Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony is up for reelection in November, but he will have to beat two other candidates running.
Tony, a democrat, is going against Republican H. Wayne Clark and non-party candidate Charles “Chuck” Whatley.
On his way to the general election, the current sheriff first had to get through a crowded primary that included former sheriff Scott Israel.
Israel was removed from office and replaced by Tony, by the order of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The race to be Broward Sheriff is a tight one in which the sheriff’s opponents have dug deep into Tony’s past.
“August 19th I had pivoted away from the politics instantly and went back to being a cop and focusing on the things we need to do here,” said Tony.
Wayne Clark has never worked in law enforcement.
“I have a military background, I have a business background and I have a legal background,” he said.
Wayne Clark wants to run the Broward Sheriff’s Department less like a police department.
“It’s time to run BSO like the public service, public safety agency that it is,” he said. “BSO is not a police department so we need to run it in a way that benefits all the communities.”
Whatley spent a career in law enforcement.
“I was at the airport shooting. I was on the scene within a minute,” he said. “After no changes in policy, I retired nine months later.”
As sheriff, Whatley says he’d focus on communities working together.
“I want to initiate with each individual city what we call PAC forums, which is police and communities together,” Whatley said.
Sheriff Tony’s first priority was safer schools, which led to his real-time center.
Since then, Tony has been working through the pandemic and police reform protests.
“We had several excessive force cases right here in Broward County under my command, and we had to change the culture there,” he said.
The three candidates all have different ideas on how to run BSO.
“It’s public service/public safety agency, not a police department,” said Wayne Clark.
“The only way, after seeing 30 years of corruption, lies [and] deception, is to fix it yourself,” said Whatley.
“I’m here, I’m getting the job done that the community wants, and I understand that this electoral process is not about an individual, it’s about this community,” said Tony.
Vote-By-Mail ballots are already being sent out in Broward County.
Early voting begins on Oct. 19.
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