Fired elections office employees speak out
MANATEE COUNTY – Interim Supervisor of Elections James Satcher fired one elections office employee as the primary election wound down and three more the following day.
On the evening of Aug. 20, vote-by-mail employee Mark Darnell was fired. On Aug. 21, 16-year elections office employee Chris Palmer was fired, as were long-time temporary employees Teresa Margraf and Harriet “Heddy” Darnell, Mark Darnell’s mom. None of the fired employees were given a reason for their dismissal.
The firings occurred after Satcher was defeated in his bid to be Manatee County’s next duly elected Supervisor of Elections. That office will instead go to former Supervisor of Elections Chief of Staff Scott Farrington.
Farrington defeated Satcher in the Supervisor of Elections Republican primary race by 7,276 votes. With only a write-in challenger in the general election, Farrington will assume the supervisor’s role on Jan. 7, but Satcher remains in charge of the elections office through and beyond the general election in November.
In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Satcher, a county commissioner at the time, to finish the remaining months of the four-year term that Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett vacated when he retired in March. At the time, Satcher had no experience managing an elections office or running an election. Farrington resigned after Satcher’s appointment and ran for office.
Plea to DeSantis
On Aug. 23, Heddy Darnell sent a 1,300-word email to DeSantis, the Florida Division of Elections and the Florida Commission on Ethics.
In part, Darnell’s email said, “This is a plea from the voters and people in Manatee County. We are asking you to please remove James Satcher as supervisor of elections as soon as possible. He lost the primary to Scott Farrington and has now fired four people in retaliation.”
Darnell’s email also said, “The voters have spoken in Manatee County. Please help the county before more damage is done. Mr. Satcher needs to be removed. Scott Farrington needs to be put in command of this election in November. Mr. Satcher’s retaliation is hurting innocent people personally and financially. Please hear us.”
Ex-employees speak
On Aug. 23, The Sun spoke with Darnell about her firing. The Sun also spoke with Palmer and Margraf, who were together at the time.
Darnell had worked at the elections office since 2016. During the election cycles that take place every two years, she begins working full-time in February, takes a couple of months off during the slow period, returns in July and works through the November election. Her duties included data entry, registering new voters, making changes to voter records, answering voter questions and more.
“I was fired at about quarter to five on Wednesday, the day after the election. I was told my services were no longer needed. Period,” Darnell said.
She then shared her observations on Satcher’s performance, spending habits and the work environment he created.
“He was never there. He was there maybe 10% of the time, making $176,000 a year. He was very egotistical. He had the walls painted a particular color blue because it made his eyes pop. He bought a podium that he was going to use to speak in a room about the size of a large living room. He thought he was going to speak to his fans and his people that elected him, but it never got used because he never got elected,” Darnell said.
Regarding Satcher’s handpicked chief of staff, David Ballard, Darnell said, “Satcher pretty much dumped the whole show on him. Ballard’s very cocky. He’d come in with a baseball hat on backwards, just strutting around and issuing orders and being a big shot. It was uncomfortable and nobody knew quite how to talk to him.”
Satcher hired 24-year-old Jonathan Clendenon to be his IT (information technology) director.
“He was pretty much a snitch. All he’d do was walk around and listen to people and report back to Satcher. Jonathan couldn’t figure out how to work the printers so Satcher bought all new ones for early voting,” Darnell said.
Satcher also hired Vinola Rodrigues as the election office’s new public information officer.
“All she did was work on his campaign,” Darnell said.
When asked if she hopes to return for the 2026 elections, Darnell said, “Yes, I’d like to go back. I enjoy the voters. I enjoy the work and I’m very knowledgeable. I’m retired and it supplements my income. It’s only every other year that I work, but it’s a great opportunity.”
Palmer began working at the elections office when Bob Sweat was the supervisor. She then worked the entirety of Mike Bennett’s tenure as supervisor. Palmer is a Master Florida Certified Election Professional and was the voter service supervisor.
“I have never had any concerns with Mr. Sweat and Mr. Bennett. I had complete confidence that everything was above-board. I was proud to be in that office and I knew things were going to be done properly,” she said.
Palmer was fired at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 21.
“Ballard and Jonathan came up to my desk and Ballard said, ‘Your services are no longer required. Here’s your boxes. Pack them up and get out.’ I was in shock. After I got over the shock, I chased him down and said, ‘Tell me what I’ve done.’ He said, ‘Your services are no longer required.’
“In 16 years, I’ve had no write-ups and no warnings. None of us who got fired got any warnings. To fire people because you’re mad about losing the election is crazy and it can’t continue. We are good people in that office. If I could get a free lawyer, I’d sue in a heartbeat,” Palmer said.
Palmer hopes to return to the elections office when Farrington returns, but she’s concerned about the loss of income between now and then and she’s filing for unemployment benefits.
“I loved that job. I loved what I did,” she said.
Margraf was fired in a similar fashion.
She and Palmer said that Satcher didn’t show up for work the day after the election.
“He doesn’t have the guts to do things himself. He sends Ballard or Jonathan to do his dirty work,” Margraf said.
When recalling her first encounter with Satcher, Palmer said, “He walks in with a Bible and puts it on the table and tells us this story about how he’s a minister and his wife saves strippers. That was our first impression. I’m a Christian, but I believe in separation. I have my beliefs and my partisan beliefs, but I don’t take them to work. He has no boundaries. He doesn’t turn it off.
“They have their doors locked almost all day. Almost everything they do is behind closed doors. That, to me, was a bad sign,” Palmer said. “Mr. Bennett and Scott Farrington rarely had their doors closed and never had them locked. They had nothing to hide.”
Palmer said Satcher yelled at her during a managers’ meeting after she told him his plan to open satellite offices in Parrish and Lakewood Ranch before the primary election was “crazy.”
“He just lit into me. I held it together, but I was in tears later. I’ve never had a boss talk to me like that,” Palmer said.
“I learned that I’m not allowed to have an opinion and I’m certainly not allowed to voice anything different than what he wants,” Palmer said, noting her beloved workplace became a “dictatorship.”
“We’ve got 78 days before the general election and they let go of one of their most knowledgeable employees. I was the supervisor and I took care of everything in that department. Satcher and Ballard do not understand the procedures of the office,” Palmer said.
“They have no clue,” Margraf added.
As for who will fill the four recently-vacated positions, Palmer said, “New people that don’t know what they’re doing.”
“After Satcher got appointed, a lot of our poll workers who’d been here for years refused to work under him, so they were scrambling right up to the end trying to train new poll workers,” Margraf said.
When asked if they were nervous about the primary election being conducted properly, Palmer said, “Yes. Definitely.”
“Everybody was nervous about it. A lot of people in the office can’t speak up because they need their jobs and they’re afraid,” Margraf added. “I don’t think things ran quite as smoothly as they normally do, but it did get done.”
“Satcher needs to be removed immediately and there’s a petition going around trying to get him removed,” Palmer said, with Margraf in agreement.
Bradenton Times Publisher Joe McClash has initiated a petition drive seeking Satcher’s removal. The online petition can be found here.
Bennett’s insights
When contacted by The Sun, Bennett said he’s willing to serve as the appointed supervisor until Jan. 7, if needed.
Regarding the firings, Bennett said, “He fired four people that combined had close to 30 years of experience. We’re going into one of the most controversial presidential races we’ve had in quite a while. You’re going to have an 80%-plus voter turnout. In the primary, they had a little less than 25%. You can imagine what’s going to happen when you have 80% turnout without having the people around to do it. Everybody can be replaced, but can they be replaced and pick up what they need to know in such a short period of time? No, they can’t. It’s a real shame. He is not a manager. A manager would have never done something so silly as to relieve so many important people going into the biggest election he’s ever going to have – and he only has one more,” Bennett said.
When asked if he’s concerned about the general election, Bennett said, “Yes, I have big concerns about it, especially if he fires one or two more people.”
