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Kent Stermon

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Kent Stermon (1972—2022) was a Florida businessman and Republican activist. He was a political associate and friend of Ron DeSantis, who appointed Stermon to the Florida Board of Governors in 2019. He died by suicide following sexual misconduct allegations.

Early life and career

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Kent Stermon was born in Collinsville, Illinois, on January 24, 1972. He received his bachelor's degree in finance from Georgia State University.[1] Stermon's college roommate was former Florida representative Travis Cummings.[2]

Jacksonville politics

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Stermon cultivated relationships with members of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO). He was given badges allowing him access to the JSO headquarters by three consecutive Republican sheriffs, beginning with current congressman John Rutherford in 2013.[3] He was particularly close with Chief Mike Williams, another of the sheriffs who renewed his access to the JSO headquarters.[4]

In the weeks before his death, Stermon's access to JSO facilities became a public controversy. It was learned that Stermon had used his badges more than 700 times—far more frequently than any others with JSO headquarter access—including multiple accesses after normal business hours.[3] Current Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters no longer allows “special access to individuals outside of the need for official business.”[3] Stermon was also an ally of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.[4] In a since-deleted tweet in December 2022, Mayor Curry defended Stermon against local lawyer John Phillips, who tweeted about potential changes to Stermon's badge access to JSO headquarters. Curry called Phillips a ‘media [expletive] with no compass’ and told him to ‘pound sand, chump,’ saying that he felt ‘compelled to reply’ since Phillips mentioned ‘[his] friend, Kent.’[5] Phillips also owns the Jacksonville-based publication Folio Weekly, which published a piece critical of Stermon and sheriff Mike Williams in June 2022.[6]

Stermon was a member of the host committee of the 2020 Republican National Convention.[7][8]

Relationship with Ron DeSantis

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In 2019, Florida Trend listed Stermon as one of six individuals in DeSantis’ inner circle, along with Casey DeSantis, Matt Gaetz, Richard Corcoran, Byron Donalds, and Susie Wiles, calling him "one of DeSantis' closest friends".[9] Stermon's citation in a 2020 listing of the most influential people in Florida politics read "It's good to be the governor's bestie".[10]

Of the $140,000 Stermon has spent in political contributions in the state of Florida, more than $60,000 has gone to Ron DeSantis's political operations.[11] He is considered the most high-profile of DeSantis's longtime donors. Stermon "told the Times/Herald that he and DeSantis became friends through mutual social circles in Jacksonville nearly 10 years ago, before DeSantis ran for Congress, and he's since helped DeSantis' campaigns as a 'labor of love'".[12]

From July to November 2016, when DeSantis needed to change residency due to federal congressional redistricting, he rented a Flagler Beach condo owned by Stermon.[13] After DeSantis announced his campaign for governor, Stermon hosted an early fundraiser and was appointed to his transition team. In October 2019, Casey DeSantis took a controversial trip from Tallahassee to Jacksonville by private jet to attend a Republican party fundraiser hosted by Stermon’s company, TMM.[14]

In 2019, Governor DeSantis appointed Stermon to the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system.[1]

Sexual misconduct allegations

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In November 2022, Stermon engaged in a sextortion scheme, offering a young family friend backstage access to Taylor Swift in exchange for nude photos. On November 18, 2022, the victim went to Stermon's office, where he detained her and demanded favors. On November 29, 2022, Stermon met with the victim and her father at Panera. Following a confrontation, Stermon fled, and police were informed.[15]

The State Attorney's office released its report in September 2023. It concludes that Stermon "would have been charged with the criminal offenses of solicitation for prostitution, false imprisonment, theft by false pretenses, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and obtaining by false representation".[16]

Death

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On Thursday, December 8, 2022, Stermon died by suicide. He shot himself in his truck at the Atlantic Beach post office.[4] He left a suicide note.[17] Earlier in the week, he had been hospitalized for a stroke.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Governor Ron DeSantis Makes Three Appointments to the Board of Governors of the State University System". flgov.com. March 19, 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ^ Gancarski, A.G. (December 9, 2022). "Kent Stermon, NE Florida political powerhouse and confidant of Ron DeSantis, found dead Thursday". Florida Politics. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Heddles, Claire (January 19, 2023). "Republican donor Kent Stermon had JSO access for nearly a decade as part of "the sheriff's circle"". Jacksonville Today. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Monroe, Nate (December 9, 2022). "Influential Northeast Florida donor, subject of active JSO investigation, found dead Thursday". Florida Times-Union.
  5. ^ Harris, Jenese (December 16, 2022). "Mayor Lenny Curry and Attorney John Phillips respond to tweets about Kent Stermon, days before his death". News 4 Jacksonville. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Mike Drop". Folio. June 17, 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  7. ^ Gibbons, Timothy (June 19, 2020). "32 state, local leaders named to Jacksonville Republican convention host committee". Jacksonville Business Journal. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  8. ^ "Meet the Jacksonville Host Committee for the Republican National Convention". WJXT. June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  9. ^ Garcia, Jason (January 2019). "And Now, The Details". Florida Trend. p. 33.
  10. ^ Schorch, Peter. "100 Most Influential People in Florida Politics". Influence Magazine. No. Fall 2020. p. 157.
  11. ^ Bolies, Corbin (December 11, 2022). "Prominent Florida Donor Intertwined With DeSantis—and the Law—Found Dead by Suicide". Daily Beast. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  12. ^ Mahoney, Emily L.; Taylor, Langston (14 December 2018). "They advise Ron DeSantis. They were also top campaign donors". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  13. ^ Dixon, Matt (March 15, 2018). "DeSantis rented condo owned by campaign donor after redistricting". Politico. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  14. ^ Dixon, Matt (10 October 2019). "Florida's first lady flies a private jet ⁠— and wades into an ethics quandary". Politico. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  15. ^ Gibson, Travis (September 29, 2023). "Powerful political player was under investigation in 'bizarre' scheme involving Taylor Swift tickets before suicide: SAO". News 4 Jacksonville. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  16. ^ Scanlan, Dan (September 29, 2023). "Kent Stermon coerced young woman, investigation shows". Jacksonville Today. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  17. ^ Vaca, Marilyn (April 20, 2023). "Police photos show note written by prominent political donor before he was found dead in Atlantic Beach". News 4 Jacksonville. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  18. ^ Gancarski, A.G. (September 30, 2023). "New details emerge about the troubled final days of Ron DeSantis confidant Kent Stermon". Florida Politics. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

Further reading

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