Florida GOP delegates are seething over the recently-announced hotel assignments for the national convention in Tampa in August. The upshot: Florida delegates are more than 30 miles away from the activities, reports the
Tampa Bay Times.
The Siberia-like assignment is part of the RNC's punishment for state legislative leaders' decision to violate party rules and hold primaries in January.
On Monday, the RNC Committee on Arrangements announced that the Florida delegation will be at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, a total of 32 miles from the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
"I'm p---ed off,'' said Florida Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry. "We're one of the most important swing states, if not the most important swing state, and our activists and our donors are going to be punished for something they had nothing to do with."
But a spokesman for the RNC's committee on arrangements said it's got nothing to do with the state's primary; it was necessary to accommodate all the delegates without splitting them among venues.
Still, Curry isn't satisfied.
"Anybody that takes a look at the list of hotels can see there are hotels in Tampa proper, not necessarily downtown Tampa, but the Westshore area or by the airport, that could have housed all of our (420 rooms). Those are just the facts,'' Curry said. "We'll be good soldiers. We understand there's a big picture, but it's disappointing."
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