GOP wants DeSantis to reconsider SLC appointment

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointment of Lt. Keith Pearson to be sheriff after the abrupt resignation of longtime Sheriff Ken Mascara shocked local Republican leaders, who asked DeSantis to reconsider the decision.

DeSantis, a Republican, on Friday tapped Pearson the same day Mascara, a Democrat in his sixth term, notified the governor about his sudden retirement.

In a letter Mascara released Friday afternoon to the public, he cited ongoing “health issues.” Multiple attempts to reach Mascara for comment since Friday’s announcement were unsuccessful.

By Monday, Pearson had filed paperwork as part of running as a Republican in the 2024 sheriff’s election.

Kenny Nail, chairman of the St. Lucie County Republican Executive Committee, said he was “speechless.”

“Pearson’s name made no sense,” Nail said, adding he questioned how a lieutenant could be promoted past higher ranking individuals at the agency.

He said DeSantis’ office didn’t communicate with local party officials before Pearson’s appointment, which he said was unusual.

“Every state Legislator in this county is Republican, Toby Overdorf, Dana Trabulsy, Gayle Harrell, Erin Grall, all four of them are, and for him not to consult any of them or the chairman, something smells like fish,” Nail said.

Meanwhile, Cathy Townsend, St. Lucie County Commission Chair and a Republican, said she learned of the appointment from a constituent just before media reports of it.

She didn’t favor it.

“I am very much in opposition of Keith Pearson,” Townsend said. “He is the worst choice the governor could have made.”

Pearson did not immediately respond Tuesday afternoon to inquiries about these comments.

In a briefing with the media on Monday, Pearson said he had not thought of running before the appointment.

“Seeing the confidence that’s put in me and then actually getting that and speaking to different people, it’s like, wow … sometimes you underestimate yourself,” Pearson said Monday. “Sometimes you don’t see your true value, and you don’t see how much of a difference you could really make or how much a difference you’ve already made.”

Nail provided a message he said he sent Saturday to DeSantis’ office.

“This decision has sparked significant discontent among our Republican politicians, including state legislators and members of the Republican Executive Committee,” the message states. “We are all deeply concerned about the lack of transparency and the feeling of betrayal.”

He asked the governor to reconsider. Nail on Tuesday said he has not seen an issue unite the local party as much as the opposition of Pearson’s appointment.

“That is with an exclamation point,” Nail said.

Nail noted in April 2022 the St. Lucie County Republican Executive Committee endorsed Richard Del Toro, now the acting Port St. Lucie police chief, in the 2024 sheriff’s race. Other Democrats and Republicans also are running.

Townsend thought someone neutral should have been appointed after Mascara’s departure to ensure “the men and women in that sheriff ’s department were at ease, and there would be no political agendas, and no real changes until the new sheriff went in, in January of 2025.”

She said Pearson wasn’t elected by the people.

“What’s been done to the residents of St. Lucie County is wrong. We deserve better,” Townsend said. “Keith Pearson is not who belongs in that position. And we the people did not put him there.”

A request to DeSantis’s office Tuesday for an understanding of how Pearson was selected was not immediately fulfilled.

In Nail’s Saturday message to the governor, he stated, “As an Executive Committee, we had previously filed an ethics complaint against Sheriff Mascara, which was being investigated by your office. While we understand the importance of due process, we were taken aback by the suddenness of his resignation.”

Pearson said Monday they are in the process of “identifying what the community really needs.”

“We don’t want to lose sight of that,” Pearson said. “We want to make sure that we focus on what the community is asking for.

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Reach him at 772267-7926 or will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.