In a substantial victory for former President Donald Trump in the Florida Republican primary, the state’s GOP voted to remove the loyalty pledge as a ballot requirement.

The RNC for months has been pushed a loyalty pledge, encouraging candidates to vow they will support whoever the party’s nominee is for the general election. Back in May, the pledge was adopted by the Republican Party of Florida despite it’s unpopularity.

The ruled made it so you could not run on the March 19th Republican primary ballot in Florida unless you agree to the pledge. Supporters of Gov. Ron DeSantis had previously backed the pledge because Trump has stated publicly he would never agree to it.

However, on Friday the Florida GOP executive board voted to remove the provision from it’s bylaws at a meeting at an Orlando, Florida hotel, according to Fox News. During the tense meeting, Polk County GOP member Ed Shoemaker reportedly told the board, “people will be pissed if we keep Trump off the ballot.”

Meanwhile, Florida GOP House Speaker Paul Renner, who initially backed the pledges’ adoption, urged board members not to change the new rule.

Per Fox News:

The vote was not only a show of force for Trump in his adopted home state but is also a sign that DeSantis’ once iron grip over the Florida state party may be slipping.

Neither Trump nor DeSantis attended the meeting, as they were both giving speeches in Washington D.C. at the Family Research Council’s annual Pray, Vote, Stand conference around the same time the vote was taking place.

In DeSantis world, the decision was not met with praise. DeSantis campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin told Fox “anyone who wants to run for president as a Republican should be willing to pledge their support for our eventual nominee.”

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