Though there is precedent for removing elected officials who haven’t been criminally charged including controversial, high-profile suspensions of two successive Broward supervisors of elections it had been highly unusual. That is, until Ron DeSantis became governor.
Pete Antonacci, a political fix-it man who garnered bipartisan praise during a career in public service that spanned more than three decades, died of a heart attack Friday afternoon.
Pete Antonacci, a political fix-it man who garnered bipartisan praise during a career in public service that spanned more than three decades, died of a heart attack Friday afternoon. He most recently headed a controversial new state office charged with probing voting irregularities.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has pursued an expansive view of his executive authority, ordering high-profile removals of local elected officials who haven’t been charged with crimes. Governors routinely have used their power under the Florida Constitution to suspend elected officials from office – when they’ve been charged with crimes. Though there is precedent for the DeSantis approach of removing elected officials who haven’t been criminally charged, it had been highly unusual. A review of state records shows a change when DeSantis took office in January 2019.