Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed two public servants to be Supervisors of Elections, one in Hendry County and one in Washington County, both filling out unexpired terms.
Hendry County’s Chief Deputy Supervisor of Elections Sherry Taylor will succeed Brenda K. Hoots. Hoots, who announced her Sept. 29 retirement after working for 32 years in the Hendry County Supervisor of Elections Office, with more than 11 of them as Supervisor of Elections. This year is the Democrat’s third year of her third, four-year term.
Taylor came to the Supervisor of Elections Office 10 years ago after working as a paralegal for the Luckey Law Firm. Hoots’ No. 2 in the elections office is enrolled in the Florida Certified Election Professionals certification courses, according to the Governor’s Office.
In Washington County, Deidra Pettis, an emergency 911 assistant for the Washington County Board of County Commissioner will succeed Carol Rudd, Washington County’s longest-serving Supervisor of Elections. Rudd became Elections Supervisor in 1996, appointed to the job by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles, the most recent Democrat elected Governor.
Elected seven times in her own right, Rudd, a Republican, served a total of 27 years in the role before her July retirement, according to the Washington County News.
Pettis, who attended Northwest Florida State College, has worked in public service for more than 15 years, according to the Governor’s Office. She’s also the sister of Col. Greg Malloy, a Panhandle corrections officer killed in the line of duty as he chased down a double homicide suspect in an exchange of gunfire in 2011.
After two, successive legislative Sessions during which election laws and procedures were overhauled, the Florida Supervisors of Elections, a professional association, is asking lawmakers to pause changes this year, as a presidential election year gears up Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott told the Broward County legislative delegation this week.
“It’s a really bad time for us to change the election laws and force the Supervisors to adopt new policies and procedures within the same year we’re having a presidential election,” he said.
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