BY AMY SHERMAN, ASHERMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM
On the national stage, some Republicans say their party must ditch the social conservative label and loosen their opposition to gay marriage. But in Broward County Monday night, the local GOP elected one of the county’s best-known social conservatives to lead them through the 2014 elections when everything from the governor’s mansion to local offices will be in play.
Tom Truex, a former Davie mayor, was chosen to replace Rico Petrocelli, a former Plantation council member who quit the post in February with a vague explanation that he wasn’t getting along with the board. The chair position has been plagued by turnover — a handful of activists have served as chair since 2010.
Truex served on the Davie Town Council until he lost the mayor’s seat to former council member and Democrat Judy Paul in 2009. He lost a race for Broward GOP chairman by four votes in 2010.
He is a former chairman of Hope Pregnancy Centers — an organization that discourages abortions. In 2003, Truex refused to participate in a United Way fundraiser after it cut funding to the Boy Scouts due to a ban on gay members and because it provided funding to Planned Parenthood.
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