Jesse Scheckner
The Republican Party of Broward County kept its top two officers and picked a new Secretary and Treasurer in its recent election, with all winners taking a sizable share of the vote.
Chair Chris Marino and Vice Chair Steve Stern kept their posts by a margin of more than two-thirds.
So did the party’s new Secretary, Anne Marie Keinz, and new Treasurer, Nicholas “Niko” Kollias.
“None of the races were close,” Broward Republican Party State Committee member Richard DeNapoli told Florida Politics.
He added that Marino won with 77% of the vote. Stearn won by three percentage points more.
Marino said he is flattered by the continued support Broward Republican Executive Committee (REC) members showed him.
“I appreciate our members’ confidence and trust that I’ve done a good job for re-election,” he said.
He said he supported Stern, Keinz and Kollias’ electoral efforts.
Marino, a retired firefighter, became acting Chair after the prior officeholder, Tom Powers, resigned in August 2023 to spend more time with his loved ones as his health declined due to cancer. Two months later, Marino — previously the party’s Vice Chair — won a Special Election to hold onto the job.
He told Florida Politics he got more politically engaged after the 2020 election.
“I was a very frustrated patriot and American citizen who, like many other people, had doubts and reservations regarding if those elections were conducted properly nor not nationwide and in the various states,” he said. “I didn’t like the outcome of it, and I thought it was time to get involved and do my civic duty.”
Stern owned and operated the patriotic apparel company The Flag Shirt in Sunrise. The veteran-owned business, now guided by Stern’s son, Brett, offers discounts to military members.
Keinz is a former high school teacher and now serves as a precinct Committeewoman in Pompano Beach, according to Marino, who said she worked with the REC’s prior Secretary, Olga Santa Maria, to get a feel for the position she sought.
She is also Secretary of her condo board at Century Plaza in Pompano Beach and won the Broward REC’s “Candidate Organizer of the Year” in September.
Kollias, meanwhile, is a private wealth manager. At 30, he’s the youngest of the party’s officers — an asset, Marino said, in keeping the REC nimble and its youth outreach active.
“Having a youthful approach is nice,” Marino said, “But I definitely believe in qualifications. It’s nice to have someone within his age bracket that is qualified as hell, but qualification comes before DEI, if you will, inside the Republican Party.”
With Miami-Dade flipping red last month, Broward is now the lone dependably blue county in South Florida. Broward Democrats hold a 44.5% share of the county’s 1.17 million registered voters. Republicans are in third place behind third- and no-party voters with a 23.5% share of the voter rolls.
Marino was cagey when asked about his plans to attract more GOP voters during his first full term as Chair.
“I would prefer not to disclose that,” he said.
Marino defeated former congressional candidate Darlene Swaffar for Chair by a 91-27 vote, according to Broward REC Precinct Committeeman and Florida Young Republicans (FYR) member Frank Kopylov.
Stern, who won the Broward REC’s “Fundraiser of the Year” award, outpaced Fort Lauderdale Young Republicans President Alfonso Canales 94-24.
Keinz beat FYR Vice President Brianna Reeves.
Kollias, sergeant-at-arms of the Fort Lauderdale Young Republicans, defeated FYR Outreach Committee Chair Grace Muñoz.
