Sarasota County Republican Chairman Joe Gruters announced his bid for state Republican Party chairman on Tuesday, with a goal of "building a permanent majority" for the GOP.

Gruters' entry brings the number of officially announced candidates to five. Also running are Hillsborough County GOP Chair Deborah Cox-Roush, Pinellas County State Committeeman Tony DiMatteo, Jefferson County State Committeeman Dave Bitner and Palm Beach County GOP Chair Sid Dinerstein.

Sharon Day of Broward County is also expected to enter the contest for the second straight year.

Unlike his competitors, Gruters is young (35) and relatively new to GOP leadership, having taken the helm of the Sarasota County party in the wake of a spate of defections by Charlie Crist supporters.

Quickly rebuilding the local party organization, Gruters' phone-bank operation led all county parties in get-out-the-vote phone calls as Republicans swept Democrats from office.

His work was recognized by gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, who, in the closing days of the campaign, declared: "We all know that the next chairman of the Republican Party ought to be Joe, because he has done such a wonderful job in Sarasota."

State parties historically honor the preference of their leader when it comes to choosing a chairman. As governor, Scott is the titular head of the Republican Party of Florida.

Gruters says he wants to build on his work in Sarasota.

"The Republican Party had the foresight and the power to make a difference in the (2010) elections and we did. As Republicans, we won because we stood united and we promised to return to the basic principles and beliefs that made our country great," Gruters stated on his website this morning.

"If we want to build a permanent majority and continue the momentum in 2012, we must take a long, honest look at ourselves. The next chairman of our party must acknowledge our shortcomings, and have the vision and the energy to seek solutions."

Though political handicappers call Gruters a dark horse in a field packed with well-connected party stalwarts, the Sarasotan has a distinct advantage of not being tied to the disgraced Jim Greer regime.

Greer, a close crony and handpicked choice of Gov. Crist, was ousted in 2009 over financial dealings that subsequently led to his indictment on charges of money laundering and fraud.

Despite their longtime involvement with the RPOF -- or perhaps because of it -- some of the candidates have come under fire.

Cox-Roush, for example, has been accused of using functions by the Hillsborough Republican Executive Committee to enrich her catering business (an allegation she denies).

DiMatteo, as chairman of the RPOF's grievance committee, has crossed swords with conservative Republicans, who have denounced him as a Greer "groupie."

Dinerstein also has been a lightning rod for controversy. An anonymous mailer touting his fund-raising record at the expense of other RPOF candidates stirred speculation that he was ramping up a dirty-tricks campaign. He denied any knowledge of the flier.

Day, meantime, has had prickly relations with current Chairman John Thrasher since the two competed for the RPOF chairmanship a year ago. Like Dinerstein, Day comes from a predominantly Democratic county which went heavily for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink.

State Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, applauded Gruters' efforts in Sarasota County.

"The last election cycle showed people are looking for fresh ideas. Gruters is someone who would bring a lot of energy," said Galvano, who is on Scott's transition team advisory board.

Reversing a blue tide that elected five Democrats in Sarasota County four years ago, the Gruters-led GOP organization helped elect every Republican on the ballot there this year. Democrat Sink, who carried the county in her run for CFO in 2006, was beaten by Scott there this year.

According to figures supplied by the Sarasota GOP, the local party led all county Republican organizations by making 155,137 get-out-the-vote phone calls between Sept. 3 and Nov. 2. That's roughly three times more calls than Hillsborough County (Cox-Roush's home base), which has twice the population.

Neither Palm Beach nor Broward counties -- home bases of Dinerstein and Day, respectively -- ranked in the top 10.

Gruters, formerly U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan's campaign manager and political director, says his experience as an accountant with Shinn & Co. would be a valuable asset to the RPOF.

The fourth-generation Sarasotan calls himself a "fiscal watchdog" and vows to restore "financial order and credibility" to the state party.

The RPOF's 257-member State Executive Committee will vote for the next chairman at the party's annual meeting Jan. 14-15. To be eligible, candidates must be on the State Executive Committee.

There is no deadline for announcing and all candidates are nominated off the floor during the election, so previously unannounced candidates could run.  

The executive committee is composed of 67 county chairs; 67 state committeemen; 67 state committeewomen; 19 GOP members of Congress; five statewide Republican elected officials (governor, senator, attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner); 11 state senators (the Senate president plus 10 he gets to appoint); 11 house (the speaker plus 10 he gets to appoint); and 10 registered Republicans appointed by the governor.

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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.