Why now, Bill Cowles? Grilling Orange’s elections chief about his surprise retirement | Commentary
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When I heard last week that Bill Cowles was retiring, I winced.
Why? Because when you look back at the scandals that have enveloped Orange County’s elections office in the nearly 30 years he has run it, you realize … there weren’t any.
For the most part, Cowles has been one of the most boring elected officials in local office. And God bless him for it.
There were no embarrassing episodes involving misprinted or missing ballots. No reports of suspicious, late-night visits to the office with paramours or political cronies. No black-face costume scandals or stories about angry fights with county commissioners.
Cowles just did his job — which is all voters can really hope for.
Yet now that Cowles has announced he is retiring Jan. 31, about a year before his term is up, he’s giving Gov. Ron DeSantis the opportunity to appoint a replacement. And if Cowles has been low-key and boring, DeSantis revels in chaos.
This is a governor who has repeatedly overridden the will of local voters by removing duly elected officials from office. A guy who established an elections-crime task force to selectively target voters. Who once floated an alternate-elector plan to keep Donald Trump in office. And who appointed a controversial, profane-name-calling politician as his statewide elections chief.
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Orange County has gotten used to boring, safe and secure elections. Now, there’s no telling what comes next.
Consequently, many of Cowles’ fans have been wondering why he decided to leave early and even allow the possibility for chaos. So I asked him.
In response, Cowles suggested we were looking at this issue backward. He says he’s not leaving early as much as he agreed to stay late.
He says he was ready to go after his last term ended in 2020. But with the state about to go through a politically charged redistricting process, he felt an obligation to stay on a few more years and oversee the transition. The county was also about to buy new voting equipment that he wanted to ensure worked — which he did, in last month’s special legislative session.
But Cowles said what really sealed the deal for him was a real estate opportunity — the house next to his son and grandsons went on the market in Indian Harbour Beach. He’s 69, wanted to spend more time with his family and knew the law wouldn’t allow him to live in Brevard County and serve as elections supervisor in Orange.
“The timing of everything just fell into place,” he said.
Personally, I still wish Cowles had decided to stick around another 11 months, so that Orange County wouldn’t be thrown into another potential controversy heading into such a pivotal election cycle, where distrust is not only high but being fomented by opportunistic politicians.
But it’s not my call. And after working in local elections for half his life, Cowles is entitled to do what he wants.
If DeSantis wants to opt for consistency over controversy — a prospect that seems about as likely as me pooping out mistletoe for Christmas — he might consider asking one of Cowles’ top aides to temporarily run the office until a successor is elected next year. Or he could consider the office’s knowledgeable, long-time attorney, Nick Shannin.
What we don’t need is chaos. And it’s sometimes tough to appreciate the controversies you don’t have. But look around.
Years ago, a supervisor in Brevard County raised brows when he hosted a fundraiser for a candidate who was on the ballot that year. While suspicions swirled there, Cowles said he’d never do such a thing for the obvious reason: Supervisors shouldn’t take sides in races where they are also responsible for tallying the votes.
Cowles is a Democrat. But he said he always worked hard to act like a nonpartisan. And it appears voters respected that. During his last campaign in 2020, Republicans didn’t even field a challenger.
There are already several candidates lined up to replace him in next year’s race. Among them, school board member Karen Castor Dentel strikes me as being in Cowles’ mold of thorough, trustworthy and even-tempered.
But that race will come in due time. For now, county residents will anxiously look to see what the governor does with this crucial position.
Cowles said he never wanted to serve forever. (Think of someone like Tax Collector Earl K. Wood, who died in office at age 96 after five decades in office while still running for re-election amidst questions about whether Wood entered his office building anymore.)
And Cowles said he felt he owed his wife some good, healthy years when the two of them can do what they want when they want — when her suggestion for a vacation wouldn’t be put on hold because of something like a special election in Windermere.
“I’ve loved serving,” Cowles said. “But I’m looking forward to a day when my life isn’t controlled by an election calendar.”
