1. Joseph Ryan Gruters was born on June 7,1977 and is an American politician and accountant who has served as a member of the Florida Senate since 2018 and as treasurer of the Republican National Committee since 2025.
34 Facts About Joe Gruters
1. 2.
Joe Gruters was born on July 6,1977, in Tampa, Florida.
3.
Joe Gruters received a BS degree from Florida State University and an MBA degree from the University of South Florida.
4.
Joe Gruters lost his first two elections and worked behind the scenes on several more losing campaigns.
5.
Joe Gruters joined Vern Buchanan's original successful 2006 campaign for Congress.
6.
Joe Gruters subsequently was chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota for ten years, longer than any of his predecessors.
7.
Joe Gruters gained political influence as an early supporter of Rick Scott during his successful 2010 campaign for governor of Florida.
8.
Joe Gruters' support earned him a high-profile appointment to the Florida State University board of trustees.
9.
Joe Gruters became vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida in 2015, and had strong political backers when he ran for the Florida House of Representatives' seat in 2016.
10.
Joe Gruters is one of Donald Trump's closest political allies in Florida.
11.
An early Trump supporter, Joe Gruters was Florida co-chairman of Trump's 2016 campaign.
12.
Joe 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.
13.
Trump accepted an invitation from Joe Gruters to invite him to speak in Sarasota the night before the convention.
14.
Joe Gruters arranged for Trump to be declared "Statesman of the year" several times at Republican political functions in Sarasota.
15.
Joe 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.
16.
Joe Gruters defeated Bob Starr of Charlotte County and succeeded state Representative Blaise Ingoglia.
17.
Joe 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.
18.
Joe Gruters unanimously won a second two-year term as RPOF Chairman in 2021.
19.
In 2023, Trump appointed Joe Gruters to manage the funds in his legal defense expense fund, Patriot Legal Defense Fund, a tax-exempt nonprofit that allows dark money donors to remain anonymous to both the public and the IRS under Section 527 of the US Internal Revenue Code.
20.
In media coverage broadcast on several television channels, Joe Gruters was visible in the front row of supporters throughout the Republican presidential nomination convention in 2024, often shaking large support signs for Trump.
21.
When Joe Gruters took over the RPOF in 2019, Democrats held a 225,000 voter registration advantage, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
22.
In 2016, Joe Gruters won election to the Florida House of Representatives from the 73rd District, which includes Eastern Manatee County and Northeastern Sarasota County, from 2016.
23.
Joe Gruters was endorsed in 2018 by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
24.
Joe 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.
25.
Joe Gruters filed a bill to ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization.
26.
Joe Gruters sponsored Senate Bill 230, a piece of legislation that would reinstate Florida's controversial quest to identify purported noncitizen voters.
27.
Joe Gruters proposed legislation that would ban smoking at public beaches statewide.
28.
The omissions were opposed by the LGBT rights group Equality Florida; Joe Gruters defended the bill's incrementalist approach, saying it would maximize the chances of passage.
29.
In 2021, Joe Gruters called for cancelling all existing mail-in ballot requests, saying they would be "devastating" for Republicans up for re-election in 2022.
30.
Joe Gruters 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.
31.
On January 17,2025, after receiving the endorsement of President Donald Trump, Joe Gruters was elected treasurer of the Republican National Committee, succeeding KC Crosbie.
32.
Joe Gruters's article was about the responses of GOP officials to the revelation of Gruters following a large number of OnlyFans models and dating accounts on the internet.
33.
Joe Gruters is married to Sydney Gruters and they have three children.
34.
Joe Gruters 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.