DeSantis Ally Appointed To Key Election Job

 

Defeated and humiliated Florida Gov. Ron "Bootsie" DeSantis, having flamed out early in the Republican presidential sweepstakes against the Malignant Loser, is focusing on rigging the next election in Florida. He's appointed a loyalist to the critical job of elections supervisor in Democratic bastion Orange County. From the Associated Press:

"Gov. Ron DeSantis has a new job for the man who has led Walt Disney World’s government since his allies took it over — elections supervisor in Orange County, long one of Florida’s most reliable sources of Democratic votes.

Glen Gilzean was appointed Monday by the Republican governor to oversee voting in Florida’s fifth-largest county, where more than 1.4 million residents live among the largest theme park resorts in the U.S. Just last May, Gilzean was chosen to be administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Committee after DeSantis’ allies took over the Disney World governing district.

Gilzean previously served as a DeSantis appointee on the Florida Commission on Ethics and was president and CEO of Central Florida Urban League.

The county’s longtime elections supervisor Bill Cowles retired in January, about a year before his term was up. Cowles, a Democrat, was first elected in 1996 to the job, which oversees elections in Orlando and surrounding communities. 

Orange County and statewide Dem officials pushed back: 

In a joint statement, a group of federal and state Democratic lawmakers in the Orlando area, including U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, said Gilzean’s appointment was just the latest example of DeSantis naming unqualified loyalists to elected positions 'so he can control every part of our state and local governments and warp our democracy to his will.'

'Glen Gilzean is a Ron DeSantis loyalist who’s top priority seems to be making Ron DeSantis happy, not protecting the integrity of our elections,' the Democratic lawmakers said. 'This move signals the Governor’s focus on silencing the voices of Central Florida voters as one of the most northern progressive hubs in our state. We cannot let this happen.'”  (our emphasis)

Gilzean was part of DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" farce when he was appointed to the Disney World operation, wanting to use that issue to propel himself to the White House on Christofascist right-wing cultural issues. That fizzled when he took that bigoted message nationally. It appears now that DeSantis wants to create a "MAGA fortress Florida" where his reactionary, theocratic policies would be forced on everyone there.