User:Elli/Drafts/Wayne Ivey

Wayne Ivey is an American politician and law enforcement officer currently serving as the sheriff of Brevard County, Florida. A Republican, he was first elected in 2012, was uncontested in 2016, and re-elected in 2020.

Early career
Ivey began as an agent of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) in Clay County, Florida. Before running for sheriff of Brevard County, he had worked as the resident agent in charge of DFLE operations in Brevard and Volushia counties.

2012 Brevard County sheriff campaign
Ivey ran for Brevard County sheriff in 2012 as a Republican. He competed in the Republican primary against Todd Maddox. Prior to the primary, he received the endorsement the incumbent Republican sheriff of Brevard County, Jack Parker, as well as that of Steve Crisafulli, a member of the Florida House of Representatives representing its 32nd district, which covered part of Brevard County. Ivey won the primary with 56.3% of the vote, to Maddox's 43.7%.

Ivey faced Democratic candidate Adrian Moss-Beasley in the general election. Moss-Beasley campaigned on his experience working for the sheriff's office, saying that he was "the only candidate that has worked, or is still working for the Brevard County Sheriff's office". Ivey, meanwhile, ran more strongly on combating crime. Ivey won a straw poll hosted on October 17 by various local chambers of commerce, with 133 votes to Moss-Beasley's 56. Ultimately, Ivey won the race with 66.6% of the vote to Moss-Beasley's 33.4% of the vote.

2016 election
Ivey won re-election in 2016 uncontested, as no one filed to challenge him either in the Republican primary nor the general election. Though he did not have to campaign himself, he campaigned for various other candidates in the 2016 election. His endorsement was considered valuable for many office-seekers in Brevard County. Ivey noted that he intended to endorse candidates who would "protect the Constitution".

2020 election
In the 2020 election, Ivey was challenged by Democrat Alton Edmond. Edmond campaigned as a moderate and focused on criticizing Ivey's lack of transparency and excessive use of social media. Edmond promised to require officers to use body cameras, while Ivey opposes them. The death of Gregory Edwards was also a campaign issue, with Ivey still refusing to release the video of the conflict leading to Edwards' death, which Edmond promised to release if he were elected.

The campaign was considered a race contrasting Trumpism with the Black Lives Matter movement regarding American policing. On election night, Ivey was re-elected with 66% of the vote. The result was not considered a surprise, as Donald Trump had won the county in 2016 by 19 points.

Wheel of Fugitive
Ivey creates weekly videos titled Wheel of Fugitive, inspired by the popular game show Wheel of Fortune. The videos show Ivey spinning a wheel with various mugshots of fugitives, highlighting a random person with outstanding arrest warrants.

In January 2023, a man sued Ivey for defamation after appearing on the show several times in 2021. While he had been arrested, he was in custody when he was initially featured on the show, and his charges were later dismissed. He was featured on the show multiple times following that, including after he was released from custody, and claims that one of those incidents led to him losing his job.

Death of Gregory Edwards
On December 9, 2018, Gregory Edwards, a 38-year old combat veteran, traveled with his wife Kathleen and their 18-month-old daughter to a Walmart in West Melbourne, Florida. Edwards had a PTSD episode at the store, assaulting a volunteer at a truck collecting Christmas donations. Edwards was detained until police arrived, who took him to Brevard County Jail. At the jail, Edwards conflicted with an officer, leading to seven others restraining and repeatedly punching, tasing, and pepper-spraying him. Edwards died the next day after a conflict with corrections officers.

Edwards' death was controversial, and Ivey, in charge of the Brevard County sheriffs' department, received criticism. Ivey refused to release video footage of Edwards' conflict with corrections officers.