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Trump, DeSantis will need to sign loyalty pledge to make Florida ballot, state GOP says

by Julia Mueller - 07/06/23 2:03 PM ET

Former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and their fellow Republican candidates vying for the White House in 2024 will have to pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee in order to get on the primary ballot in the Sunshine State, the state GOP said.

“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,” Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler told The Hill.

“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. 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,” Ziegler said.

The requirement from the Florida GOP echoes the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) requirement that candidates pledge support for the eventual nominee in order to get on the party’s presidential primary debate stage, among other qualifying criteria.

Some Republican presidential contenders have bristled at the RNC’s requirement.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie has said the RNC’s ask is a “useless idea.” Candidate Will Hurd has said he “won’t be signing any kind of pledges.”

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DeSantis, the governor of the Sunshine State, has sidestepped questions about whether he’d back the eventual nominee. The Florida Republican has regularly polled as the closest GOP challenger to Trump, who is leading the party’s polling and who has also been noncommittal about whether he’d support the primary winner.

The Florida presidential primary is set to be held March 19. Politico first reported the loyalty pledge from the state’s GOP.

Julia Manchester contributed.