Ledyard King

THE NEWS-PRESS Washington bureau

WASHINGTON - Most members of Florida’s Republican congressional delegation are slowly warming to the idea of Donald Trump as the party’s presidential nominee.

Some, like Rep. Jeff Miller, who represents the western Panhandle, have decided the real estate mogul has a clear conservative agenda worthy of support.

Others, like Rep. Bill Posey of the Space Coast and Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee, whose district includes part of Lee County, offer more tepid backing, saying they’ll support “the nominee” without volunteering much beyond that.

And Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Bonita Springs, said in a prepared statement: “As our party finalizes the nomination process, important policy decisions and a vice-presidential selection in the weeks ahead will go a long way to uniting our party.” Clawson had initially endorsed Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

Then there’s Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who represents western Miami-Dade, the only county that didn’t go for Trump in the March 15 Florida primary.

Facing a tough re-election fight, Curbelo recently told a Miami TV station he won’t back Trump “under any circumstance,” calling it “a moral decision.”

Many of 17 House Republicans from the Sunshine State got behind Jeb Bush’s presidential candidacy last year. When the former Florida governor quit the race in February, several of those Republicans jumped to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio, only to see Rubio suffer an embarrassing loss in the state’s primary.

Now that Trump has effectively clinched the nomination, Florida’s GOP members of Congress are responding with various levels of enthusiasm for a candidate who opposes free trade, is adamant about protecting entitlement programs and says nice things about Planned Parenthood.

Based on statements from their offices and interviews with various media, 12 GOP House members – Miller, Posey, Rooney, Clawson, Richard Nugent, Ted Yoho, Ron DeSantis, John Mica, Gus Bilirakis, Dennis Ross, Vern Buchanan, and Mario Diaz-Balart – said they’ll support Trump or “the nominee.”

Two House members – Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, also representing Miami-Dade – have said they can’t support Trump.

David Jolly, a St. Petersburg area congressman running for Rubio’s Senate seat this fall, has said he remains undecided.

“(He) will not be supporting Secretary Clinton under any circumstances,” Jolly spokeswoman Sarah Bascom wrote in an email, referring to Hillary Clinton, who will almost certainly win the Democratic presidential nomination. “But (he) but has not yet committed his support to Mr. Trump.”

Spokespersons for the remaining two GOP House members – Daniel Webster and Ander Crenshaw – did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s an awkward dance being played out by Republicans across the country.

Many are not big fans of Trump, who has donated to Clinton in the past.

Former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush say they won’t attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer. Neither is 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who has described Trump as “phony” and a “fraud” whose policies would plunge the country into a “prolonged recession.”

Jeb Bush, still revered among some Republicans in the Sunshine State, wrote on Facebook he won’t vote for Trump because he has “not demonstrated that temperament or strength of character ... has not displayed a respect for the Constitution … and is not a consistent conservative.”

Rubio, whom Trump has mentioned as a possible running mate, said he’s not interested in being on the ticket. During an interview on CNN Tuesday, he also sounded conflicted.

“I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States. On the other hand, I have well-defined differences with (Trump),” Rubio said. “And like millions of Republicans who try to reconcile those two things, I intend to live up to the pledge that we made (to support the nominee), but these concerns I have about policy remain.”

Skeptics within the party, especially those running for re-election, are being careful not to anger Trump supporters in their states or districts by distancing themselves too much from the candidate who will sit atop the ticket.

Trump will visit Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with party leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, who so far has declined to endorse Trump.

Ross, a one-time Bush supporter who represents the Tampa suburbs and Lakeland, said failing to support Trump amounts to endorsing a third term for President Obama — in the form of Clinton or, much less likely, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist.

“We cannot have another four years of Obama policies emulated through Hillary Clinton, nor can we have the White House controlled by socialist ideologies,” he said in a statement from his office. “I firmly believe a Trump Administration will be filled with Republicans who share my conservative values to defend our Constitution and to accurately represent the voice of the American people.”

But even some who support “the nominee” say they want to see Trump move to the right as he gets closer to officially securing the nomination.

Nugent, who represents the Ocala area, summed up the feelings of many Republicans in the Florida delegation.

“Trump is the party’s nominee and I’d throw myself off a building before I voted for Clinton,” he said, citing Supreme Court appointments that the next president may be called on to make over the next four years. “I just hope that Trump — as the alternative — isn’t selling the American people a bill of goods. I hope he really tries to clarify some of his thoughts and be a true conservative in thought and deed.”

Contact Ledyard King at lking@gannett.com; Twitter: @ledgeking

Florida’s House members begin showing support

12 support

Jeff Miller, Bill Posey, Tom Rooney, Curt Clawson, Richard Nugent, Ted Yoho, Ron DeSantis, John Mica, Gus Bilirakis, Dennis Ross, Vern Buchanan, and Mario Diaz-Balart

2 do not support

Carlos Curbelo and

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

1 Undecided

David Jolly

2 did not respond

Daniel Webster and Ander Crenshaw