Republican Club of Longboat Key welcomes Ronna Romney

Longboat Key is home to many prominent people, but one slipped under our noses — Ronna Romney. After years of being in the public eye, Romney enjoys the freedom and luxury of a low-key life on Longboat. She’s been traveling back and forth between the island and her home state of Michigan for over 20 years. 

On April 11, she spoke to 70 members of the Republican Club of Longboat Key at a dinner meeting held at the Longboat Key Club’s Harbourside ballroom. Press was not allowed to attend the meeting, but Romney spoke to the Observer about what she had planned. 

“I’m going to talk about the road to get here, discovering like women always do, who they are and what they’re good at,” she said. “And then I’m sure we’ll go to politics when we do the Q&A.”

While Romney may be best known for her last name or now as Ronna McDaniel’s mother, her resume speaks volumes for itself. 

“One of our members asked if I would try to get her daughter, Ronna McDaniel, and I hated to call her because you hate to call the mother, but I looked her up,” Club President Garnett Black said. “She’s written books. She ran for the Senate. She worked for Bush. She worked for Reagan, and I went, ‘I don’t want the daughter, I want her.’” 

Romney also hosted a radio show for nearly five years that aired in 38 states and seven countries. In a 1994 interview with the New York Times, she said, “I am the voice of the frustrated American.” 

Much of her adult life was spent on the campaign trail, from the time she was married to Scott Romney in 1967 and her new father-in-law George ran for president in 1968 against Richard Nixon through 2012 when her brother-in-law Mitt ran for president against Barack Obama. 

Once McDaniel became the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Romney took a step back. 

“I stopped because you’re a news story. You say anything where they have to say, ‘Did you know your mother just did this? Do you agree with your mother?’ Most mothers don’t create news stories,” she said. 

But the evening’s event was about Romney alone. The attendees were there to hear about her work and expertise. Currently, Romney serves as the vice-chair of the board for Molina Healthcare.

“This lady here I knew in Michigan. Her husband was a congressman there for 16 years. Her name is Sandie Knollenberg, and her husband was Congressman Joe Knollenberg,” Romney said. “She happened to read in the paper that I was going to be here, so she came.”