Tommy Doyle is up for re-election for a third term as supervisor of elections.
Over the weekend, Doyle admitted to an extramarital affair with a co-worker five years ago.
In a statement, he apologized, saying:
“I am very remorseful for a terrible decision I made five years ago, which has hurt my wife deeply. This was the worst decision of my life and something I greatly regret. My wife and I are working through this together and through the grace of God, we are healing as a family. I also apologize to the staff of the Supervisor of Elections office and my constituents of Lee County. I acted outside my moral integrity. I take full responsibility for my behavior. I want to assure voters that this will not affect the Supervisor’s Office’s ability to conduct secure and accurate elections in our upcoming Primary and General Elections.”
He refused to answer any questions we had about his 2019 affair with a woman he worked with back then, but he said he’s focused on Tuesday’s primary.
“In 2020, I didn’t have anybody running against me, so I didn’t have to run for reelection,” Doyle said. “I just was elected, which is very just. It just gives you a good feeling when people have that confidence about you. I think it’s the way I treat the team.”
Lee County voters are wondering if the severance pay was their taxpayer dollars which is why we made phone calls and combed through documents Monday.
The media has out found that Lee County Commissioners pass a budget every year and that budget funds the Supervisor of Elections Office. Unless there is a revenue stream in the budget that we do not know about, the severance pay was paid with taxpayer money.
It is unknown if there was a misappropriation of county taxpayer funds.
“It did involve workplace policies. It does involve taxpayer money, and so we don’t know what kind of pressure was put on this subordinate to quit, and we don’t know exactly all the legal ramifications of somebody using their position when they’re having an affair, and then using the office resources to sort of buy off this person. So I think, again, I think for a lot of voters, that might be the more troubling aspect of this, more so than just the affair itself,” Jewett said.
Since the news came out last week, social media has been buzzing. Many Lee County voters are very upset, including Denise Nystrom.
“What is clear is that there was this agreement, this the severance agreement. That also calls into question, who wrote that agreement? Were other people involved in that? Were attorneys involved in that? Because, you know, if there were people beyond Tommy Doyle that were involved in that, that’s coercion, you know, that’s a that’s more than one person working toward an end that would be well aware of what it is that’s occurring, and that’s why the office must be now the office really just has to be investigated at this point,” Nystrom said.
Tommy Doyle told the media on Monday that he stands by the statement he shared last Friday and it went on to say, “My focus continues to be on my responsibilities as supervisor of elections, which include ensuring an accurate, secure, and successful Primary Election tomorrow.”
The Supervisor of Elections Office told the media Monday that they will get back to us on if the severance pay was indeed taxpayer dollars.
In addition, we have reached out to the Florida Division of Elections and Lee County and all of the Lee County Commissioners. Commissioner Ruane and Commissioner Pendergrass responded back, saying they were unavailable. The rest of the Lee County Commissioners did not respond.
His opponent, Michael “Mick” Peters, did speak on the affair. He said Doyle shouldn’t be able to keep his job.
“I’m calling for FDLE to do an immediate investigation, Mr. Doyle to resign and a temporary person be installed,” Peters said. “Because frankly, if you can’t be trusted with our money, he sure shouldn’t be trusted with our votes.”
A local apartment complex visitor report shows Doyle going to his employee’s apartment multiple times during work hours in 2019.
“The fact that it was the superior-subordinate relationship, both people were on the clock, it was in the middle of the week, and it was when both of them are getting paid by our tax dollars,” Peters said.
The woman filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Complaint, but later withdrew it. In the complaint, she said while the affair was immoral, it was not illegal.
“I don’t know how any decent human being is supposed to react to this,” Peters said. “I’ve been married for 33 years to my wife, and it’s never crossed my mind to go anywhere else with anybody else.”
The Primary Election is Tuesday. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.