed amendment was defeated on November 8,2024.[40]
State legislation proposals
As a Florida state senator,Gruters proposed several pieces of legislation related to sanctuary cities,E-Verify for businesses,and immigration enforcement practices that were adopted.[41][42]
State anti-sanctuary city legislation
In 2019,Gruters proposed,and DeSantis signed into law,the “Rule of Law Adherence Act”(SB168[43]) to require law enforcement agencies to support,not obstruct,the enforcement of federal immigration law. The bill effectively banned sanctuary jurisdictions within the state of Florida.[44] "We passed the strongest ban on sanctuary cities in the entire country",Gruters said at the time. The law was "about criminal illegal aliens who have broken other laws".[41] DeSantis added of Gruters' bill:"This bill is simple …it's our state's policy that we work with the federal government",DeSantis said,adding that sanctuary cities "defy federal law".[41]
State E-Verify for businesses
After a 2019 trip to the U.S.–Mexico border,Gruters announced he was going to work to require Florida businesses to use a federal immigration database to check whether the businesses' workers are in the country legally. “We want to make sure we have the laws in place we need",Gruters said. "We want to capitalize on the success we have had so far and we want to keep on going."[45]
E-Verify was finally passed into Florida law (CS/CS/SB 1718)[46] in 2023,after a long battle in the Florida Legislature. The law requires private businesses with 25 or more employees to use the E-Verify system for new employees,while the law retains the requirements for public employers and contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system.[47]
Florida illegal immigrant bill
In 2025,the Florida legislature passed Gruters' bill (SB 2-C),[48] which DeSantis signed into law just hours after it passed.[49] The Florida law toughens penalties for crimes committed by illegal immigrants;creates a statewide immigration enforcement panel;imposes the death penalty for illegal immigrants who commit first-degree murder or rape children;and makes it a state crime for illegal immigrants to enter the state.[50]
It was a fight in the legislature and with the governor at times to get the bill passed. In the end,DeSantis said:"I have no hard feelings at all. You know,these are not easy issues... There were differences of opinion about how to go about it,the timing,the substances,and we brought it all in for a landing,and we're better off as a result of having done that."[51]
Republican National Committee
On January 17,2025,after receiving the endorsement of PresidentDonald Trump,Gruters was elected treasurer of the Republican National Committee,succeeding KC Crosbie.[52][53][54]
On July 24,2025,after Michael Whatley announced he would run in the 2026 United States Senate election in North Carolina,Donald Trump endorsed Gruters to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee.[55] Whatley endorsed him as well,[56] and called Gruters "a true conservative fighter".[57] On August 22,2025,Gruters was unanimously elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee. After his election,Gruters told RNC members:“Today is not about one person,it is about our mission:The midterms are ahead,where we must expand our majority in the House and Senate and continue electing Republicans nationwide."[58]NPR noted that election of Gruters as RNC Chairman "highlights the growing influence of Florida Republicans within the national party and administration",such as White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Secretary of State Marco Rubio,a former Florida U.S. Senator.[59]
International attention
In April 2025,Craig Pittman,a popular Florida commentator and humorist,wrote about the unusual attention to such a local U.S. politician as Gruters by a British tabloid with the highest circulation of paid newspapers in the UK. Namely,on April 1,2025,Daily Mail featured an article on Gruters that was written by Katelyn Caralle,their senior political reporter covering "White House insiders". Her article was about Gruters' response when told that a social media account of his was following about 60 OnlyFans models.[60]
Personal life
Gruters is a Certified Public Accountant. His professional occupations include being a member of Robinson,Gruters &Roberts PA CPA LLC in Venice,Florida.[61] and being the manager of the dark money funds to Trump through the Patriot Legal Defense Fund.
Gruters lives in Sarasota County. He is married to Sydney Gruters and they have three children.[62] She was appointed to a position as executive director of the New College Foundation at New College of Florida during the controversial takeover of the state honors college by Governor DeSantis.[63]
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