Civil rights lawyer Cecile Scoon has been elected to lead the League of Women Voters of Florida.
Scoon’s election marks the first time a Black woman has been elected to the top post at LWVF. The Harvard and University of Virginia Law graduate has served as the organization’s 1st Vice President since 2018.
She succeeds exiting president Patricia Brigham, who has held the position for the past three years.
“Voting is the basic building block of our prized democracy. During our state convention, the League demonstrated how democracy should work when our grassroots members voted for new leadership. In doing this, League members repudiated times in the 1920s and later in the 1960s when white League members were not as welcoming to Black women.” Scoon said.
“My election was a rejection of that troubling past and an embracement of diversity, equity and inclusivity. I love the League because it is primarily a group of powerful women standing up for the rights of all. I look forward to this journey as we work to meet the many challenges of our time.”
Scoon’s 36-year law career began as an assistant staff judge advocate for the U.S. Air Force. She now serves as an owner and managing principal of Peters & Scoon Attorneys at Law in Panama City.
She is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, which touts other notable members such as Vice President Kamala Harris and former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince. Scoon has previously held leadership positions within her local chapter of the League of Women Voters and is a life member of the Bay County Branch of the NAACP.
Scoon was elected alongside a slate of officers and directors on June 5, during the organization’s 38th biennial state convention.
The League also announced the election of Marisol Zenteno as 1st Vice President, Shawn Bartelt as 2nd Vice President, Patricia Drago as Secretary, and Mark Songer as Treasurer. Elected directors include Jennifer Adams, Jonathan Hackley, Danielle Irwin, Dr. Julie Kessel and Maegen Pierce.
In other notes:
– Sedition hunters: One would assume it’s top-level investigators with fancy federal bureaus sniffing out those who perpetrated the ugliest parts of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. But in some cases, it’s amateurs, or what Bloomberg describes in a must-read profile as sedition hunters, who are using the internet to track down and identify rioters. And in some cases, their hobby sleuthing leads to federal charges. Bust out your magnifying glass and read more here.
— Primaries to watch from afar: All eyes are on Florida races in 2022, but two states are holding gubernatorial Primary Elections today in races FiveThirtyEight is watching. Virginia and New Jersey both went for President Joe Biden last year, and both have Democratic Governors, but Republicans are eyeing the states’ Governors’ mansions this cycle. Find out how the GOP could make inroads in the blue states here.
— Democratic report offers dire warning: Several prominent Democratic advocacy groups put together a soul-searching report finding the party risks losing Black, Hispanic and Asian American support unless they do a better job presenting a positive economic agenda and countering Republican misinformation. The report warns 2022 may not find the nationwide successes seen in the 2020 election, which had Donald Trump on the ballot if they don’t reevaluate their messaging and voter outreach. Read more about the report, obtained by The New York Times, here.
— With her campaign finance blunder, Nikki Fried hands the GOP a gift that will keep on giving: When Fried updated her financial disclosure reports to show $350,000 in previously unreported lobbying income, she provided a headline that allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis will pounce on for months to come. Joe Henderson ponders just how catastrophic the error could be for Fried as she heads into her gubernatorial campaign, even if it was just an honest mistake.
— Five questions for Seminole Gaming Chair Jim Allen: The Tribe has been working on a deal for at least five years, negotiations that span two Governors. Now they might finally find success with a 30-year gaming compact that will expand the Tribe’s gaming footprint in the state while providing billions in revenue for the state. The News Service of Florida sat down with Allen to discuss the deal, pending federal approval, including how it finally got done and what it means for sports betting in the state. Read more here.
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