Michael Ertel, the newly appointed Secretary of State of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has resigned after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a private Halloween party 14 years ago.
The photos obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat were shown to the Governor's Office on Thursday morning. Hours later it issued a statement.
"The governor accepted Secretary Ertel's resignation," the Governor's Office said.
At a news conference on hurricane relief in Marianna, DeSantis addressed the resignation.
"It's unfortunate. He's done a lot of good work," he said, adding that he accepted the resignation because "I don't want to get mired in side controversies."
The photo was taken in 2005, eight months after Ertel was appointed Seminole County supervisor of elections and two months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
