Kent Stermon was a member of the Board of Governors. | State University System Of Florida
Published on December 18, 2022 at 9:17 pm
Warning: This essay addresses the topic of suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, dial 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org/.
Political journalism is a game of access and scoops. And Kent Stermon, who took his own life at the age of 50 under clouded circumstances, offered both in his surprisingly brief life, even as questions remain.
I last communicated with Stermon hours before his death. But I became aware of Stermon in 2016, when an insider floated his name as a potential candidate to replace Ander Crenshaw in Congress. I later realized, through his floating this trial balloon, I’d been worked: He had no intention of running for Congress.
Looking back, it was just his way of saying hello.
Over the years, I’d hear from him every few months unless life got in the way. He told me, early in the governor’s term, that Ron DeSantis liked me, which was flattering but not proven true as of this moment. And he’d tell me he’d like to see his name in print more.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
That is one role of someone like Stermon, to offer a channel to the thoughts of a given person, in that parasocial way particular to source-and-reporter dynamics.
Friendly? To a fault. But transactional also.
Stermon was best known for his proximity to former Sheriff Mike Williams, who never returned my request for comment on Stermon’s suicide this month. That proximity, which was general knowledge to those steeped in local politics, may have helped Stermon become the 2016 JSO Citizen of the Year.
The Facebook post promoting the honor described Stermon in glowing language: “For the men and women of JSO he is known as a friend, contributing to the morale and welfare of many an officer and his or her family in times of need. Quietly and without fanfare.”
Somewhere along the line, he earned badge access to the facility. In the words of Action News Jax’s Emily Turner, “Political insider who died accessed Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office buildings 624 times, records show.”
And as he had badge access, he had access to the guy behind the badge, often presenting himself as a puppet master of sorts. Stermon told me the goal was to get T.K. Waters appointed as the interim sheriff, something the governor’s office ultimately compromised on, picking reliable Pat Ivey and offering the “that’s my guy” endorsement for candidate Waters, who won handily in Republican November.
He offered some advance notice that was going to happen. A scoop, to say the least, but one that also underscored his status as the nexus between DeSantisworld and #jaxpol.
Ultimately, though, Stermon’s gambit collapsed. Without my knowing, of course.
On Thursday, Dec. 8, the day before his death, I popped him a question: Is the governor going to endorse before March in the Jax mayoral race?
It was my way of saying hello. And it was a slow news day.
He let me know he “unfortunately had a stroke on Monday so I am stepping as far away from politics as I can right now.”
“My prognosis is positive and I just got discharged from hospital but I have a ton of work to do to get healthy. Hope you’re doing well.”
He “hearted” my reply: focus on recovery and “take care of yourself.” And the next day his death was the headline.
Friday would not be a slow news day. I did an interview with First Coast News that day, in which I offered some context about Stermon’s proximity to DeSantis, and as soon as I got back home there were new revelations that my interview likely should have addressed.
And there are still fast news days to come from this story, as the details of the “sexual misconduct” investigation come out. The rumors are not publishable.
In this business of political journalism, a lot of time is spent texting sources and politicians and those who have their ears or do their thinking. This kind of targeted engagement can happen all hours, and for me at least, it isn’t the same part of my brain I use when texting a friend, because I know the endgame is going to be me typing something up or filing something away for future use.
Some of those interactions are more positive than others. The cleanest ones usually are with those who can compartmentalize, who don’t harangue.
Interactions with Stermon, from my end, were pretty clean, and his scoops were good. But what’s clear now is elements in his life were seriously askew. Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.
