Gregory Tony wins Democratic Primary, heavy favorite to keep Broward Sheriff’s post

After wading through a series of controversies that have continued to follow him since his appointment to the Broward Sheriff’s post in 2019, Gregory Tony once again won approval from voters and emerged victorious from a contested Democratic Primary

With all but one of 358 precincts reporting, Tony held 50% of the vote. Steven Geller, formerly of the Plantation Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, was in second with 33%. In third was former Broward Sheriff’s Office Colonel Al Pollock with 12%, followed by David Howard, ex-Chief of the Pembroke Pines Police Department, with 5%.

Tony has served as Sheriff since 2019, when DeSantis appointed Tony following the Governor’s suspension of former Sheriff Scott Israel. Tony later earned the backing of several families impacted by the 2018 Parkland shooting, the office’s handling of which led to Israel’s ouster.

Tony in 2020 won election to that post after fending off a Democratic Primary challenge from Israel, Pollock and others. But along the way, Tony had to overcome plenty of challenges of his own.

Before the 2020 contest, Tony faced a series of controversies about his past, including previous LSD use and Tony’s fatal shooting of an 18-year-old when Tony was only 14. He did not disclose those issues prior to DeSantis appointing him.

Tony’s problems continued into this election cycle, with FDLE recommending that a Judge temporarily suspend Tony’s law enforcement certification.

But DeSantis stuck by him, and Tony remained a force in fundraising and gathering community support. In the closing months of the Primary campaign, Tony earned support from groups such as the Broward County AFL-CIO and the Hispanic Vote PAC. That’s on top of several other endorsements Tony racked up this cycle.

And Tony was a fundraising machine. Looking at only candidate accounts, Tony easily topped the Democratic field in fundraising, bringing in more than $137,000 through Aug. 15 and spending more than $116,000.

Howard was second, with just under $84,000 raised and less than $81,000 spent. Geller collected more than $64,000, spending $49,000, and Pollock brought in just over $57,000, spending less than $42,000.

But Tony also had access to a political committee, Broward First, which hoarded hundreds of thousands more throughout the campaign.

Tony’s win Tuesday means he only needs to overcome independent candidate Charles Whatley in November in order to stay on as Broward Sheriff. That’s highly likely to happen in deep-blue Broward County. Tony secured around 63% of the vote in the 2020 General Election contest while facing Whatley, Republican candidate H. Wayne Clark and a write-in. No Republicans even bothered running this cycle.

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Ryan Nicol and Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics contributed to this report.