On our new podcast “(we don’t) color on the dog,” Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons discussed Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, whom President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated to serve as the next administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
“For over 32 years, Sheriff Chad Chronister has served the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and received countless commendations and awards for keeping his community Safe,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
- “I know Chad pretty well. When we get together on a sheriff’s association meetings, we talked a lot about what’s going on in different counties, what trends we see,” said Sheriff Simmons. “About four years ago, the governor came over to the sheriff’s office and Chad was one of the sheriffs that came over here. We had some good discussions about border security and drugs. I think he’s going to do a fantastic job. He’s doing a good job at Hillsborough County. He has a wealth of knowledge on local law enforcement, on local drug trends and kind of what the flow of drugs does to a local community.”
Simmons agreed that Chornister would have a “learning curve, but he also sees the benefits of having a sheriff at the top of DEA. “The benefit is that he know what happens on the streets in our counties, and I’m certain that (Hillsborough County) is like us. They’re a part of many DEA task forces and pretty familiar with the investigations, not just in one county, those that the branch off and go to California, go to Texas, and, in some cases, go international. So I think that it is not always rocket science. What you can do is learn what they are and compare those to your basis of knowledge and go from there.”
DIG DEEPER: Chronister was appointed sheriff in 2017 by then-Gov. Rick Scott, who is now a U.S. senator, and was re-elected three times. Chronister, a Republican, was re-elected this year without opposition. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, a Democrat who is a former Tampa police chief, praised Chronister’s selection on X, calling it a “much deserved” and “excellent” choice by Trump.
WHY NOT CONGRESS?
Sheriff Simmons also discussed his decision to not run for the First Congressional District seat vacated by Matt Gaetz. “The bottom line is I don’t know that there’s a better job than the sheriff of Escambia County where I can make the biggest difference on a daily basis. I live here, I raise kids here, I want to stay here, and I want to do what’s best for Escambia County.”
While he isn’t passing judgment on other elected officials who have profiled to run, the sheriff stated he had an obligation to the voters who have supported him. “I’m simply telling you what Chip Simmons feels like. I haven’t even started my second term yet. So I just did not feel it appropriate for me to jump ship because I take the fact that I asked for votes and I got reelected. I take that very serious, and we have a job here to do, and I’m just enjoying it.”
- (we don’t) color on the dog will be uploaded to YouTube later today. Please subscribe so you won’t miss any of the episodes. The audio versions will soon follow.
Photo by Alphacolor on Unsplash
