BREAKING: Deborah Cooney Emails Chief Touchberry Offering to Drop Out of the Race in Exchange for Concessions.
Chief Touchberry did not respond to write-in candidate's request to be “sealed by a written contract”
On the evening of Wednesday, June 19th, candidate for Sheriff, Keith Touchberry, personally received a peculiar email from write-in candidate, Deborah Cooney. The email subject was titled “Urgent: Possible Withdrawal from Sheriff Race.”
In the body of the email, Ms. Cooney congratulates Chief Touchberry on his “phenomenal opening statement” remarking further how the discourse was civil in regards to his participation in the debate. In the next paragraph she begins, “I am considering withdrawing my candidacy and supporting you in the race. My withdrawal would be a huge boon to your campaign. You would likely win.”
Ms. Cooney offered that if Chief Touchberry was “interested in negotiating for my withdrawal,” that she wanted to have an extensive meeting where he could even bring his own legal representation. She added, “I will represent myself. I am a good lawyer (not a member of the Bar).”
Chief Touchberry did not respond to the overture from Ms. Cooney. Instead, he forwarded it and a follow-up email from Ms. Cooney to the Supervisor of Elections (SOE). The emails are now recorded at the SOE as matters of public record. Reached for comment by The Sunshine Journal, Chief Touchberry said, “I was not interested in discussing her offer and forwarded the email to the Supervisor of Elections for the sake of transparency.”
Thursday evening, Chief Touchberry received a follow-up from Ms. Cooney. In it she wrote, “Please reply at your earliest convenience … I will not withdraw without assurances from you, sealed by written contract.”
At the debate, Ms. Cooney was notoriously shunned and booed by the audience after she provoked them with unsubstantiated accusations against the sheriff’s department. At one point, she referred to the sheriff’s office and all associated governing agencies as a ‘corrupt mafia.’ The Sunshine Journal has a complete video of the debate.
The original email addresses some of her concerns. Asking Chief Touchberry for concessions in exchange for her support, she says that he would have “to look at issues you have previously ignored” such as her unproven claims she made at the debate. She added, “You would also need to show some compassion for the victims of the IRCSO mafia, including me.”
It is not known how Ms. Cooney has been victimized by the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office. The Sunshine Journal has reached out to Ms. Cooney regarding this email, but she has not replied with comment. In her original email to Chief Touchberry, she also added, “I reached out to you in 2020, but you were uninterested. It cost you the race. It costs citizens their safety and several lost their lives.”
In 2020, after the primary, Ms. Cooney posted an open letter on Facebook to Chief Touchberry asking for his support in the general election against Eric Flowers. In exchange for his support, she proffered, “I would like to ask you to join my team in the No. 1 position as Undersheriff. You will be doing essentially the job that you were expecting to do as sheriff, at close to the same rate of pay.”
At the time, Chief Touchberry ignored that offer as well. Ms. Cooney lost the general election race to Mr. Flowers who received 80% of the vote. Election observers note that as long as she is in the race, it benefits the incumbent. The primary will remain closed, limiting voter participation to the registered republican electorate. Sheriff Flowers, Chief Touchberry and Milo Thorton are all registered Republicans. In the 2020 primaries, Eric Flowers received 62% of the 23,447 Republican votes recorded. Non-partisan votes in August of 2020 tallied around 38,000 ballots cast in each election for commission and school board. That same year with Trump on the ballot, over 92,000 voters participated in the general election for Sheriff. Ms. Cooney barely gained 18,000 votes for her 2020 candidacy.
According to SOE filings, Ms. Cooney declared her 2024 candidacy on December 9, 2020, one month after she lost that 2020 election. After filing, she immediately lent her campaign $5200 in initial funding. Since December 2020, she has raised $200 in additional contributions. However, the former banker has also withdrawn $5000 in “loan repayments” from the campaign for essentially a zero return on her investment.
No joke, it’s pitiful! She obviously has problems. Does she have family (advisers) ?
What a Joke! She’s a Nothing-burger in my humble opinion.