Rhonda Rebman Lopez, chairman of the GOP of Monroe County, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the election last week.
There was a more than 90% turnout for Republicans in Monroe County.
Lopez said, “Our Republican patriots here in the Keys, Monroe County, they showed up and showed out and made history, almost 90% casting their votes, and that tells me one thing, they’re dedicated, loyal and ready to get behind President Trump. I contribute a lot of this to our grassroots efforts. I mean, we had our Republican patriots, our Republican executive committee, leading the charge, door knocking, campaigning, phone banking, mobilizing friends and family. I mean, they really, really strengthened our Republican base and we did prove we are a MAGA County. We are a red President Trump County.”
What about President Elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks so far?
Lopez said, “I’m 110% behind every pick he made. I don’t see a problem with any of them, and I just look forward to getting all of them confirmed, and let’s get going.”
What about Matt Gaetz possibly being the US Attorney General?
Lopez said, “I tell you what. Matt Gaetz, he comes down to the Keys. He spoke at our Reagan Day dinner. He even came down, we had some some of our Republican executive committee members have him down for a dinner one night, just when he had some time off, and he came down, he and Ginger, his wife, and he is so close to the Keys. He loves the Keys, and he explains everything on the grassroots level. He’s fiercely loyal. He’s fiercely competent. I tell you what, I watched him go after Merrick Garland and over the DOJ going after Trump, and I watched him go after FBI Ray. And I agree with Matt Gaetz 100% and I think he’s a strong voice, and he will be awesome.”
Republicans in the county also did well.
Lopez said, “We sent out slate cards, the Republican safety committee, as chairman, I authorized to send out slate cards to all Republicans in the county, and they voted, and I have no doubt that those slate cards and the communication, we had constant communication with our voters, even our Independent voters and our Democrat voters. We sent out mail, we knocked on doors, and I tell you, the grassroots of Monroe County, there’s no better grassroots group in the state. I know my phone number was on the slate card, and I had a man call me, and he said, is this the Susie Wiles of Monroe County? And I said, well, I don’t know if I’m quite at that level, but I’ll take it. And I said, I’m more than happy to leave the charge down here. And I said, vote that straight Republican ticket. I said, vote red. And one man called me and he said, I’m voting red till I’m dead. So people were, they were pumped up. I believe we got them pumped up.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is also a big help.
Lopez said, “I love our governor, and I tell you, we have the best governor. He’s America’s governor, and he proved that during the hurricanes, and here comes another hurricane, hopefully not. But let me tell you one thing that was said. He cleaned up and helped and got everything in order with the hurricanes before Arizona even got their votes counted. So he’s a hard worker, and he’s a great, great veteran, and I love his wife, and he does a great job. We couldn’t ask for a better governor.”
Florida Senator Marco Rubio could also be Secretary of State in Trump’s administration.
Lopez said, “I brought Marco into the Reagan Day dinner. And I tell you what, there’s nobody that’s more well versed in foreign relations than the Senator. I have a habit of saying Marco, because he’s so down to earth and easy to talk to, but he’s Senator Rubio, and I don’t think he’ll have one bit of a problem getting confirmed, because he knows his stuff on Foreign Relations, and he’s good. We gave him a rally. We did a rally for him when he had to be re elected two years ago in Key Largo. They even used our our backdrop, and it was so beautiful and so crowded, they used it in one of his commercials to promote him to be re elected as Senator. So we were very proud of that as well. So we love our Marco Rubio.”
What other candidates could fill positions on Capitol Hill?
Lopez said, “I tell you, Ashley Moody, she’s a phenomenal candidate for that. I mean, she’s awesome, and she’s doing a great job. I heard Lara Trump. I heard James, his chief of staff, who, I like James a lot, because I’ve worked with him quite a bit. There’s just so many out there, and I’m sure that our governor will make the right choice.”
Could Governor DeSantis be part of the Trump administration?
Lopez said, “I think he made it clear that he wants to remain the quarterback of Florida. In Florida, let’s be honest, in the nation, Florida is the Republican state of the nation, and we’re the model for the country, and that’s largely attributed to him. I’m perfectly happy with him staying as our governor because we have a lot going on down here and he really, really helped a lot of our amendment three and four, he made sure that went the way that conservatives wanted it to go, and that was very important. So I think he’s qualified to do just about anything in government.”
What does the future look like?
Lopez said, “Well, Monroe County, of course, we have our local Republican officials. We have things going on on the county level, in the local every level, to make sure that we keep a conservative agenda, promote a conservative agenda from the grassroots, from the local, state and national, but it all starts locally, so we just want to make sure that anything that’s promoted in Monroe County has a conservative base and we want to support all of our Republican officials, and we want our local Republican officials, to listen to our local constituents, their local constituents’ voices, and keep Monroe County conservative fiscally. We all want secure borders. We all want a great economy. We all want we all want our community to be safe, and that comes down to locally. Local officials have a lot to do with that.”
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