Florida Wants to Know: Is Our Lt. Gov. Gay?
After a term with Gov. Charlie Crist, you’d think Floridians would be used to rumors of gay goings-on in the governor’s suite. But even normally unflappable Floridians are reeling at the news that Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R) might be…How did that one really rude web site put it? Oh yeah, a “carpet muncher.”
Carroll, 52, a former Navy veteran born in Trinidad and married mother of three, including Miami Dolphins player Nolan Carroll, is known as an ultra social conservative, pushing abstinence-only education, among other favorite rightwing initiatives. She’s also had to explain shifting income reporting (her net worth has varied depending on whether she was filling out tax returns or applying for low-income minority business set-asides), how she made speeding tickets in her former legislative district disappear without paying any fines, and how she rented an office whose location would have shown eligibility to bid for additional female-owned business set-asides, except it was already occupied by a private detective.
Carroll, like her boss, Gov. Rick Scott, also has a reputation for dealing harshly with perceived enemies. Scott, for example, recently tried unsuccessfully to have three judges that he considered liberal prosecuted for improper election filings because they had their paperwork notarized by a state worker, a practice so common no one realized it was verboten.
Carroll took it even further with a former aide, having her arrested for disclosing to the press a conversation recorded in the lieutenant governor’s office. The practice of taping visitors and colleagues was said to be routine under Carroll, but the aide, Carletha Cole, shared the recording with a newspaper. The tape confirmed the chaos and dysfunction alleged in Carroll’s office.
But the arrest and resulting investigation might have consequences Carroll never envisioned, like allegations of an affair with her female travel aide, Beatriz Ramos.
