Manatee, Sarasota Republicans pick delegates for GOP convention in Cleveland

MANATEE -- The delegates who will represent Manatee and Sarasota counties at the GOP convention in Cleveland this summer, and vote for Donald Trump to be the presidential nominee, have been selected.

Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota County; Kathleen King, chairwoman of the Manatee County Republican Party; and Chris Ziegler, state committeeman for Sarasota County, will represent Florida's 16th Congressional District at the presidential convention.

"It is truly an honor to be able to represent Manatee and Sarasota County," said Gruters, who was a delegate at the 2012 convention.

Sixty people applied to be a delegate at the convention, which is July 18-21. Three alternatives were also selected on Saturday: Manatee County School Board member John Colon; former Manatee County Commissioner Donna Hayes; and David Matthews, state committeeman for Manatee County.

Trump won Florida in the winner-takes-all primary March 15, which means the delegates will have to cast the first three rounds of votes for Trump, providing him a bulwark of support in case of a contested convention.

Trump received all of Florida's 99 Republican delegates.

In Manatee County, Trump won 47.7 percent of the vote in the primary.

This year's convention is a lot more important because it possibly may be an open convention, said Gruters, who is Trump's Florida campaign co-chairman.

"I'm committed doing whatever I can possibly do to help him be successful in Cleveland," he said.

Gruters, who is running for a seat in the Florida Legislature, said he thinks all delegates should follow the will of primary voters.

"I hope the other votes will follow the will of primary voters in the state of Florida," Gruters said. "That's exactly what I'm doing up in Cleveland."

The delegates who will represent the 16th Congressional District at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, July 25-28, will be selected May 7.

"There are five locations through that area where people will be able to go cast their votes," said Sheryl Wilson, chairwoman of the Manatee County Democrats.

The deadline to apply to be a delegate was April 7, she added.

There will be four delegates for Hillary Clinton -- two men and two women -- and two delegates for Bernie Sanders -- one man and one woman, Wilson said.

"It is based on the results of the presidential primary, that apportionment," she said.

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Manatee, Sarasota Republicans pick delegates for GOP convention in Cleveland ."