MANATEE COUNTY – County voters will ultimately determine whether former Chief of Staff Scott Farrington or recent gubernatorial appointee James Satcher serves as Manatee County’s next supervisor of elections.
Farrington and Satcher are expected to square off in the Republican primary election that concludes on Aug. 20.
If no Democrat or non-party-affiliated candidate joins the race, the primary will determine the race winner.
On April 12, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Satcher, then a Manatee County commissioner, to serve the remaining months of the four-year term that longtime supervisor Mike Bennett vacated on March 1 after announcing his retirement in January. Satcher has no previous experience conducting an election or managing an elections office and his appointed term expires after the November election.
As Bennett’s longtime chief of staff, Farrington oversaw the elections office operations from March 1 until April 12. He resigned the day DeSantis appointed Satcher. He was in his 12th year with the Manatee elections office, preceded by 10 years with the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office.
In January, with Bennett’s resignation pending, Farrington filed to run for the elected four-year Supervisor of Elections term that will begin after the November elections. As of Sunday, Satcher had not yet filed to run in the supervisor of elections race but he’s expected to file soon.
SATCHER TAKES OVER
In his new role, Satcher made a brief appearance before the county commission on April 16. While noting he’d soon seek additional county funds to address staffing and equipment needs, Satcher inferred that Farrington refused to provide the passwords needed to access the elections office computers.
“One person left on Friday of his own accord and took all the passwords with him and refused to give them to our technology department when we called and asked for the passwords,” Satcher said.
Farrington and Bennett later disputed Satcher’s allegation.
After Farrington’s departure, Satcher hired Manatee County Commissioner Amanda Ballard’s husband, David Ballard, to serve as his chief of staff, despite Ballard currently being on probation in Manatee County.
On Feb. 1, 2023, the Florida Highway Patrol arrested Ballard on suspicion of driving under the influence with property damage and/or personal injury. He was also charged with leaving the scene of a crash. On March 6, 2023, the Bradenton Police Department arrested Ballard on suspicion of driving under the influence, refusal to submit to testing and driving with license canceled, suspended or revoked.
According to the March 6 probable cause affidavit, the responding officer smelled a faint smell of alcohol on Ballard’s breath. Ballard told the officer he had not consumed any alcohol that day but was taking prescribed medications that included Klonopin and alcohol withdrawal medicine. Ballard told the officer he was traveling home from the Centerstone rehabilitation facility when the accident occurred.
According to the March 6 probable cause affidavit, “Once officers arrived on scene, the defendant (Ballard) advised that his wife was driving and he was a passenger. He stated that she left the scene to make a phone call. She arrived shortly after and advised this was not true. He later stated that he forgot he was actually driving.”
On Aug. 24, 2023, Ballard pled no contest to the driving under the influence charge associated with his Feb. 1 arrest. He also pled no contest to all three counts associated with his March 6 arrest. According to the order of probation issued that day, Ballard was placed on probation for one year and his driver’s license was suspended for five years.
FARRINGTON SPEAKS
When speaking to The Sun on April 19, Farrington addressed the governor’s decision and said, “I was disappointed, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.”
Farrington confirmed he’ll remain in the supervisor of elections race and he’s happy Manatee County voters will decide who serves in that role for the next four years.
“I am running because I think the people of Manatee County deserve a choice. Right now, one choice is already laid out. I believe I offer a different option – one of experience. I have over 20 years of elections experience. Some people might not think that’s important, but there’s so much involved in running an election. I offer experience, integrity and honest elections,” Farrington said.
He’s now collecting the petition signatures needed as part of the candidate qualifying process.
“If anybody’s interested in signing one, they can go to my website, VoteScottFarrington.com, and download it, sign it and send it in,” he said.
Regarding Satcher’s claim about withheld passwords, Farrington said, “I did not take any passwords and I did not refuse to give any passwords back. That’s not true.”
BENNETT DISAPPOINTED
When speaking to The Sun on April 18, Bennett noted DeSantis has often expressed his desire for election integrity, yet he appointed a supervisor of elections with no previous experience and strong partisan political beliefs.
When announcing his resignation, Bennett sent DeSantis a letter that recommended Farrington be appointed to serve as the interim supervisor. Bennett said DeSantis never contacted him about the pending appointment, nor did any of the governor’s staff.
“I’m extremely disappointed with the governor and I’m extremely disappointed with (former Florida Senator) Bill Galvano for taking the lead on getting the governor to make that appointment,” Bennett said.
Regarding Satcher’s appointment, Bennett said, “To take somebody who has no knowledge of elections and never volunteered to sit on the canvassing board? He knows nothing about it. And then he hires a guy who’s on probation and can’t even drive the supervisor’s car to check on a polling place or an early voting spot. The new chief of staff knows nothing about elections and has never served on a canvassing board or been to a canvassing board meeting,” Bennett said.
Bennett is concerned that Satcher and Ballard’s lack of experience and strong political beliefs could affect public confidence and the integrity of the upcoming elections.
He also addressed Satcher’s claim about withheld passwords.
“That’s simply not true. Scott didn’t have all the passwords. All the passwords are with Sharon Stief,” Bennett said in reference to his longtime chief deputy, who remains in that position. “Nobody ever contacted Scott or me about getting any passwords.”
SUPERVISOR’S RACE
The Florida voter registration application and instruction form accessible at the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections website notes that Florida uses a closed primary system that only allows those affiliated with a specific political party to vote in party-specific primary elections.
“However, in primary elections, all voters can vote for candidates in that partisan primary race if the candidates face no opposition in the general election,” the form notes.
If no Democratic or non-party-affiliated candidates enter the supervisor of elections race – including a bogus candidate who runs simply to close the primary – the anticipated Farrington-Satcher primary race would be open to all Manatee County voters. If a Democrat or non-party-affiliated candidate enters the race, the primary becomes closed to Republican voters only.
If the primary is closed, non-Republican voters who wish to vote in the supervisor of elections primary race have until July 22 to change their current party affiliation to Republican, which can be easily accomplished and later reversed by visiting https://registertovoteflorida.gov/eligibilityreactive.
