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Broward County Mayor Dale Holness endorsed Gregory Tony for sheriff on Thursday, providing a lift to a campaign that has been besieged by a barrage of damaging headlines.
Holness said in a statement he has been impressed with Tony’s work on a $30 million regional training center and the creation of a real-time crime center.
“He has held bad actors accountable and put together the most diverse command staff we’ve ever seen,” Holness said. “Sheriff Tony has truly proven himself more than deserving of the support of our community.”
Tony will face his predecessor Scott Israel, along with retired Broward Sheriff’s Col. Al Pollock and other lesserknown candidates in the Democratic primary. Because Broward County is overwhelmingly Democratic, the winner of the August primary is expected to prevail in the general election.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Tony in January 2019 to replace Israel, whom he ousted amid fallout from the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland school shooting.
As a first-time candidate, Tony has faced scrutiny for not disclosing on a 2005 job application with the Coral Springs Police Department that he shot and killed an 18-year-old man in 1993 when he was a teenager. Tony, 41, was not found guilty of wrongdoing in the shooting, and he says it was self-defense.
He also wrote he’d never used hallucinogens, but on a previous application with the
Tallahassee Police Department, he admitted to using LSD in 1995.
He also left off his application that he’d been accused of passing a bad check when he was a student at Florida State University. That charge was
dismissed, but Tony wrote an apology letter for leaving it off his Coral Springs application when it turned up in a subsequent background check.
The Coral Springs Police Department hired Tony in 2005, beginning his rise in law enforcement. ThenPolice Chief Duncan Foster told the Sun Sentinel he wouldn’t have hired Tony if
he had known about the undisclosed killing.
He served with the Coral Springs Police Department until 2016, when he left to develop a company specializing in activeshooter training.
Tony, who is Broward’s first black sheriff, has dismissed the matter as a political smear campaign pushed by his opponents
that is meant to discredit a minority candidate. He said growing up in a poor neighborhood inspired him to work hard and become a strong leader.
In a statement, Tony said he was proud to have Holness’ support.
“I am honored to receive the endorsement of the mayor for the county I represent,” said Broward Sheriff
Gregory Tony.
Last week, the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association endorsed Pollock. The union had previously voted “no confidence” in Tony and Israel.