Meet Mike Ertel
Michael Ertel was appointed the Supervisor of Elections for Seminole County on February 7, 2005. He was subsequently elected in 2006 and 2008.
Since his initial appointment, the office has made significant improvements in services to voters and candidates under the office's new mission statement: Efficient Elections - Excellent Service - Fiduciary Conservatism - Voter Confidence.
Prior to becoming supervisor Ertel spent eight years in the U.S. Army and was in the public relations field for 12 years, with stints as a public affairs representative for the U.S. Army during the Los Angeles riots, Macedonian, and Bosnian operations. In 1998 he became Seminole County government's first community information professional, guiding communications for the county government. After that, he was the director of public relations for a 185-location bank.
The 41-year-old Ertel is a homegrown elected official, attending Red Bug, Sterling Park and English Estates elementary, Tuskawilla middle and Lake Howell high and the University of Maryland University College. He has completed the Harvard Program on Negotiation module on crisis communications titled How to Deal with an Angry Public and the American University Election Management Institute. In an effort to detect fraud, in 2011, he became Florida's first elections official to complete a course from West Virginia University on forensic document examination. Mike is a highly sought speaker on elections issues, speaking to state and national election official organizations, as well as testifying before the State of Texas Legislature on Voter Identification laws. He has spoken about election law to conventions of the American Bar Association and the American Association of Political Consultants. In 2011 he was a speaker at the Heritage Foundation concerning military voting rights, and has discussed election security on Fox News Channel.
Mike, his wife Michelle, Zane, 17, Gillian, 15 and their dogs Winston and Betty live in unincorporated Seminole County. In his spare time, Mike in an active member of the VFW, enjoys racquetball, Revolutionary history and the music of the Rat Pack.
