Is there a place for ‘Never Trump’ Republicans in Florida?

Originally published in the Florida Phoenix

The group Our Republican Legacy seeks ‘traditional conservative values’

Although the Republican Party in Florida and across the country has evolved into the Donald Trump Party over the past decade, there remains a share of “Never Trumpers” who are determined to provide a safe place for Republicans who refuse to embrace the MAGA agenda.

Spurred by former GOP senators John Danforth, William Cohen, and the late Alan Simpson (who died on March 14), the group Our Republican Legacy was formed a year ago, and now is working on getting out their message.

“What gives me hope is it was impossible [for a Republican] to beat Donald Trump in 2020 or 2024, but he will not be the Republican nominee in 2028,” said Chris Vance, national senior adviser for Our Republican Legacy, in a video call with the Phoenix on Friday.

“And people just don’t seem to be able to appreciate that in a couple of years, everything is going to look different — the Republicans will probably have lost the House. Trump will be a pathetic, weak lame duck with a bunch of other Republicans running for president and drawing all the attention. There’s going to be a wide-open war for control of the Republican Party, and we are mobilizing now to fight that war.”

The organization has chairs in 17 states and is working to establish a presence in all 50. It is not a political committee and won’t take financial contributions. Nor do they intend to endorse candidates. Their mission as a 501(c)(4) group is to “advocate that the party change back to traditional conservative values and building a grassroots army to help win that battle,” in Vance’s words.

Greg Wilson, a former U.S. Treasury Department official in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, is serving as Our Republican Legacy’s Florida chairman. A co-chair of the Republicans for Harris campaign in Florida last year, he wrote an op-ed in the Miami Herald warning that the trade tariffs Trump was touting in his campaign were dangerous.

“He was going to do a better job on the economy than Vice President Harris was going to do,” Wilson tells the Phoenix.

“And where are we today? The ‘Big Beautiful bill’ is going to boost the deficit. It’s already spooking the bond market, which is quite important to Treasury financing. All the uncertainty and the chaos he’s creating — I’m predicting that’s going to be untenable for our economy. If we’re lucky, we’ll avoid a recession. If we’re not lucky, we’re on the skids to a depression and global trade wars.”

Our Republican Legacy held its first national committee meeting last month in Washington. D.C., with guest speaker former Republican National Committee Chairman and Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Among its founding members are former Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, according to its website.

Somewhat of a bust

Ever since Trump entered the Republican race for president a decade ago, the “Never Trump” movement has been somewhat of a bust. Some Republicans left the party. Some became independents; others, like former Pinellas County U.S. Rep David Jolly, have now become Democrats.

So, whether this particular movement will gain traction seems questionable.

Vance acknowledges the skepticism. The former chairman of the Washington state Republican Party and the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Washington in 2016 (he lost to Democratic incumbent Patty Murray), Vance says that his group is for people who want to remain Republicans and fight to change the party eventually over time.

“I think no matter how difficult or unlikely that sounds, it has to be done,” he said. “This country cannot long endure if one of the parties is an authoritarian threat to the Constitution. So, we have to take on this fight. And it is not going back to George W. Bush, it’s applying classic, core conservative principals to today’s problems.”

The organization won’t weigh in on every political battle that surfaces, Vance said. Instead, its North Star is laid out in “Five Core Principles” — The Constitution; Unity; Fiscal Responsibility; Free Enterprise; and Peace Through Strength.