Casey DeSantis to skip Women for Trump event due to planned execution

TALLAHASSEE — President Donald Trump's re-election campaign said Monday it would host a Women for Trump event in Tampa that would feature notable Republican women, including Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, Kellyanne Conway and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

There’s just one problem: DeSantis won’t attend the get-out-the-vote rally Thursday because it conflicts with a scheduled execution, according to the governor’s office.

The event at the Tampa Convention Center is being billed as “An Evening to Empower” centered around the 99th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

Conway was listed as the special guest, and Bondi and DeSantis were also scheduled to speak, according to an announcement circulated by email.

The celebration event is planned at roughly the same time as the planned execution of Gary Ray Bowles, a serial killer who targeted gay men. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Bowles earlier this summer.

Alex Garcia, who is overseeing Trump re-election campaign efforts in Florida, said Casey DeSantis had a “scheduling conflict” and that an announcement advertising he event was a “tad premature.”

Garcia acknowledged the execution was the main reason for the first lady’s absence and said that “everyone is locked down” when an execution is carried out.

Department of Corrections officials usually maintain constant contact with the governor’s office during executions in case questions arise. The governor is informed when an execution has been carried out.

Helen Aguirre Ferré, a spokesperson for the governor, said though the first lady is not an elected official, “out of protocol the executive office of the governor does not participate in any public event” while an execution is carried out.

Bondi came under heavy criticism in 2013 after she asked then-Gov. Rick Scott to move the date of an execution because it conflicted with a kickoff fundraiser for her re-election. She said later she should not have requested the date change.

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine