Having two Lee County events close together wasn’t judged the best use of time, “so he dissed the women,” said Judy O’Donnell, program chair for Lee Republican Women Federated. “Everything was confirmed for our group. The campaign picked the date. But once they heard the REC wanted to do something, they apparently decided that was more important to them, and the REC event isn’t even settled yet.”
Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos said no disrespect was intended and promised the women a return date after March. Additionally, he said, the state party’s quarterly meeting is now scheduled for Jan. 9, and Rubio would have canceled other appearances at that time to attend that event.
Rubio’s change also means a financial hit for the women’s club, whose members paid $633 to rent a hall at Three Oaks, O’Donnell said. “Now we’ve lost it, unless we can bring in some other candidate, which is unlikely at this point.”
The Rubio campaign offered to reimburse them. “We don’t want to take Marco’s money. He’ll need it for the race,” O’Donnell said. “But he or his staff apparently decided the REC was more important than the women who do so much of the grassroots work. I still support him, but …” Read the rest of this article here.
