Florida’s Secretary of State Resigns After Blackface Photos Surface
The white Secretary of State of Florida, Michael Ertel, has resigned on Thursday after some of his old photos surfaced. The photos date back to 2005 and reveal Ertel sporting blackface and pretending to be a victim of Hurricane Katrina at a Halloween party.
Owing to these photos, the top election’s officer of Florida and former Seminole County election supervisor had to bid adieu to his job after assuming office merely 16 days ago.
It was the Tallahassee Democrat who got their hands on these photos and presented them before Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday. The resignation of Ertel was announced some hours later. In his resignation letter, Ertel stated how it was an honor to serve the voters of Florida.
As per the Tallahassee Democrat, the photos were clicked after about two months of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in August 2005. The catastrophe took around 1800 lives.
Ertel, aged 49, was appointed the Seminole County supervisor of elections a couple months back by Jeb Bush, who was the governor during the time. Ertel was also a spokesperson for Seminole County along with the county sheriff’s office. Ertel has been praised for his work as an election supervisor countless times.
He had played a significant role in restoring the voting rights of around 1.4 million felons according to Amendment 4, which was approved in November. He has also been awarded for his work on voter registration, which includes the prize named after Martin Luther King Jr. that was given by the city of Longwood in Seminole County.
As per reports, it was Ertel himself who revealed to the Tallahassee Democrat that it was him in blackface. In the photos, he can be seen wearing red lipstick and earrings with a New Orleans Saints bandanna. His purple shirt had Katrina Victim written on it. However, he did not divulge details regarding the circumstances involving the photo and refused to comment further.
During a Panhandle news conference, DeSantis termed the incident as unfortunate and praised the work done by Ertel during his short period in office. However, he further stated that he did not want any distractions in the office with such things spreading. He wants to work for what matters in Florida instead of being dragged in such controversies.
Scott Plakon, Republican state representative, considered it to be a loss for Florida. Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine, who was expected to succeed Ertel as supervisor, found it hard to believe that the photo was of Ertel. When Ertel had assumed office as the election supervisor of Florida, he had been praised widely by the governor.
Ertel also deactivated his Twitter account on Thursday.