Three elected officials in St. Johns County have been charged in relation to an allegedly phony voters’ guide distributed in 2024 ahead of the Republican primary election.
The guide used the name, likeness and logo in an altered form of the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee without permission, in violation of Florida Statute 106.1436 that states: “A person may not, directly or indirectly, represent that a voter guide is an official publication of a political party unless such person is given written permission.”
The guides did not state who created or paid for them, as required by statute.
The guide endorsed different political candidates than those actually endorsed by the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee.
St. Johns County commissioners Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst and St. Augustine Beach City Commissioner and former Mayor Dylan Rumrell have been charged with unauthorized voter guide violations, a first-degree misdemeanor, and criminal conspiracy, a second-degree misdemeanor.
In addition, political consultant Briana Maureen Jordan faces charges of tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony, as well as the misdemeanor charges mentioned above.
One other person, Jaime Johnson, faces the same misdemeanor charges as mentioned above.
Court documents allege that, on Aug. 1, 2024, eight days prior to the first day of early voting for the primary, a group of people gathered at a rental property in St. Augustine and placed the allegedly fraudulent guides into envelopes. The investigation determined that the house was rented by Jordan as a campaign headquarters.
Court documents allege that more than 10,000 phony guides were printed and “thousands” were mailed either from Orlando or Jacksonville.
Voters began to contact the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee on Aug. 9, 2024, to report that they had received these allegedly phony guides. About 135 households complained to the committee and provided the ones they had received with the envelopes in which they had arrived.
The committee had held a membership meeting prior to this to determine which candidates they wanted to endorse. About 20,000 real guides were printed and distributed during neighborhood outreach events.
Meanwhile, the allegedly phony guides endorsed wholly different candidates.
According to court documents, a person who was at the rental property on Aug. 1, 2024, told the investigator that Whitehurst, Arnold, Rumrell and others were there, assisting in placing labels and stamps on envelopes containing the allegedly phony guides.
According to the investigating agent, Johnson said that when the story broke about the guides, Jordan started to burn the remaining ones in the back yard of the rental property. Johnson told the agent that Jordan took the guides that she hadn’t burned to her residence in another county to destroy, according to court documents.
An intern with Jordan’s company, granted an immunity agreement by the Office of Statewide Prosecution, gave investigators an account that agreed with that of Johnson.
According to court documents, a review of phone records showed that on Aug. 11, 2024, after a story about the allegedly fraudulent voter guides aired on local news, Jordan made phone calls to three businesses that provide shredding services, none of them local.
As of this writing, no court actions regarding the case against Jordan had been posted on the St. Johns County Clerk of Courts Office website.
An arraignment before Judge Christopher Ferebee has been scheduled for Arnold, Rumrell and Whitehurst on Aug. 3.
The spokespersons for the legal team representing the three elected officials issued the following statement:
“These allegations have lingered for nearly two years in the hands of various government agencies. With formal charges now filed, County Commissioner Arnold, County Commissioner Whitehurst and St. Augustine Beach City Commissioner Rumrell look forward to the conclusion of this matter and will have no further comments at this time.”
Wednesday, state Rep. Kim Kendall wrote to Gov. Ron DeSantis with recommendations for potential appointments to the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners in the event that the seats for District 1 or District 2 are vacated as a result of the case.
She recommended Ann-Marie Evans for the District 1 seat. Evans lost to Whitehurst by a margin of 800 votes in 2024. She was also one of the candidates endorsed by the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee but not by the allegedly phony guide.
As Arnold is not seeking re-election, voters will choose between four candidates to fill the District 2 vacancy. Kendall recommended that whichever one wins the Aug. 18 primary be appointed to serve for the brief time until the new term starts in November.
Kendall emphasized that these recommendations are contingent and would apply only if the pending charges are found to be true and the commissioners being charged are suspended.
