J.R. Kroll wins Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office

If Seminole County voters were looking for a reformer to take over the Tax Collector’s Office to clean up what indicted former Tax Collector Joel Greenberg left behind, they got one.

J.R. Kroll, a Republican businessman, had been talking about reforming the office and restoring public trust and pride long before Greenberg was arrested in June, and was preparing to challenge Greenberg in the Republican primary before Greenberg had to drop out.

Tuesday night, voters elected Kroll to take over.

Really, Seminole County voters had choices Tuesday of two reform-minded candidates, including Democrat Lynn “Moira” Dictor, a former radio talk show personality from Lake Mary.

Kroll defeated Dictor by 54% to 46% Tuesday night in unofficial results.

That win was part of another Republican sweep in Seminole County elections.

Seminole County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller Grant Maloy defeated Democrat Kristina Renteria by 55% to 45% in unofficial returns.

Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson defeated Democrat Deborah Poulalion by 54% to 46%. That gives Anderson his first election victory and first full term. He was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Mike Ertel in early 2019.

Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma was reelected to a second term, defeating Democrat Paul “Spike” Hopkins, 58% to 42%, in unofficial returns.

Seminole County Property Appraiser David Johnson also was reelected, defeating former Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett, who ran as an independent candidate. Unofficial returns showed Johnson with 61% and Triplett with 39%.

Seminole County Commissioner Bob Dallari won reelection over Democrat Katrina Shadix in District 1 by an unofficial result of 53% to 47%.

Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine won reelection over Democrat Kim Buchheit in District 3 by an unofficial result of 54% to 46%.

Andria Herr won the open seat for Seminole County Commission District 5, taking 51% to 44% for Democrat Pernell Bush and 4% for Libertarian Andre Klass.

Greenberg was arrested in June and forced to resign. He was charged with several felonies including sex trafficking of minors, identity theft and stalking.

Before then, Dictor and Kroll had run campaigns seeking to address other issues in Greenberg’s tenure, including reports of nepotism and favoritism in contracts, and unduly high salaries.

Since Greenberg’s resignation, the office has been run by Deputy Tax Collector Cynthia Torres and Chief Operating Officer Paula Prevatt, both veteran civil servants whose tenures predated, by more than a decade, Greenberg’s arrival.