Democrats snub sheriff candidate

Thousands of Orange County Democratic voter guides being sent out to voters will feature every Democrat on the ballot this fall – except one.

The cards urge Democrats, “Vote the entire ballot. Support your local party.”

But the sheriff’s race goes unmentioned on the cards, despite the fact that candidate Darryl Sheppard is the only Democrat in the race.

Sheppard, who has faced questions over his past arrest record, said he feels like he was “stabbed in the back.” But Orange County Democratic Chair Wes Hodge said the county party isn’t required to endorse any Democrat on the ballot – it’s only barred from endorsing any Democrat’s opponent.

The race, a special election to succeed Sheriff Jerry Demings who is resigning in December to become Orange County mayor, has a complicated history when it comes to partisan labels, with two independents, one Democrat and no Republicans on the ballot Nov. 6.

Voters approved a referendum making the sheriff a nonpartisan position in 2014 and in 2016, but a lawsuit by Demings, Property Appraiser Rick Singh and Tax Collector Scott Randolph, all Democrats, claimed the amendments violated state law and they sued to keep the positions partisan.

That case is being heard by the state Supreme Court on Nov. 8, two days after the election.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina switched his voter registration from Republican to Democrat in September 2017.

But because candidates must be registered with a party for one year before the June 2018 qualifying, Mina couldn’t run as a Democrat this year and is on the ballot as an independent.

Mina has been endorsed by prominent Democrats, including Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

Joe Lopez, a retired Florida Highway Patrol chief, also switched from Republican to Democrat last year, too late to get on the ballot.

He is running as an independent as well and was endorsed by Republican-turned-independent Kevin Beary, the former fourterm sheriff.

That leaves Sheppard as the Democrat on the ballot running for sheriff. But the venture-capital CEO has

He was arrested 13 times on charges ranging from driving with a suspended license to battery and motor-vehicle theft, though many of the charges were dropped or dismissed, including two misdemeanor counts of battery after he was accused of groping one woman and punching another in an Orlando parking garage.

“I’ve not been convicted of anything,” Sheppard said Tuesday. “I’ve made it very clear. There are three sides to every story, and Wes wasn’t there for any of those incidents.”

Sheppard said the party’s snub is “a disservice. I’m the Democratic nominee for sheriff in a partisan race. … But there’s no recourse, no legal process. I’m moving forward on other ways to get the message out without the support of the party.”

Sheppard has been advertising on Facebook, but the amount spent has not been reported. He said the monthly charge for the ads will be reported in his next a controversial background. campaign filing.

Doug Head, the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee’s elected state committeeman, disagreed with Hodge’s stance, saying “to me, it’s a no-brainer. You support the nominee of the party. For the party to be in effect boycotting a central Orange County race is unwise.”

Asked about Sheppard’s past arrest history and whether it affected the party’s decision not to back Sheppard, Head referred to a previous candidate’s 21 arrests before becoming a winning Democratic candidate for Orlando City Council in 2014.

“They didn’t really have any quibbles with Regina Hill,” Head said.

Hill, though said the county party did not endorse her in her first or second runs for office, “nor did they fundraise for me.”

And, Hill said, “being a commissioner with a prior arrest record is totally different from trying to be a sheriff of law enforcement.”