It’s exhausting and exhilarating. It’s speeches and schmoozing. It’s cheering and choosing — or, more accurately, ratifying decisions made by maestros of the political pageant that will unfold around them in coming days.
They’re vastly different in background, outlook and motivation. But for all — whether first-timers or veterans — the Republican National Convention is a chance to show unambiguous, full-throated support for Donald Trump’s bid to return to the presidency.
“Every morning, I wake up excited about this,” said Sue Snowden of Boca Raton, one of the 125 Florida delegates headed to Milwaukee for events that start unofficially on Sunday, convene formally on Monday, and culminate with Trump accepting the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday night.
“I am over the moon,” Snowden added. “So excited. So excited.”
Snowden is part of a delegation that includes a range of Republicans, all of whom are pledged to vote for the nomination of the 45th president to become the nation’s 47th. Florida delegates include elected officials, party leaders, pro-Trump activists, ultra-wealthy political donors, lobbyists — and children of the former president.
Home-state benefits
There are some benefits to being delegates from Florida, which is Trump’s adopted home after decades as a New Yorker. The delegation, which includes Trump children plus spouses and significant others, is bound to get outsized attention.
There’s one big perk in 2024: The Florida delegation’s hotel, the Hyatt Regency, is within walking distance to the Fiserv Forum, the arena where the convention actually takes place.
In 2012, by contrast, the Florida delegation was punished by the Republican National Committee over the timing and structure of the state’s presidential preference primary. As a result, even though the convention was in Tampa, the Florida delegation was assigned to a hotel that was a 60- to 90-minute bus ride away.
“In Tampa, we were an hour and a half away,” said delegate Peter Feaman of Palm Beach County. “Here we are within walking distance of the convention. So we in the Florida hotel are very excited about that.”
Feaman is the Republican national committeeman from Florida, which makes him one of three Floridians on the governing board of the Republican National Committee. “It helps that our candidate is from Florida now,” he said.
Spousal benefit
Snowden said there’s a feeling of camaraderie among delegates, being among fellow Republicans and Trump supporters on the floor. This year will bring something new for Snowden: She’ll be able to sit on the convention floor next to her husband Larry Snowden, also a Trump delegate.
At past conventions, that hasn’t always been possible because they both weren’t full-fledged delegates at the same time. It’s Larry Snowden’s first time as a delegate; he’s been an alternate or guest at past conventions.
It appears from the delegation roster that the Snowdens, who’ve been married for more than 50 years, aren’t the only married couple delegates from Florida.
The Florida delegation includes Trump’s daughter Tiffany Boulos and her husband Michael Boulos.
The state delegation also includes Donald Trump Jr., his longtime fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle and his brother Eric Trump.
Eric Trump is delegation chair. His wife Lara Trump is not a Florida delegate, but she’ll be a force at the convention in her role as co-chair of the national Republican Party. Guilfoyle is a member of the convention’s Platform Committee.
True believers
Delegates like the Snowdens are the truest of true believers.
Both have been involved in Republican politics for decades but nothing has come close to their passion for Trump that’s lasted almost a decade.
Sue Snowden was the Palm Beach County Trump campaign chair in 2015 and 2016. She is the secretary-treasurer and Larry Snowden is president of Trump 47, a large political club named after the number president he’ll be if he’s reelected.
(Club 47 was the sponsor of a combination political rally and birthday party for Trump on June 14 in West Palm Beach.)
Michael Barnett and Richard DeNapoli, both delegates, are longtime Republican Party leaders.
Barnett, currently an appointed Palm Beach County commissioner, is a longtime former county Republican Party chair. DeNapoli, currently a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea city commissioner, is the state Republican committeeman for Broward and a former county Republican Party chair.
Today, support for Trump is an article of faith for Republicans. Barnett and DeNapoli are unique in that they, like the Snowdens, were Trump supporters before it was fashionable in many Republican circles.
They all began supporting Trump when most leading Florida Republicans were supporting former Gov. Jeb Bush or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio for the 2016 presidential nomination.
“I love Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush (but) President Trump had our loyalty from the beginning. There was really nobody else that we were going to support,” Barnett said.
Larry Snowden remembers the attitude of some Republicans who thought “you shouldn’t take these people too seriously. Yet we knew without a doubt.”
Delegates selected
The delegates are selected two ways.
Florida has 41 at-large delegates, chosen by the state Republican Party with significant influence from the Trump campaign.
The Trump family members are also at-large delegates.
So too are influential donors to Trump like Isaac “Ike” and Laurie Perlmutter. Ike Perlmutter is a billionaire with a home in Palm Beach.
The Snowdens, whose support has been recognized by Trump in the past, are at-large delegates, as are state Rep. Rick Roth, who is also vice chair of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, and Feaman.
Barnett said he was asked by a representative of the Trump campaign if he’d like to fill the last slot, the 41st, of at-large delegates.
“It’s a great opportunity I could not pass up,” Barnett said. “It’s a great honor.”
“I’ve been a lifelong Republican, and a lifelong Republican activist,” Barnett said. “This is history.”
It’s Barnett’s third time as a delegate, counting 2020, when a traditional convention didn’t take place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The other 84 delegates are chosen by county party leaders based on the congressional districts where they live. Each of the state’s 28 congressional districts gets three delegates.
Congressional district delegates include Kevin Neal, chair of the Palm Beach County Republican Party; Chris Marino, chair of the Broward Republican Party; DeNapoli; Cindy Tindell, the state Republican committeewoman for Palm Beach County; and Michele Merrell, the state Republican committeewoman for Broward County,.
Other local delegates include Linda Stoch, a longtime Palm Beach County Republican leader and vice president of Club 47, and Darlene Swaffar, a candidate for the Republican nomination in the Broward-Palm Beach county 23rd Congressional District
Neal said via text this is his first national political party convention.
Not cheap
Serving as a delegate requires someone who’s committed financially.
With few exceptions, delegates pay their own way. That means paying for a pass to certain events, airfare and five nights in a hotel.
Several delegates headed to this year’s convention estimate a per-person cost of $3,000 to $3,500.
It’s well worth it, they said.
“You’re where the action is. You’re on the floor of the convention. People are excited. There’s news people running round from all over the world wanting to interview you, talk to you. There’s the excitement of basically starting the final push for the election, and this is the kickoff to it. It’s sort of like the pep rally before the big game,” Feaman said.
It’s Feaman’s fifth convention as a delegate, counting the truncated one in Charlotte, N.C., four years ago.
DeNapoli also used a sports metaphor. “It’s like the World Series or the Super Bowl, that’s what it’s the equivalent of. It’s the biggest event you’re going to have for politics on either side,” DeNapoli said.
“It’s just an exciting thing to be a part of,” DeNapoli said.
It will be DeNapoli’s fourth time as a delegate, counting the COVID-altered 2020 convention. He was an alternate in 2016.
DeNapoli said the atmosphere in 2016 when Trump was nominated was dramatically different than the one in 2012, at which Mitt Romney, now the outgoing Republican senator from Utah, was nominated, or 2008, at which John McCain, the late U.S. senator from Arizona was nominated.
As with any kind of convention, there’s lots of networking and unofficial business.
For people like Barnett, that means talking to people about his campaign to win election to the seat he was appointed to on the Palm Beach County Commission.
State Attorney General Ashley Moody, state CFO Jimmy Patronis and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson will be networking with an eye toward the next election. Each is considered a potential candidate for the 2026 Republican nomination for governor when term limits prevent Gov. Ron DeSantis from running for reelection.
Missed convention
Convention activities were radically altered in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That year members of the Republican National Committee gathered in Charlotte, N.C., where the convention was scheduled to be held, to conduct some party business. Feaman said delegates conducted some business virtually.
Some delegates and Trump supporters, including the Snowdens and DeNapoli, were among the Republicans who gathered outside, on the South Lawn of the White House, on the last night of the truncated convention to hear the candidate’s acceptance speech.
“It’s the first political convention in eight years, and so everybody’s pretty amped up about that,” Feaman said.
As the Republican national committeeman from Florida, Feaman arrived in Milwaukee a week before the rest of the delegation for party meetings.
No doubts
The delegates were convinced Trump should be, and would be, the next president, long before President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month.
“The party is the party of Trump,” DeNapoli said. “He’s changed the party and made more of a populist tone to it. He’s not an establishment Republican figure from the past.”
The South Florida delegates interviewed in recent days said they had no trepidation about Trump.
“I don’t have any concerns,” Barnett said, predicting Trump would easily win Florida’s 30 electoral votes.
After the debate, Neal said, Trump is “clearly the front-runner in this race. Republicans have seized the momentum in this election as we head towards November and I expect that attitude to be on display in Milwaukee, led by our great elected Republican leaders from Florida.”
The unity around Trump only goes so far. Some of the delegates are political enemies with one another. Most of that is buried, at least publicly, for the week.
The Snowdens said they stay focused on Trump, not divisive issues or candidates for other offices.
“We stay pretty laser-focused. I don’t like to get involved in all of these side things. My goal is to get Donald Trump reelected as our president. I stay focused on that. That’s it,” Sue Snowden said. “The bottom line is we’re there for one reason and one reason only and that’s to nominate Donald J. Trump for president. That’s it.”
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
