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Florida Secretary Of State Resigns After Blackface Photos Emerge
January 25, 2019
Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel abruptly resigned Thursday, after a newspaper obtained photos of the elections chief wearing blackface on Halloween more than a decade ago.
Ertel was one of the first appointments by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who named the former Seminole County supervisor of elections as secretary of state before the governor took office this month.
Photos published online by the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper Thursday showed Ertel wearing blackface and red lipstick and clad in a New Orleans Saints bandanna and a purple T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Katrina Victim,” under which he wore falsies.
According to the Democrat, the photos were taken in 2005, eight months after Ertel’s appointment as the Seminole County elections chief and two months after Hurricane Katrina’s widespread destruction in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. The Democrat shared the photos with Ertel last week and with the governor’s office Thursday morning, the story said.
Shortly before 2 p.m., Ertel, who confirmed to the Democrat that he was the man in the photos, submitted a 25-word email to Diane Moulton, director of the governor’s executive staff.
“I am submitting my resignation as Florida Secretary of State effective immediately. It has been an honor to serve you and the voters of Florida,” wrote the 49-year-old Ertel, who had appeared at a House subcommittee meeting earlier Thursday.
Ertel’s email “signature” included a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “These men ask for just the same thing, fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as in my power, they, and all others, shall have.”
Ertel’s hasty exit from the Department of State is the first stain on DeSantis’ administration and came just 16 days after the Republican governor took office.
Speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon at a news conference in Marianna, DeSantis called Ertel’s resignation “unfortunate.”
“I think he regrets that whole thing 14-15 years ago, but at the same time I want people to be able to lead and not having any of these things swirling around them,” DeSantis said at an event outside the Jackson County Emergency Operations Complex.
The governor said he felt it was best to accept Ertel’s resignation and “move on.”
“I think it’s unfortunate. I think he’s done a lot of good work, but at the same time I have got to have an administration that is going to be focused on what matters to Floridians. I don’t want to get mired into side controversies,” he said.
Last week, DeSantis named Christopher Anderson, a U.S. Army veteran who is black, as Ertel’s replacement as Seminole County elections supervisor.
Ertel’s sudden departure — and the racially charged photos — stunned the elections community, of which Ertel had been a respected member for years.
“This is a shocking development. His resignation seems like the only acceptable option,” Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards said in an email.
As Seminole’s elections supervisor, Ertel — whose personal Twitter account has been deleted — boosted voter enrollment, pushed for civic participation and was active on social media. His team earned kudos for the speed and transparency with which it handled manual recounts following the November elections.
But Florida state elections officials and their county counterparts are under intense scrutiny, at least in part because of the November passage of Amendment 4, which “automatically” restores voting rights to felons who have completed the terms of their sentences. The constitutional amendment, which excludes murderers and sex offenders, went into effect this month, and supervisors began registering felons who immediately started signing up to vote.
Looking to implement the amendment, lawmakers are grappling with questions about which crimes should be included in the “murder” exclusion and what financial penalties, such as court fines and restitution, must be satisfied for voters to be eligible.
Local elections supervisors are relying on the state Division of Elections, which is part of the Department of State, to give them guidance about how to interpret the amendment. Meanwhile, state elections officials told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee this week they need direction from the Legislature.
While many elections supervisors expressed strong support for Ertel’s appointment as secretary of state, Ion Sancho, who served as Leon County’s elections chief for nearly three decades before retiring in 2016, pointed out that Seminole is the only county that is not a member of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections.
Sancho said he was “stunned” by the 14-year-old photos of Ertel in blackface dressed as a Katrina victim, “because supposedly he’s a social media guru.”
Ertel “knows what to do,” Sancho said.
“He’s always tweeting,” he said.
But Ertel was viewed as somewhat of an outsider by other supervisors, according to Sancho.
“We’re a close-knit organization, like a family. We lean on each other for technical support. He was viewed as doing his own thing. He really sought out publicity more than most supervisors of elections do,” Sancho said.
Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley is among the people who were screened by DeSantis’ transition team for the secretary of state position last month, sparking social-media speculation Thursday about Corley as a possible replacement for Ertel.
In a text message Thursday, Corley said he appreciates “the kind words by those who would consider me qualified” for the post.
“However, my interest has been & continues to be laser focused on serving the citizens of Pasco County and striving to continually improve all facets of the Pasco Supervisor of Election’s Office,” he said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Comments
21 Responses to “Florida Secretary Of State Resigns After Blackface Photos Emerge”
The Culture of Critique and poor judgement on public behavior.
I wonder who took that photo ten years ago and what are/is their motives/agenda?
What this is about..being guilty of h aving a white face.
You can always 100% fingers something to offend anyone.
God created man in his own image.
Black..white..or any other color.
Last I checked, Dave Chappelle and the Wayans brothers have not run for or have ever held public office.
Blackface while wearing a “Katrina Survivor” shirt is doubly disgusting. If you disagree, maybe you should go check out the 9th Ward and other areas that still have not recovered.
Public officials should be held to a higher standard. People seem to forget that unless the target is of an opposing viewpoint.
It is pitiful in 2019 to have elected officials who do not understand the history of blackface and racism in America. Unanimous comments on this thread that it is ok and that de facto racism should be ignored when elected officials participate in that de facto racism. Shame on all. So many scardy cats afraid of modernity and equality for all, and hiding behind ignorance and a rigged system which systematically attacks diversity and equality…..such cowardice. Fortunately young people are not so frightened of diversity and live lives of equality without prejudice in the world which is watching all the haters die off. There will always be a few stupids, but the Grace of God shines bright and evil has resigned, but what about these comments.?
In no way does it make sense for him to resign. He should’ve kept his position, what does it matter what color face that he put on. Dave Chapelle did multiple skits with a white face and powder on his hands and arms. The Wayon Brothers has a movie called White Chicks for Gods Sake and went all out to look like white girls and make fun of them. Look at all the stuff Michael Jackson went though to look White.
@Cn no I don’t think it’s racist at all according to democrats own rules they play by. Democrates refuse to call out people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Lous Farrakhan’s who constantly make racist comments. They don’t call them out because they want to maintain a voter base and be PC correct. So no this doesn’t seem racist to most folks or me. Good example is the Catholic boys that were harassed by the native Americans with drum, you know the one who claimed to be a vet and claimed he served in Vietnam. Those boys were called every name in the book and never lashed out at anyone. Did any of the democrates call out on this man? Of course not because it wouldn’t be the popular thing to do, which is usually the right thing. I guess if the rules applied to everyone a little more equally then most may agree, can’t say for sure though cause they’ve never done it that way. Heck the democrates won’t even call out antifa, the ones you see on tv wearing masks like cowards, hmmmm hiding their identity, sounds familiar to me.
Kinda funny…black comedians can get up in white face and nothing at all is said, but if it’s the other way around, “RACIST!” cries are thrown around. How curious…
He should have stayed, this was 15 years ago, and if people will honestly remember that’s pretty much what we seen on the news the carrying out of TVs, Barbie doll jeeps and shoes , ya know all the things hurricane victims need to survive, heck the news even had video of a black female cop steeling stuff pushing a shopping cart. So yes that’s pretty much what we seen on tv , the victims dancing around and being proud of what they had stolen.
So a white person wearing black face with fake boobs and a shirt that says Katrina on that front is not racist to you all? The fact is when running for any type of public office your past can and will to come back and haunt you! Because if he was comfortable to do this with his friends what’s does that say about his character? Also how can he truly represent everyone when he has displayed a racist undertone?
I agree with most commenters that think he should have “attempted” to stayed in his position. We’ve created an impossible image for our politicians to attain. The expectations that they are squeaky clean with no blemishes what so ever. We can’t blame this on one political party or the other. Our society created this expectation. Unfortunately, now we all have to live with it.
PC gone wild. Is that all I got to say.
So very stupid. Celebrating a day of demons is worse than wearing a black face. I would not care one bit if a black person wore a white face. Where is sanity hiding out now days?
What is it about these Election Supers in Fla ? Kinda always
thought them to be quiet, reserved, intelligent, dependable
law abiding and caring folk! Are we heading down the tubes ?
If we are , I’d like to know where the tubes are. Are there hundreds
of tubes or just a couple? What’s going on these days ? Anybody ?
It was in very poor taste, especially considering the victims of hurricane Katrina, and the destruction and deaths. But I do not vote for someone based on their past or personal choices and lives. I vote based on what they can do for our state, community and the people. I have never voted for a perfect person.
take back your resignation.
Who really cares what sort of costume is worn by anyone on Halloween? Sounds to me like the Damocrats are still trying to gain control of everything.
If it were a democrat in the picture, he wouldn’t have resigned most likely, look at the Clinton Dynasty….in all the conspiracies they were involved that was public information and they would still look at you and smile and wave like nothing happened.
At any rate, be careful how you conduct yourselves because everyone has a smartphone, and they take really good pictures.
We (in general) are so eager to point fingers at someone when they have something in their past, to share it with the world, to ruin their lives, when it was probably a stupid thing at the time to do at the time. But haven’t we all fell short at some point in our lives, let’s quit this constant finger pointing and only point it when it’s good! The public would never know about this mess if we would all keep our mouth shut!
They might as well let go Everyone even DeSantis himself because there is not a Perfect person. Everyone has done something. No one is going to please everyone all the time.
A lot of people enjoy creating trouble and see it as their lives’ mission.. It’s like trying to argue with a drunk person. You cannot reason with them and if you are their target it’s best to walk away and throw in the towel.
he should not have resigned. Who cares..