Satcher to elections office?
Sources say it’s ’done deal’ commissioner will be appointed to run Manatee elections office.
UPDATE, March 5, 2024 — Sources close to some on the county commission say it’s a “done deal” that Gov. Ron DeSantis will appoint James Satcher to fill the vacancy at the top of the Manatee County Elections Office. DeSantis would also have to appoint to replace Satcher on the commission.
Disclaimer: Whatever the local political machinations, nothing is official until the governor’s office makes an announcement.
James Satcher is running for re-election in November to the District 1 seat on the Manatee County Commission. Instead, Satcher needs to resign, but not because of scandal, his lack of rhetorical skills, his Christian nationalist beliefs or his evident disinterest in representing constituents who don’t live or love like he does.
Satcher, best known during his first term in office for instigating cultural war debates about abortion, gun rights and the public library that had little to do with county government’s real challenges, needs to end his campaign and immediately resign because it is clear that he doesn’t want the job.
Satcher this week confirmed a frightening rumor that he had asked Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint him interim supervisor of the Manatee County elections office, after Mike Bennett retires on March 1. Bennett wants DeSantis to appoint his long-time chief deputy, Scott Farrington, who unlike Satcher has experience managing presidential and other elections, to run the office until Farrington or someone else is elected in November.
“Election integrity is important. I’m willing to serve in whatever way I can make the biggest difference,” Satcher told the Observer, after he was asked why he was seeking a new job.
Hopefully, the right choice is as clear to DeSantis as it is to anyone familiar with Satcher and Farrington’s respective records in local government. (If DeSantis picks Satcher, he would then have to fill a vacancy on the commission, which would create a whole other set of worries we can worry about later.)
I don’t begrudge Satcher’s political ambition, and I’ll even give him the benefit of the doubt about what “election integrity” means to a MAGA Republican like himself whose party leader faces dozens of felonies for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections. However, based on his record as commissioner, namely his crusade against “the woke” he sees at public libraries, we ought to worry whether an Elections Supervisor James Satcher would end early voting at libraries, so as to not tempt voters to check out books after they cast their ballots.
Satcher told the Observer that he “loves” being a commissioner and would accept whatever DeSantis decides, but If he really would rather be Manatee’s next elections supervisor, he should not wait for the governor but instead, step down from the commission so he can focus full time on running for the job on his own. He owes that to the voters of District 1, whom he has insulted by continuing to seek their support while also maneuvering for higher office.
Satcher would then be able to stack his credentials as a preacher, commissioner and ideological flamethrower up against Farrington’s more than two decades as a public servant in the elections office and let the voters in the Republican primary decide.
Satcher is campaigning for a new job because of a) an outsized ego. (The Observer quotes him talking about himself in the third person); and/or b) he’s afraid his record of mediocrity is catching up to him and he’s going to lose his re-election. Satcher has two strong challengers, Republican Carol Felts and unaffiliated candidate Jennifer Hamey, either of whom, with their demonstrated familiarity with the challenges facing District 1 and their records of community service, would significantly boost the quality of the commission.
Mike Bennett, a former state lawmaker, is a veteran GOP player in Manatee County and Democrats have had their complaints during his time as elections supervisor. But overall, he appears to have his office like a pro — no allegations of fraud or other scandals, no obvious incompetence, no late nights waiting for all the ballots to be counted, etc.
Satcher is a political hack with no obvious interest in real governing, who clothes himself with a self-righteous piety common in the Christian nationalist crowd. And despite the tendency of his statements from the commission dais to drift off into incomprehensible word salads, he also is a practiced bootlicker so maybe the governor will pick him, to the detriment of Manatee County.
Nothing in Satcher’s too-long, ideologically charged tenure as a commissioner suggests he understands the vital role an elections office plays in our democracy or is capable of running an election in a county the size of Manatee. But let him lobby the governor for a promotion. If Satcher gets the job, maybe Farrington would stick around to handle the heavy lifting of running an election, and voters would still have a chance later this year to decide if he gets to keep it.
Before all of that, however, his constituents in District 1 deserve, and should demand, that Satcher immediately resign from the job he has now.
Marc R. Masferrer, previously a newspaper and digital editor in Bradenton for more than 16 years and a journalist for more than 33 years, has received multiple awards for his writing, including a first place for commentary writing in the Florida Press Club’s 2022 Excellence in Journalism Competition and a second place prize in the 2023 contest for work published in The Bradenton Journal. You can reach him at Marc.R.Masferrer@gmail.com. You can also like The Bradenton Journal on Facebook.
As a commissioner, Satcher would have immediately allowed county employees to open carry in the office. It was other commissioners who walked him down into getting the Sheriff's and employee's thoughts first. Putting him in charge of any department runs the risk of off the handle decisions. He would choose what he believed to be religion's way above the lawful way (if he even knew). His first order would be end early voting on Sundays. Satcher is a known conspiracy believer and election denier who would likely copy other state's vote restricting practices like lowering the threshold to invalidate signatures. We all know what is going on here. Satcher wants to continue living off the dole of a government paycheck. Please send Governor Desantis a short email urging him to make this appointment based on competence and qualifications. Scott Farrington is the better choice. Email the Governor at https://www.flgov.com/email-the-governor/
I agree Satcher should resign. Obviously he doesn't want to be a Commissioner but a constitutional officer. The man has no experience of any kind, even less than when he ran for commissioner. He would be the worst choice going into this year's elections. To put him in charge as SOE would be a total disaster.