Broward Republican leader resigns after months of turmoil
Bob Sutton, the beleaguered chairman of the Broward Republican Party, resigned on Saturday, ending a tumultuous tenure during which his leadership came under scrutiny locally and by the state GOP.
Sutton’s resignation was announced — with him present in the room — by Blaise Ingoglia, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, during the state party’s quarterly Executive Board meeting at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando.
The state party’s Executive Board directed the county party organization to hold an election on Jan. 22 to elect a new chairman — and imposed several other restrictions on the Broward party.
“The whole thing is a step in the right direction,” said Richard DeNapoli. “We’ll hopefully get ready for 2018 and mend fences. Hopefully … we can be united as a party in Broward.”
DeNapoli, reached by phone en route back to Broward from the meeting of the Executive Board on which he serves, is the county’s state-elected Republican committeeman and a former county Republican chairman.
As word spread about the afternoon’s events, Broward Republican activists started calling, texting, emailing and posting on Facebook to praise or criticize the resignation and state party’s restrictions — generally depending on which faction of the county Republican Party they associated with.
“My phone’s been blowing up all day,” said Rico Petrocelli, a former county Republican chairman.
Sutton could not be reached for detailed comment. He confirmed by text message that he’s no longer chairman, and referred questions to the party’s vice chairwoman, Celeste Ellich, whom Sutton described as “acting chair.” Ellich couldn’t be reached for comment via voicemail or text message.
Ingoglia also couldn’t be reached for comment; a state party spokeswoman confirmed Sutton’s resignation.
Alvin Entin, prominent Broward lawyer and Sutton wrote on Facebook that he sorry to see him go.
Borrowing language from President Franklin Roosevelt’s address to Congress the day after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor that got the U.S. into World War II, Entin said Saturday is “a date which will live in infamy,” because of what happened with the Republican Party and Sutton.
“A good and decent person who was the most committed Republican I know was forced to resign the ally, was