Republican candidates for governor Ron DeSantis and Adam Putnam will face-off in a debate for the first time at The Sunshine Summit. The two-day event, which starts Thursday in Kissimmee, Florida, will bring together Republican leaders, donors and activists to discuss issues and the future of the party.
FOX News Channel and the Republican Party of Florida have teamed up to televise a one-hour debate. On Friday there will be several conversations with conservative leaders in the Republican party followed by a panel called "Puerto Rico Rising."
Recent polls on FOX and NBC show Putnam with a double-digit lead over DeSantis but DeSantis has been praised by President Trump.
Florida GOP Chairman Blaise Ingoglia launched the first Sunshine Summit in 2015. He says that this year at the Sunshine Summit attendees can expect conversations about the economy, tax cuts and Florida’s job growth. Ingoglia joined Sundial to talk about the two Republican governor candidates, immigration and the Republican strategy in the upcoming election year.
WLRN: How do you see the story of immigrant children being separated from their parents and being put into camps here in South Florida?
Ingoglia: Well if you remember Donald Trump's platform was zero-tolerance of illegal immigration but he also offered solutions for illegal immigration. He won the state of Florida running on that platform. What everyone has to really realize is that it's been 40 years since somebody tried to fix this problem. President Donald Trump is not afraid to take on the big issues. Now the thing that we [the Republican Party] are frustrated with is that there are a lot of very good Republicans who want to solve this problem but they can't do it without Democrat help. And I totally agree one thousand percent with our president is that Democrats would rather not have it fixed because they want a campaign issue to run on. They would rather campaign on the issue than actually fix the problem.
Let's talk about that debate. What do you expect to see?
What I expect to see is thoughtful debate and two leaders in their own right on the stage offering solutions and have a grasp of the issues. Our candidates will be prepared to take on the big questions and offer bold solutions.
Is the Florida Republican Party supporting any one candidate -- either DeSantis or Putnam?
No sir. The Republican Party remains neutral.
How do you see the president playing a role in this year's election?
Well I think the president is already playing a role in the gubernatorial primary here. He's endorsed Congressman DeSantis. But the president is also playing kingmaker in some of these elections across the United States.
The summit added a panel for Friday on Puerto Rico. Describe what this panel is about.
We're going to talk about what the island needs, what it should have had before Maria, what it needs to have after Maria, what Florida Republicans are doing to help out the people who have been displaced here and how they're working hard with the island to get them back on their feet stronger than ever before.
What's the strategy in reaching this group of voters - people who are now living in Florida and people who've now come over to Florida. How do you prove to them the Republican Party is going to be the best choice for them?
The first thing I would say on that is that we - unlike the Democrats - do not put people into boxes. Our message remains the same, whether we are talking to the farmer in northeast Florida, whether we're talking to the second or third generation Cuban American in South Florida, whether it's somebody who is displaced from the island or whether it's a businessman in Jacksonville. We are the party that is going to bring economic prosperity. So if you are looking for prosperity this is the place you want to be and Republicans should be running the state.