Will swingers vote for Sheriff Gregory Tony?

Back in 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis made a controversial step to remove thenBroward Sheriff Scott Israel and appoint the little-known Gregory Tony. Parkland parents backed the new sheriff.

Tony made history as the first AfricanAmerican to lead the powerful Broward Sheriff ’s Office. He was handpicked from obscurity. As an African-American who researches Florida history, I was eager for him to succeed.

Today, Tony and Israel are front-runners in a contentious sheriff campaign. Israel was catapulted to international awareness after the tragic massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It led Parkland parents to push for his ouster. Tony made a huge leap from being a retired Sergeant with the Coral Springs Police Department to running BSO, a 5,000-plus employees’ agency.

As a sheriff, you’re a public figure and held to a higher standard. Tony’s swinging lifestyle has come to public notice. He and his wife, Holly, willingly attended and consented to photos of them at swinger parties in year 2015 and 2016 (while he was employed as police sergeant and she as a nurse). I’m the last person to cast the first stone because we all have human failings. These explicit photos are not of them making a ‘youthful mistake’ but as mature professional adults in their late 30s and early 40s. Tony’s attorney issued a tonedeaf response and Tony conveyed no contrition about it.

How likely is that anyone would want Tony to participate with Black History Month or Women’s History Month? Although the sheriff may gain some votes from other swingers, will he get an endorsement from women’s groups?

Lori J. Durante, Delray Beach