Republican Party of Florida Rescinds James Fishback’s Invitation to Sunshine State Showdown

The Republican Party of Florida announced today that it is rescinding James Fishback’s invitation to participate in the Sunshine State Showdown candidate forum and other official gubernatorial primary activities.

In recent weeks, Fishback and his campaign made repeated overtures to the Republican Party of Florida seeking inclusion in the Sunshine State Showdown and other official Party events. Despite concerns expressed by many within the Republican Party, the Party agreed to provide Fishback an opportunity to participate in its official gubernatorial primary activities.

The very next day after being granted that opportunity, Fishback publicly announced that he would participate in a rival, unsanctioned debate event in direct violation of Republican Party of Florida rules governing official primary activities.

In remarks at a press conference in Tallahassee on Friday, Fishback declared, “We are having a debate on July 15th – whether Byron Donalds shows or not.” That statement left little doubt that Fishback intended to move forward with an unsanctioned event despite having just secured participation in the Republican Party’s official candidate forum.

“After conversations with numerous Republican leaders, grassroots activists, and stakeholders from across Florida, it has become clear that entertaining Mr. Fishback’s overtures to participate in official Republican Party activities was a mistake,” said RPOF Chairman Evan Power. “Rather than participate in the Party’s official process, Mr. Fishback immediately chose to promote and participate in a rival, unsanctioned event in violation of Party rules. He has also continued his antisemitic and racist attacks on members of our party. As a result, the Republican Party of Florida is rescinding his invitation to participate in the Sunshine State Showdown and other official gubernatorial primary activities. We want to be clear; racism and antisemitism have no place in our party. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard and we will continue to do so at the Republican Party of Florida.”

“The Republican Party of Florida cannot sanction participation in official Party activities while simultaneously allowing candidates to undermine those same activities through competing events,” Power continued. “Florida Republicans deserve a fair and orderly primary process, and no candidate is entitled to participate in official Party events after choosing to violate the rules that govern them.”

Unfortunately, today’s events only reinforced that decision. Fishback’s remarks in Tallahassee were littered with falsehoods and baseless accusations about the Republican Party of Florida, its leadership, and the Republican primary process. His continued pattern of attacks on the Party, Republican leaders, and fellow Republicans demonstrates a willingness to put personal ambition ahead of the integrity of the Republican nomination process.

“Mr. Fishback’s conduct today confirmed the concerns many Republican leaders had expressed from the beginning,” Power added. “Republican voters deserve candidates who can make their case without attacking the Party, spreading falsehoods, or disregarding the rules that apply to everyone else.”

The Republican Party of Florida remains committed to providing Republican voters with a fair, professional, and substantive forum to hear from candidates seeking our Party’s nomination. Our focus remains on defeating Democrats, advancing conservative principles, and ensuring Republican voters can choose their nominee through a process that is orderly, transparent, and governed by the same rules for everyone.