Sarasota County Republican Party leaders once greeted the local supporters of presidential long-shot Ron Paul with open arms.

But that was before party leaders became convinced Paul's backers were determined to take over.

Now party leaders are doing everything they can to block new members from joining the Republican Executive Committee. That has included freezing its membership and adjourning a monthly meeting early to prevent Paul supporters from speaking.

"They want to take over the REC," county GOP chairman Eric Robinson said. "They are not offering what we thought they were offering."

Robinson said the party was set to freeze its membership because another Republican has threatened to sue them over their membership practices. He said the timing was opportune, allowing the committee to review membership practices.

Robinson said that instead of applying their energy and enthusiasm to help other candidates, Paul supporters are out to bully and force their agenda on Republicans.

Robinson is partially right, said Curt Schultz, a Paul organizer from Bradenton. He said the Republican Party needs to return to supporting less government and more personal freedoms, principles it has left behind. So his group is out to exert influence on the local party.

Though Paul finished a distant fifth in Florida's Republican presidential primary, Schultz said that was far from the end of the ""Ron Paul Revolution." All around the state, Paul supporters are trying to join local Republican parties to begin reshaping their agendas, Schultz said.