Jacksonville's Lenny Curry happy to spar with folks as he leads state Republican party

It was the first day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, and MSNBC personality Chris Matthews was fired up.

The left-leaning rhetorical brawler got into a heated back-and-forth with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on a morning television show.

It quickly became a topic of gossip at the "CNN Grill" where the network's Soledad O'Brien was taping her morning political panel. One of the guests was Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry.

Never lacking confidence, between segments the 42-year-old rushed over to Brian Hughes, his top communications consultant, with a question seemingly burning to get out.

"Can we do Matthews' show today?" asked Curry, who lives in Jacksonville with his wife, Molly, and their three kids. "I'd like to have that battle."

That style - alpha male mixed with a dash of southern charm - has netted Curry praise from party insiders, who have watched him lead the state GOP into a busy election season.

Along with campaign finance changes that have faced criticism, this election cycle includes a U.S. Senate race, every member of the Florida Legislature being on the ballot, and a presidential election.

Though Curry says he feels no pressure to deliver Florida's 29 electoral votes for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, GOP operatives say it's something that can make or break a party chairman.

"Everyone has their final test," said longtime Republican consultant Dave Ramba. "He can do everything right and read all the textbooks, but he could still fail the final exam."

Former state GOP executive director David Johnson said it would be a nice "feather in his cap," but Romney's campaign, which is based in Boston, should not define Curry's chairmanship.

"Usually a state party chair focuses on the governor, cabinet or state races," he said. "Many of the grander decisions [for Romney] are made in Boston, not Tallahassee."

Curry brushes off suggestions a Romney loss in Florida could cost him his job.

"I don't think about it," Curry said. "I don't see us losing. That's my mindset."

He took over as chairman after the death of his predecessor, Dave Bitner, and at a time the state party was still dealing with the scandal-plagued tenure of former chairman Jim Greer, who is facing criminal fraud charges tied to a fund-raising contract that party leaders say was kept hidden from them.

"Lenny has done a great job helping the party move past the kleptocratic regime of Jim Greer," said Republican consultant Rick Wilson

With Hughes' guiding hand, Curry has also developed a sort of media savvy not found in past state GOP chairmen.

"Lenny has guts," he said. "He is starting to blossom into a guy who will spar with these people and not let them smugly attack Republicans."

PARTY SPENDING

The Florida GOP faces new challenges and critics because of changes to how state-level campaigns are funded.

Technically, Curry must green-light any state Republican spending. In practice, however, House and Senate leaders often raise money and run it through the party to help fund priority races. In many of those cases, legislative leadership - not the party chairmen - often control the money.

"They have strategies, and I want to allow them to execute those," Curry said.

Despite "making clear" he did not want the party to influence Senate Republican primaries, millions in leadership money was spent to influence those races. It's spending that at least had Curry's tacit approval.

"All the money raised by the party, whether for the general fund or Senate or House accounts, is Republican Party of Florida money," he said. "It's my responsibility."

Last quarter, the party raised $9 million, its biggest haul since 2010. Though it is tough to determine exactly who raised what because the House, Senate and state GOP general accounts are intermingled, Wilson said Curry has exceeded the party's "wildest fund-raising expectations."

Curry says any party spending he approves did not go directly to influence Senate primaries. The keyword is "directly."

He says, with his blessing, legislative leaders gave money to third-party groups, which are not bound to the party and can spend the money how they want. Most used the money to fund negative ads that helped tilt a handful of GOP Senate primaries seen as important in the 2016 Senate presidency race.

"Once the money goes to those groups, I have no control over how it's spent," said Curry, who maintains he did not approve spending to directly sway Senate primaries.

The practice has been criticized by some.

"It's utterly disgusting," said Henry Kelley, a leader in Florida's Tea Party movement. "People donate to these causes and leadership is picking winners and losers to reinforce leadership, not because of any Republican principles."

State Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, often one of her party's loudest critics, also blasted the move in a June column titled "Primary voters, not establishment, should pick nominee."

Johnson said the practice is nothing new, and Curry should not be held accountable for leadership fund spending.

"The money was going to be expended by the leaders of the individual caucuses," he said. "It's going to go to the candidate they wanted to have with them" in the Legislature.

Matt Dixon: (904) 716-8789