Crustaceans are still on the menu but Palm Beach County Republicans hope they can now avoid indigestion-induced controversy.
The planned August appearance by Geert Wilders – popular in some circles, notorious in others for his dire view of the threat from militant Islamic terrorism – has been indefinitely postponed.
Instead, the annual summertime Lobsterfest will focus on Florida politics.
The reconfigured event will feature the Republican candidates for their party’s nomination for U.S. Senate: U.S. Reps. Ron DeSantis of Ponte Vedra Beach and Jeff Miller of Chumuckla, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, and entrepreneur Todd Wilcox of Orlando.
Each of the four hopes to fill the seat held by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is forgoing re-election to seek his party’s presidential nomination. So far, DeSantis and Wilcox have officially declared their candidacies; Lopez-Cantera is expected to enter the race next week, and Miller has toured the state to gauge support.
“It’s an important race. The U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Marco is a big one for Republicans,” said Michael Barnett, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party.
The outcome could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate at the beginning of the next president’s term. Despite the high stakes, Barnett said, “A lot of people haven’t seemed to be paying attention to that race.”
Instead, he said, local activists have been focused on the presidency and on the primary in the 18th Congressional District, in northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy is running for his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate.
Controversy isn’t the usual fare for party’s annual summer gathering, which centers on a lobster dinner.
Last year was an exception. Then-Chairwoman Anita Mitchell invited leaders of the county’s Human Rights Council gay rights group to attend in an attempt to build bridges between Republicans and the gay community. But it never happened because controversy erupted over comments one of the gay leaders made that were critical of leading Republicans’ views.
Barnett, in his first year as party chairman, hoped to juice up interest in the 2015 version, and turn it into a moneymaker.
That led to the plan to have Wilders speak. His participation drew scrutiny in the wake of a May event in Texas featuring cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, considered blasphemous by followers of Islam. Two gunmen attempting an ambush were killed by a police officer before they could injure others. Wilders was a speaker at the cartoon event.
Barnett said in May that canceling Wilders’ appearance “would send a very bad message if we cowered away and buckled under pressure.”
He also said he and the Republican Party had “no intention of offending anyone, a religion, or a faith, whatsoever.” But representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed outrage at the decision to have Wilders as a speaker.
Ibrahim Hooper, the Washington-based national communications director for CAIR, called Wilders “probably the most notorious, anti-Muslim bigot in the world.”
Barnett said he hopes the party can host Wilders at some point after Lobsterfest.
“We still want to have him in town. We’ve talked to his people. He would be very glad to come back in the fall,” Barnett said. “We haven’t thought about putting that together yet.”
The Lobsterfest with Wilders was set for Aug. 15 at Boca West Country Club. When the Wilders controversy erupted, the country club’s board said Lobsterfest wasn’t welcome.
The reconfigured event is Aug. 13 at Broken Sound Country Club in Boca Raton.