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The death of its bookkeeper from Covid-19 may keep a Florida GOP county group, which opposes mask and vaccine mandates, from filing its next campaign finance report on time.
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On Tuesday, a Florida county Republican committee that had opposed measures to prevent Covid-19 informed the Federal Election Commission that the group may not be able to submit a filing because its bookkeeper died from the virus.
“For several years we have been submitting the reports electronically, and for over a year we have done this with software developed by one of our members, Gregg Prentice,” the Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee wrote the FEC. “Unfortunately, Gregg passed away suddenly from Covid 19 on Saturday, September 11, 2021. Gregg did not share the software and instructions with our officers.”
Based in the Tampa area, the committee has taken a hard line against Covid-19 prevention protocols, urging its Facebook followers to oppose mask mandates, vaccination requirements and lockdowns. On August 27, the committee honored Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.), who has spread misinformation about Covid-19, at its sold-out Lincoln Day Dinner. (It’s not clear if Prentice was among the approximately 150 people, almost all pictured without masks, who attended that event.)
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The Hillsborough County Republican Party Executive Committee did not immediately respond to an inquiry. Comments on a Facebook post by a friend of Prentice’s that shared news of his death included claims it was murder, praise for ivermectin and offers from a wellness coach to share her “amazing protocol.”
The FEC filing was first reported by the Florida Bulldog.
In addition to handling the Hillsborough GOP’s financial records, Prentice headed its election integrity committee.
As for whether or not the Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee will be able to comply with the next campaign filing deadline of September 20, it told the FEC, “We will try to do so with our best effort.”
The Hillsborough County Republican Party Executive Committee may miss a filing deadline after its bookkeeper died from Covid-19, according to a letter the group sent to the Federal Election Committee.
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION/HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY REPUBLICAN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the
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I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., just a couple miles from my home. When Trump won the election and refused to divest his business, I stayed on the story, starting a newsletter called 1100 Pennsylvania (named after the hotel’s address) and contributed to Vanity Fair, Politico and NBC News. I’m still interested in Trump, but I’ve broadened my focus to follow the money connected to other politicians as well—both Republicans and Democrats.