https://www.tallahassee.com/st...een-2005/2649161002/

Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel resigns after Halloween blackface photos emerge



Michael Ertel, the newly appointed Secretary of State of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has resigned after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a private Halloween party 14 years ago.

The photos obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat were shown to the Governor's Office on Thursday morning. Hours later it issued a statement.

"The governor accepted Secretary Ertel's resignation," the Governor's Office said.

At a news conference on hurricane relief in Marianna, DeSantis addressed the resignation.

"It's unfortunate. He's done a lot of good work," he said, adding that he accepted the resignation because "I don't want to get mired in side controversies."

The photo was taken in 2005, eight months after Ertel was appointed Seminole County supervisor of elections and two months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

After the Democrat texted the photos to him last week, Ertel, 49, identified himself as the white man in blackface and red lipstick, wearing earrings and a New Orleans Saints bandanna, and falsies under a purple T-shirt that had "Katrina Victim" written on it.

Over the phone and in person, Ertel would not comment on the record about the circumstances surrounding the photo.

"There's nothing I can say," Ertel said.

The Democrat shared the photos Thursday with the Governor's Office, which had not previously seen them.

Ertel gave a presentation Thursday morning on election litigation before a House subcommittee. He submitted his resignation in an email around 2 p.m.

"I am submitting my resignation as Florida secretary of state effective immediately," he wrote. "It has been an honor to serve you and the voters of Florida."

DeSantis named Ertel on Dec. 28 to replace Ken Detzner, who served as former Gov. Rick Scott’s Secretary of State since 2012.

The Secretary of State's Office is immersed in a debate about how to implement Amendment 4, which restored voting rights to some 1.4 million ex-felons. Desantis, who was against the amendment before the election, advised waiting to register them until the Legislature passed enacting legislation. Some counties, however, have begun the process.

Ertel said he sent an email to county elections supervisors to accept all applications from ex-felons.

The photos are the sole blemish on a seemingly spotless public career, highlighted by a record of increasing voter registration and making the elections office more accessible to the public.

Not smart.

Nice rack.

Halloween of 2005? Thirteen years ago.

That so-called blackface doesn't even look like a decent tan. Heck, George Hamilton's tans were darker than that.

Some people just need to get over themselves.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
Nice rack.

Fair point.

OHHH the horror of it all .... Florida is SAFE now.

Very poor decision; how can anyone in or considering a career in politics think that might not come back to haunt you?

Thirteen years ago.

Uh huh

For Chrissakes.......the proper response is
"So............phuq-off"

What's wrong with "that was a long time ago but I regret it and will now continue my work in Florida.....".

Fucking Beto O'Dork was arrested for burglary and DWI and has already been proclaimed our next president by the idiot progressives.

It was in poor taste and dumb even 13 years ago.

As Ron White says, "you can't fix stupid. Stupid is forever"

Jim

By any blackface metric, that's one sorry ass get up. Intent - fail. Execution - fail.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
It was in poor taste and dumb even 13 years ago.

Anyone who is paying attention knows exacty what this is about.

There's nothing right or justified or necessary in this witch hunt.

This is wrong. There's no other way to put it. The hypocrisy is thick enough to cut with a knife.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Very poor decision; how can anyone in or considering a career in politics think that might not come back to haunt you?

Anyone who hasn’t completely and unequivocally retired from the workforce, or isn’t prepared to, should never post a photo of anything on the Internet, much less of him/herself, and never state anything more controversial than, “I like puppies” and “Racism is bad.” Unless, of course, one is a member of a protected minority or a ranking member of the Democrat Party, then nothing is taboo or unforgivable.

It was a HALLOWEEN party. People wear costumes at Halloween parties.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
It was in poor taste and dumb even 13 years ago.

Anyone who is paying attention knows exacty what this is about.

There's nothing right or justified or necessary in this witch hunt.

This is wrong. There's no other way to put it. The hypocrisy is thick enough to cut with a knife.

Oh I agree 100%. But this stuck out for me "The photo was taken in 2005, eight months after Ertel was appointed Seminole County supervisor of elections and two months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans."

He was already in the public eye at the time and I'm sure he had higher asperations in politics. That's what I meant when I say that it's stupid on his part. In my world it would have been shrugged off. Not in his chosen world.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Yellow Jacket:
Halloween of 2005? Thirteen years ago.

That so-called blackface doesn't even look like a decent tan. Heck, George Hamilton's tans were darker than that.

Some people just need to get over themselves.

Disagree. Current standards about blackface aren't different than in 2005. If it was 1975, you might have an argument.

I realize you can argue that it shouldn't matter even now. I would even agree. But enough people think it does matter that it matters. Politicians have to recognize those realities.

My PC math is a bit rusty and can’t remember the point system for:

Black face - obviously negative points but how many?

Cross dressing - this is positive points in their fucked up PC culture, but how many?

If item 1 plus item 2 is greater than or equal to zero does that nean someone gets to keep their job? This relative morality is so confusing...

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
My PC math is a bit rusty and can’t remember the point system for:

Black face - obviously negative points but how many?

Cross dressing - this is positive points in their fucked up PC culture, but how many?

If item 1 plus item 2 is greater than or equal to zero does that nean someone gets to keep their job? This relative morality is so confusing...

You forgot...He's a Straight White Male which is an automatic -10, so he starts from a deep hole.

But this is cool. How many times has this played on BET?