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Politics

Election chief has big shoes to fill

The governor taps Brian Corley, the sheriff's chief personnel officer, to supervise county elections.

By DAVID DeCAMP
Published January 19, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist chose a top Pasco Sheriff's Office administrator Thursday to be the county supervisor of elections.

Brian Corley, 36, the sheriff's chief personnel officer, replaces Kurt Browning, whom Crist picked in December to be secretary of state. Browning, a Republican, is widely respected for running fair and accurate elections since 1980 - a record the politically connected Corley said he wants to build on.

"I'm coming in with an open mind and willing to learn," said Corley. He, like Crist, is a Republican.

Corley, a New Port Richey resident, will be paid $117,000 a year. He will oversee an office of 24 employees with a $3.5-million budget this year, and will coordinate poll workers in 153 precincts. The next elections are in April for Pasco cities.

Corley has no experience running elections but won raves from two Pasco Republicans close to Crist: Sheriff Bob White and state Sen. Mike Fasano.

But some activists lined up behind Kurt Conover, a 55-year-old business development manager for Bayonet Point Regional Medical Center. County Republican Party Chairman Bill Bunting, a Crist supporter, said Conover deserved a shot but did not publicly endorse him. Matthew Abbott, a New Port Richey resident and former candidate for Mosquito Control Board, also applied.

Browning backed Corley after his first choice, Chris Blommel, didn't pass muster with Pasco Republicans.

"His focus needs to be on getting through the 2008 elections," Browning said of Corley. "I gave him a two-part formula. No. 1, keep my staff intact. And No. 2, listen to what they tell him to do."

Corley suggested he will support a top priority of many Democrats: voter-verified paper trails on the county's touch screen machines.

"I think we're going to move toward some sort of paper trail," said Corley, who added that he wants transparent but secure election results.

Corley said he also wants to increase youth participation in elections.

He came into politics helping Fasano run the West Pasco Republican Club, advocating the party's cause and candidates. But in the mid 1990s, his political profile decreased after he was hired in the county clerk's office as a human resource specialist. He joined the Sheriff's Office when White took over in 2001. He is completing a master's degree in public administration from the University of South Florida this year.

[Last modified January 19, 2007, 07:07:40]