St. Lucie County elections supervisor candidates say 44 years is enough for incumbent

Gianna Montesano, Treasure Coast Newspapers

July 25, 2024 at 5:06 AM·4 min read

Two political newcomers with no experience managing elections want to unseat the St. Lucie County elections supervisor who's been in office for 44 years; but first, one must beat the other in the Aug. 20 primary.

Republicans Jenn Frey and George Umansky will face off before getting their shot in the Nov. 5 general election at denying a 12th term to Democrat Gertrude Walker, who has been in office since she was appointed in 1980.

Both candidates said they support term limits and vowed to improve voter outreach, education and trust in election security.

“It’s time for a change,” Frey said. “A lot of people agree on that already, that 44 years is a great deal to have served, but we need to move forward.”

Walker began working in the elections office when she was 18 and was promoted to deputy supervisor in 1968. She was the first Black person elected to the job in Florida.

Who's running for St. Lucie County elections supervisor?

Candidate: Jennifer Frey of Fort Pierce
Age: 47
Profession: Real estate broker at RE/MAX Tradition
Time in office: First time running
Campaign finances: As of July 23, she had spent $16,497 of her $31,023, of which more than $24,000 was her own money.

Candidate: George Umansky of Port St. Lucie
Age: 63
Profession: Former director of learning and development at Vicon Industries LLC
Time in office: First time running
Campaign finances: As of July 23, he had spent $17,667 of his $47,615, of which $32,000 was his own money.

Jennifer Frey's campaign platform

Frey said her first priority would be getting trained. Then she'd focus on maintaining the voter roll to prevent fraud and working with state officials to ensure the office has the best equipment and follows the latest election laws and rules.

"The first portion of the year will be spent training for the position and working with the staff to ensure an easy transition," Frey wrote in a TCPalm candidate questionnaire. "From there we can focus on voter engagement and preparing for the 2026 election."

New Florida laws enacted in January deemed 20,000 St. Lucie County voters inactive, which means they can be removed from the voter roll if they don't vote in two more general elections. They can be deemed active again by voting — either early, by mail ballot or at their precinct on Election Day — or by contacting the elections office.

Having been a poll worker since 2016, Frey said she's been privy to poll worker training and voter outreach events, and thinks Walker isn't engaging young voters. She vowed to employ the right people to connect with them.

"There becomes a gap in that conversation, where she's not necessarily going to be able to relate to those younger, new voters," Frey said of Walker.

George Umansky's campaign platform

Umansky also said he would focus on maintaining an updated voter roll to prevent voter fraud, as well as making the office more transparent. Another priority would be training poll workers better.

"The method of delivery needs to be upgraded. It needs to be more interactive. It needs to be something that the poll worker can revisit, even after they've completed the training, because sometimes they might have 30 to 45 days from the time that they got trained to the time that they actually go do the job," Umansky said.

Umansky said his background in technology sets him apart from Frey. The elections supervisor should keep abreast of the latest technology to accurately process voter data and count ballots.

“With the advent of the implementation of vote-by-mail — which is a huge undertaking and a very big security risk —it's even more important that the tabulations are being done properly,” Umansky said.

Umansky said he became interested in the office after his father-in-law told him about the 2012 election. It was fraught with ballot issues, equipment failures, missed reporting deadlines, inaccurate tallies that led to recounts, legal challenges and a state elections official being dispatched to oversee the results.