VIDEO - Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel resigns over blackface photos
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Two months after Hurricane Katrina, Mike Ertel, then a Florida county supervisor of elections, was caught on camera, dressed in blackface. Nate Chute, USA Today Network
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.
More: Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel blackface photos: Social media reacts
"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.
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Gov. DeSantis on Michael Ertel resignation Tallahassee Democrat
"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.
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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.
Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel, then Seminole County Supervisor of Elections, wearing blackface at Halloween party in 2005. (Photo: Special to the Democrat)
"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.
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Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel, then Seminole County Supervisor of Elections, in blackface at 2005 Halloween party. (Photo: Special to the Democrat)
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.
Mike Ertel: A career timeline
Ertel began serving as supervisor of elections for Seminole County on Feb. 5, 2005, when Gov. Jeb Bush named him to replace Dennis Joyner, who stepped down for health reasons.
He ran against Democratic Party activist Marian Williams in 2006, beating her by 59 percent. He was subsequently re-elected without opposition. That same year he participated in monitoring the New Orleans mayoral election.
Ertel has a long record of expanding voting rights and registering people to vote. The city of Longwood gave him a Martin Luther King Jr. award for registering voters. In 2012, Ertel spoke out against Scott’s purge of so-called non-citizens from the voter rolls, saying many of those who were purged were actually eligible voters.
Michael Ertel, Florida Secretary of State (Photo: Florida Department of State)
Ertel also has won international awards for his plans to restore voter confidence and trust in the elections system.
Prior to his time in public office, Ertel was in public relations, and was the first professional public affairs spokesman for Seminole County. After the 2004 hurricanes hit Florida, Ertel provided post-disaster media relations for Visit Florida.
Before that he spent eight years in the U.S. Army, providing public relations during the 1992 L.A. riots, and in Macedonia and Bosnia.
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Hurricane Michael left devastation in it's wake in 2018. The state of Florida continues to rebuild after the storm made landfall in Mexico Beach. Tallahassee Democrat
Contact Schweers at jschweers@tallahassee.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.
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