The Florida GOP is requiring candidates to pledge their loyalty to the Republican Party's eventual nominee in order to appear on the ballot in the Sunshine State.
In the Florida GOP's bylaws, which were amended in May, the party stipulates that candidates must sign the loyalty pledge in order to be placed on the primary ballot on March 19, 2024.
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"I hereby request that the Republican Party of Florida include my name on the list of presidential candidates to be placed on Florida's Republican presidential preference primary ballot. I affirm that if I do not win the 2024 Republican nomination for President of the United States, I will endorse the 2024 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is. I further pledge that I will not seek to run as an independent, non-party affiliated, or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party," the pledge candidates are required to sign said.
The pledge, which is nearly identical to the one the Republican National Committee is requiring candidates to sign to appear on debate stages, has been a hot-button issue for GOP candidates who are reluctant to support some nominees. Several Republican presidential candidates have pushed back on the RNC's debate pledge, with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saying he will treat the pledge as seriously as former President Donald Trump did in 2016.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler said the pledge was included as a requirement by the state party to "ensure maximum unity heading into the General Election.
"The pledge — which is the word-for-word the same language as the RNC pledge — was requested and passed by our members to ensure maximum unity heading into the General Election. The days of party grifters such as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger using Republican Party resources to secure a title and then weaponize that title against our own team must end," Ziegler said.
"Contested primaries are part of the process, but we must always remember that the Democrats are the true threat to the America we love and we must be unified to defeat every single one of them," he added.
When asked for comment from the Sunshine State's GOP governor, who is also a presidential candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) campaign pointed to comments from an event in South Carolina on June 22, where he said he will "respect the outcome of the process.
"You run this process, you compete, and you respect the outcome of the process," DeSantis said at the event. "And I've always said that. And so that's what I said before. That's what I'll do. I think I'm going to be the nominee. But no matter what happens, I'm going to work to beat Joe Biden. That's what you have to do."
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The Washington Examiner also reached out to the Trump campaign, which did not respond to a request for comment.
The first Republican debate is slated for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the RNC insisting that the loyalty pledge will remain in place.