Will Chris Smith Replace Brenda Snipes?

With the Florida recounts coming to an end, Brenda Snipes turned in her resignation. However, now the search is on to find a replacement for the controversial Broward Supervisor of Elections.

And, in the search, many names are bound to pop up as possible replacements. One of them is Chris Smith, a former member of both the Florida House and Senate who left the respective offices because of term limits.

In a telephone interview while attending organization sessions of the Florida House and Senate, Smith, when asked about possibly replacing Snipes, said that “‘Interested’ is the word I’d use, yes. If called to duty, you know I’d have to consider it.”

However, he did stress that he wouldn’t note himself as someone that is actively pursuing the job, but he did mention that many people have approached him about taking on the role.

Smith noted that “Mostly, ‘Hey, you should really think about it. It is something that we think you would be good at.’”

Other people that are interested in possibly taking over for Brenda Snipes are David Brown, a political consultant, Richard DeNapoli, a state Republican committeeman and the former Broward Republican chairman, and Lori Parrish, a former Broward property appraiser and County Commissioner.

All have commented that they would like to take on the job to reform the office, and they’ve also assured that they would not seek election to a full term in 2020.

While these names have entered the discussion, Smith says that he hasn’t thought about it.

On Tuesday, he assured that “I’m not even at that stage yet. This just really came up in the last 24 to 48 hours that I’ve been up here.”

Brenda Snipes was widely criticized for her handling of the recounts, and she turned in her resignation letter on Sunday to Governor Rick Scott.