On Friday in Atlanta, Sarasota's Joe Gruters was unanimously picked to be the next chairman of the Republican National Convention. The appointment caps a nearly two-decade political career in which Gruters has held roles ranging from local volunteer to state senator. 

But Gruter is probably best known for his longtime relationship with—and advocacy for—Donald Trump. In fact, one could argue that Trump's rise to power is the direct result of Gruters' efforts. When GOP organizers declined to invite Trump to speak at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Gruters asked the then-businessman and reality TV host to address an audience in Sarasota instead, forging a relationship that led to Gruters being named Trump’s Florida campaign chair during Trump's 2016 presidential run. Gruters has been appointed or elected to several political posts in the years since, including state legislator and chair of the Florida Senate Committee on Fiscal Policy. He is also a former chair of both the local and state Republican parties.

"Today is not about one person," Gruters said at the RNC convention last week. "It is about our mission. The midterms are ahead, where we must expand our majority in the House and Senate and continue electing Republicans nationwide, and then we march more towards the presidential election, where the stakes could not be higher."

"Congratulations to MAGA Warrior Joe Gruters, who I very strongly Endorsed, on his unanimous Election as Chairman of the Republican National Committee," Trump wrote on social media this weekend. 

A fourth-generation Sarasotan, Gruters' great-grandfather, William Hobson, moved to Sarasota in 1922 to become the chief tent maker for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Gruters is one of six offspring of working parents; his wife, Sydney, is the executive director and vice president of advancement at New College of Florida. They have three children.

In his role as RNC chair, Gruters will act as the GOP’s chief executive and public face, focusing on fundraising, strategy and supporting Republican candidates seeking election. With the appointment, he is now part of a growing faction of Florida Republicans who hold high-ranking positions in the national party and at the White House: Former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is Trump's secretary of state, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi is his attorney general; and Trump's former Florida campaign director, Susie Wiles, is his chief of staff.