Ron DeSantis praises Democrats Gregory Tony and Ric Bradshaw as two of the ‘good ones’ in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the highest-profile, most powerful countywide elected Democrats in Broward and Palm Beach County as examples of the “good ones” in Florida.

Both are sheriffs: Gregory Tony in Broward and Ric Bradshaw in Palm Beach County.

“He had a great life story. We put him there, Greg Tony,” DeSantis said.

In 2020, when DeSantis and the public first learned Tony, as a teenager in Philadelphia, had killed a man, the governor distanced himself from the sheriff. “It’s not like he’s my sheriff,” DeSantis told reporters at the time. “I didn’t even know the guy. It was not like he was a political ally of mine.”

DeSantis’ comments came Tuesday night at the close of a CNN town hall in Iowa, where he’s hoping to emerge from the state’s Republican caucuses in January as a viable challenger to former President Donald Trump for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

In the final question, town hall host Jake Tapper asked DeSantis to name his favorite Democrat in Florida. It had to be an elected official, he said.

DeSantis first demurred. “Oh man, you know the minute I do that then they’re, they’re all of a sudden gonna have,” he said. DeSantis didn’t finish his thought as Tapper asked him to instead “give me one who’s in the top 10.”

DeSantis first cited Tony, referring to his “great life story,” then said he works “very closely with” Sheriff Ken J. Mascara of St. Lucie County, then cited Bradshaw and labeled him a “great guy.”

“We do have some good ones in Florida,” DeSantis concluded.

Tony’s history

Tony was among DeSantis’ initial appointments, coming just days after he was sworn in as governor in 2019 — and, it turned out, one of his most controversial.

DeSantis put Tony in office when he suspended former Broward Sheriff Scott Israel. DeSantis charged Israel with incompetence and neglect of duty in connection with the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre and the 2017 shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was among the 17 people killed in the Stoneman Douglas massacre and was a prominent DeSantis supporter during the 2018 gubernatorial campaign, has said Tony’s was among the names he asked the governor to consider as sheriff.

The vetting in the new administration was done quickly, and Tony’s background wasn’t uncovered at the time.

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He later came under scrutiny because he didn’t disclose to DeSantis on official applications for his previous police jobs that he shot and killed an 18-year-old man in 1993 when he was a teenager living in a tough neighborhood in Philadelphia.

Tony has said it was self-defense for which he was absolved of responsibility. He won the Democratic nomination for a full, four-year term in the 2020 primary and the general election that fall. He’s seeking reelection next year.

In a 2022 report, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Tony repeatedly lied about the shooting on job applications.

DeSantis has made extensive use of his authority to suspend reelected officials even when they haven’t been charged with crimes. He’s done so far more often than his Republican predecessors.

It has been more than 22 months since DeSantis said his staff was considering what to do about Tony.

On Feb. 1, 2022, the day after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found Tony repeatedly lied on law enforcement applications, DeSantis at a news conference said that, “We are going to review everything, take a look. We saw the initial report. It will be something we will be reviewing in the coming days.”

Later in 2022, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause to pursue a case into Tony, finding that there were lies and omissions on forms that led him to his first police job in Coral Springs.

During the 2020 election, prominent Republican allies of DeSantis helped Democrat Tony raise campaign money — and many are also helping Tony raise money for his 2024 reelection campaign. Three Democrats have announced primary challenges; no Republican has filed candidate paperwork.

DeSantis has positioned himself during his time as governor as a strong supporter of just about everything elected sheriffs, and others in the law enforcement world, have sought.

Tony, who is Broward’s first Black sheriff, has been aggressive in disciplining deputies who mistreat citizens, a major issue for Black voters, and a central reason why many people in minority communities say they distrust law enforcement.

Bradshaw, a former West Palm Beach police chief first elected sheriff in 2004, is a staunch defender of actions by law enforcement officers. He is by far the most powerful elected official in Palm Beach County, usually able to persuade elected officials in both parties to go along with his policy and budget priorities.

Bradshaw is seeking a sixth term next year. One Democrat and two Republicans have filed paperwork indicating their plans to run for the job.

DeSantis describes himself

The “favorite Democrat” question and answer came after DeSantis had sought to portray himself as a consensus-building politician who could work with a range of people across the political spectrum, suggesting he was better equipped to do that than Trump or President Joe Biden.

“I think what we’ve seen is we’ve seen fighting polarization for no reason. So, look, there’s important issues. You can count on me. I’m gonna take strong stands. I’m gonna deliver big results. As a leader when you make decisions, not everyone’s gonna like it. That just goes with the territory,” DeSantis said.

“But (what) I’m not going to do is go out of my way to alienate people for no reason. If there’s a substantive disagreement, let the chips fall where they may,” he said.

It was a self description — DeSantis as cross-party consensus builder — that isn’t familiar to many people who have followed his time as governor.

He said “Trump tweeting and attacking people” had “created division that we didn’t need” and Biden saying “MAGAs are like almost anti-American, that creates division. We don’t need to be doing that. We need to be focusing on principle. We need to aim higher and we need to deliver results for people.”

DeSantis claimed he is someone who will even work with people who disagree with him 80% of the time. “That’s just how I am as a leader” he said, adding achieving results “requires a leader that’s going to appeal to the better angels of our nature.”

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Facebook, Threads.net and Post.news.