Brenda Snipes' replacement could shape 2020 election

With less than two months left before his term as Florida’s governor comes to an end, Senator-elect Rick Scott could wind up firing Broward’s embattled Supervisor of Elections Dr. Brenda Snipes.

Snipes has already announced her resignation, but Scott could still fire her and appoint a replacement before he heads to Washington, D.C.

No one knows what Scott will do, but he will most-likely leave Snipes’ replacement up to Governor-elect Ron DeSantis.

It goes without saying that the Broward SOE’s office needs a complete overhaul, but who is fit to fill the void and make the necessary changes before the 2020 presidential election cycle kicks into gear?

Some names that are being circulated around as possible replacements, include former Broward County Property Appraiser, Democrat Lori Parrish.

Parrish has already announced her interest in the job.

Considering that DeSantis is Trump’s main guy in Florida, picking another establishment Democrat to head the second most populated county in the state, may not be an option for the incoming Republican governor.

There are some Republicans interested in the job, including a controversial and highly-questionable member of the Broward Republican Executive Committee (BREC), who has managed to amass a slew of political enemies due to his adolescent behavior, and his selfish and opportunistic agenda.

As President Trump would say, this is one “bad hombre.”

Outside of always appearing to have a bad hair day,  Senator Marco Rubio and other Republican state and county leadership absolutely detest you him. 

What’s worse, this very same individual is said to be the person responsible for allowing Broward School Board Superintendent Robert Runcie to address the BREC, infuriating just about everyone person that was directly vested in seeing change come to the school board.

One of those residents upset with Runcie’s address to the local Republican Party was Andrew Pollack, who lost his daughter during the Parkland school shooting in April of this year.

Much like the Broward SOE is the laughing stock of all 67 Florida county elections offices (Palm Beach is a close second), the Broward GOP has been the butt of the jokes within the Republican Party of Florida.

The local Broward GOP leadership probably broke its loyalty oath by endorsing known Democratic judicial candidates over Republicans in during the 2018 mid-term elections.

Another Republican who is also interested in the job, and is also part of the GOP leadership in the county, is Vice Chairwoman Celeste Ellich.

Ellich, alongside state Committeewoman Michelle Merrell, were the only two Republican board members who didn't vote for the Democratic judicial candidates.

County Chairman and state Rep. George Moraitis, confirmed that after consulting with “the attorneys,” the decision was made to endorse the Democrats over Republicans.

Are there any other names for DeSantis to consider?

One person whose name is also being circulated around is that of Shari McCartney, an attorney who resides in Fort Lauderdale with her partner and teenage daughter.

McCartney, who works for the Tripp Scott law firm, was hired with Ed Pozzuoli by the Republican Party of Florida to represent the political party’s interests during the recently concluded Broward ballot recount.

According to some of her close friends and colleagues, McCartney, who recently lost her bid to replace Commissioner Chip LaMarca on the Broward County Commission, has vast knowledge and experience in election law, having been involved now in both the 2000 and 2018 Florida recounts.

With Republican President Donald Trump running for re-election in 2020, and having already called for Snipes’ firing, making sure that Broward County is cleaned up will be crucially important for the president’s chances for re-election.

DeSantis’ pick to replace Snipes will be a game changer, to say the least.