‘Gulf of America’ Splits Even Deep-Red Towns

BY SCOTT CALVERT

Jennifer Van Vrancken expected smooth sailing when she proposed that Jefferson Parish, La., label its maps with the Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico. After all, she is one of five Republicans on the seven-seat local council, and President Trump won the parish of 420,000 people last fall.

Instead, her four fellow Republicans voted no. One declared, “You can’t rewrite history.” Another deemed the measure divisive. A third contended residents didn’t care what the parish, equivalent to a county, calls the vast body of water lapping at its southern shores. Her resolution failed Feb. 26 by a 6-1 vote.

“I was very surprised,” Van Vrancken said, describing the resolution as a nonpartisan celebration of the area and the Gulf. “We are a state and a parish that has been very supportive of Republican candidates at the local level to the national level.”

Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America is whipping up frothy debates. Disputes have erupted in towns and states, including among Republicans, over ditching the centuries-old name.

Businesses with “Gulf of Mexico” in their name debate rebrands, and people snipe from all sides: Gulf of America fans scold groups for “dead naming” the gulf by sticking with Mexico, while foes deride those using the new name for capitulating to Trump.

Some hope to capitalize. Several Airbnb rentals now boast proximity to the Gulf of America, and the moniker adorns a flurry of recently registered companies, such as Gulf of America Plumbing in Alabama.

“Amazing 15th Floor on the Gulf of America” is how Jill and Aaron Satterlee advertise their rental condo in Panama City Beach, Fla. She revised the listing the day of Trump’s order, and the couple use the name across their three Panhandle rental units. “No. 1, it’s marketing, but overall we do think it’s a great idea,” Aaron Satterlee said, noting that bookings are up. “You get a lot of folks from the South, and that’s typically Trump’s stronghold.”

Mexican Beach Fishing Co. owner Billy Wells won’t rename his Venice, La., charter business, though customers teasingly ask about it.

“No, we’ve got 20 years on this name brand. It’s sticking,” he said. Besides, he added, “We’re too old and fat to be changing names now.”

Across the South, GOP-led legislatures from Florida to Texas are crafting bills to enshrine Gulf of America in their laws. Republican governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis have embraced it.

But in Arkansas, the GOPdominated House defeated a resolution by Republican Rep. Aaron Pilkington that said “the Gulf of Mexico shall be referred to as the ‘Gulf of America’ in all official state maps, documents, educational materials, and communications prepared by state agencies.”

Pilkington said the outcome surprised him. He called his nonbinding resolution a “softhanded” plea to follow the executive order.

Arkansas House Majority Leader Howard Beaty, a Republican who spoke against the measure, said the resolution was poorly worded and Pilkington failed to amend it. Beaty said the use of the word “shall” raised questions about the proposal’s cost. “Let’s be real clear,” he said. Among the House Republican caucus, “we support President Trump” and his order.

Some organizations are treading carefully.

The Gulf of Mexico Trust, a conservation nonprofit, now identifies itself as simply the Gulf Trust. As for that body of water, the group is taking a diplomatic path: It calls it the Gulf of Mexico/America. That elicited criticism on Facebook from both directions.

Shane Jones, meanwhile, says he will preserve the description of his co-owned Orange Beach, Ala., condo as situated “directly on the Gulf of Mexico!”

He grew up with the name, which evokes memories of summer and Kenny Chesney’s song “Here and Now.” It includes the line: “Think I fell in love for the first time/With the Gulf of Mexico.”