Romney offers to help Florida delegation after their exile to hotel far from GOP convention

{mosads}In addition to their exile at a hotel in Palm Harbor, Fla., Republicans from the state hosting the convention have been stripped of half of their delegates and face additional sanctions.

Last month, state party leaders expressed frustration with their treatment.

“I’m p—ed off,’’ said Florida Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry to the Tampa Bay Times. “We’re one of the most important swing states, if not the most important swing state, and our activists and our donors are going to be punished for something they had nothing to do with.”

The RNC said then that Florida’s placement at the golf resort and spa had more to do with its size — Republicans from the state will need some 420 hotel rooms — than doling out punishment.

“There was no penalty assessed,’’ said James Davis, spokesman for the committee on arrangements, to the Times. “This is the first time we’ve been able to put Florida, California, Texas and New York in their single hotels without splitting them up.”

Florida and its 29 electoral votes are crucial for Romney in his November showdown with President Obama. A Suffolk/7News poll released earlier this month showed the president leading Romney by a single percentage point.

After a rally Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Romney will be in Jacksonville on Thursday for an event at the River City Brewing Company.