BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former Florida State University men’s collegiate club athlete Joe Gruters is giving back to his community as a member of the Florida Senate and Chairman of the Florida Republican party.
A member of the Florida Senate representing the 23rd District which consists of Sarasota County and part of Charlotte County, Gruters worked on the campaign of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan as campaign manager in addition to serving as president of the Sarasota Young Republicans; Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida; and for 10 years was the chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota — a post he has held longer than any other Chairman in Sarasota County’s history. Gruters also co-chaired Donald Trump‘s campaign for President in Florida and served as the co-chairman of the 2016 Republican National Committee’s Platform Committee on Restoring the American Dream.
A fourth-generation native of Sarasota, Fla., his great grandfather William Hobson moved the family to Sarasota in 1922 to serve as the chief tent maker for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Gruters graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1996 and is a 1999 graduate of both the Florida State University where he competed as a member of the men’s collegiate club water polo team. He continued his education by earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of South Florida in 2003 and worked as a licensed Certified Public Accountant as a principal at Paoli & Gruters Certified Public Accountants, which has offices in Venice and Sarasota, Florida. Previously, Gruters was the Chairman of the Sarasota County Planning Commission, on the Board of Directors for the Florida Sports Foundation and on the Executive Board as Treasurer for the Sarasota Humane Society.
Following two unsuccessful runs for public office, he joined Vern Buchanan’s original successful 2006 campaign for the United States Congress. He claimed the job of Sarasota GOP chairman in 2008, gaining clout as an early backer of Governor Rick Scott in 2010 and becoming vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
In 2008, a month after Barack Obama came within 237 votes of beating John McCain GOP majority Sarasota County, Gruters became chairman of the Sarasota County. In 2012, Mitt Romney won Sarasota County by 15,400 vote margin over the incumbent, Obama. In 2016, Sarasota County went for Trump by a margin of more than 26,000 votes.
Gruters’ political success with Gov. Rick Scott earned him a high-profile appointment to the Florida State University Board of Trustees and strong political backers when he ran for the Florida House of Representatives’ seat in 2016.
Gruters became co-Chairman of the 2016 Trump for President campaign in Florida. In 2016, the same year he delivered Sarasota County resoundingly for Trump, Gruters won his election to the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 73rd District, which includes Eastern Manatee County and Northeastern Sarasota County, from 2016. In 2018, he won election to the Florida Senate representing the 23rd District, consisting of Sarasota County and part of Charlotte County.
Gruters was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida by a huge margin January 11, 2019 at the Republican Party of Florida’s annual meeting in Orlando.
In addition to his service, Gruters earned several awards including the 2019 Florida Homebuilder Association Senator of the Year; the 2019 Fraternal Order of Police Senator of the Year; the 2018 and 2019 Florida Chamber of Commerce, Distinguished Advocate; the 2019 Small County Coalition Appreciation Award; and the 2018 Associated Industries of Florida, Champion of Business.
