A South Ponte Vedra Beach resident, Diane Scherff is the second vice chair of the St. Johns County Republican Party, president of the newly-formed Trump Club of St. Johns County and was the chairman of the Trump Campaign for St. Johns County.
Can you please tell us about your background?
Born into a broadcast family, I moved all over the country. I have either lived, visited or worked in every state in the U.S. except Alaska! Upon graduation from the University of Florida with two degrees in broadcasting and public relations, I first worked for a political public relations firm and then as a media director for an advertising firm in Washington, D.C. Next, I did sales for radio and TV stations in San Francisco, and then I was an advertising sales manager for a cable interconnect, managing five offices in Los Angeles and Orange counties. After, I became a managing consultant for a cable company in New Canaan, Connecticut, setting up operations in Puerto Rico, and then I consulted with Outdoor Life Network and Speed Channel in Stamford, Connecticut. Subsequently, I was the regional sales manager for a finance company in Connecticut, the senior vice president of operations and chief marketing officer for a financial company in Ft Lauderdale, and I’m now the vice president of sales and marketing for Military Deals USA/Milsaver.com here in Ponte Vedra Beach.
What are your roles and responsibilities with the St. Johns County Republican Party?
As 2nd vice chair, I am responsible for all publicity, public relations, advertising, promotions, events, sponsorships, social media, fundraising and communications. I work with key Republican officials to raise money for the party. Last fall, I created an event with Rep. Ron DeSantis (who is now running for governor) and Sen. Ted Cruz here in Ponte Vedra Beach. I help Republican candidates get elected on the local and county level.
Are there any upcoming events that you’d like to share with our readers?
Please come to our Trump Club monthly meetings the first Monday of the month. The next one is Monday, April 2, at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge at 5050 Inman Road in St. Augustine at 7 p.m. with Author Stephen Strang, who wrote “God and Donald Trump.”
What do you do for the Trump Club?
I formed the Trump Club of St Johns County last November as an organization to support President Trump and his agenda and to spread the word directly from the White House as to what is really going on in D.C. I send out weekly e-blasts taken from my White House briefings each week to all of our members and many Republicans in the county. Our goal is to educate and inform citizens, as well as to vet candidates running for office to make sure they are pro-Trump. We have excellent speakers at our meetings (yes, we were boycotting the NFL)! Our membership has grown to 150 members with over 300 active participants.
What inspired you to ultimately lead the Trump Campaign for St. Johns County?
I met Donald Trump briefly many years ago while working in New York City and was always impressed with his business savvy and love for our country. I followed him over the years and when he announced his bid to run, I was in! Unlike most people in the world, I knew he would win. When asked to run his campaign in this county, I jumped at the chance. I set up a county office based in St Augustine, recruited hundreds of volunteers, worked with the Republican Party of Florida staff to make calls, knock on doors and put on several Trump rallies. When I met then Mr. Trump at one of the rallies, he asked me back stage if he was going to win Florida, and I said, “Yes sir, you are going to win it all.” He smiled and said, “I hope you are right!” One week later, he won!
People would ask me why I was working so hard for him to win and I would respond by saying he could potentially make one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had. He understands that he doesn’t know it all and surrounds himself with knowledgeable people. He cares about doing what’s best for our country and believes in God and preserving religion. He is making our country better economically by creating more jobs than ever before, bringing new industry here and cutting major Obama-era regulations for companies. His historic tax cut plan is helping all Americans and he wants to secure our borders to keep us safe and to slow illegal immigration, which has led to many problems. He has also put a damper on ISIS’s plan to overtake the world even though Obama created this horrific terrorist group and he has made in-roads into working with North Korea (something his predecessors couldn’t do) ... just to name a few. Basically, I believe God sent us President Trump to help save the downward spiral we were in for over eight years!
What do you enjoy most about living on the First Coast?
I decided to get the heck out of South Florida five years ago, so I sold my home and moved closer to where my children were in college at University of Florida and Florida State University. Now they are 23 and 26. My son Brandon is an engineer in Atlanta and my daughter Savannah is a top sales person for the Florida Times Union. I wanted to be close to the beach where it was quiet …Well it’s a bit too quiet for me as a single gal. Ponte Vedra reminded me of a small version of Boca, and Turtle Shores is a bit like California. I can walk out my back door with my 10-foot paddleboard, go under a tunnel and I’m at my beach. It’s wonderful.
What do you like to do in your free time?
What is free time? HA! I love to volunteer in politics, landscape, decorate, walk on the beach, paddleboard, sing, go to Mass at the cathedral every Sunday, hang with my kids and two Australian shepherds, shoot my Glock, watch good movies, write and read everything I can about what’s going on in the world. I’m also a huge WWII history buff!