Just two months after facing a narrow loss, former Alachua County Sheriff Emery Gainey sat in the U.S. Senate chambers’ intense, two-hour-long hearing Thursday, to testify on behalf of Pamela Jo Bondi — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Attorney General.
Gainey, who served as Alachua County sheriff for the past year after previous Sheriff Clovis Watson stepped down, was previously appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as Alachua County sheriff.
He is one of the few Republicans to serve as Alachua County sheriff, which has historically gone to Democrats, although the role is non-partisan. Gainey previously served as Marion County sheriff and chief of staff for the Florida Attorney General’s Office, The Alligator previously reported.
Through Bondi’s tenure as Florida’s Attorney General, Gainey was her Director of Law Enforcement.
“To this day we continue to maintain a very close professional, personal and family friendship,” Gainey said during the hearing.
Bondi, a UF alumn, served as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019 and was the first woman elected to the role. Bondi also served on Trump's legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020.
She came under intense scrutiny from U.S. Senate Democrats during her hearing this week, with many Democrats questioning if she would place loyalty to Trump over her commitment as U.S. Attorney General.
In a Nov. 2020 press conference, Bondi claimed Trump had won Pennsylvania and led the Trump campaign’s attempt to overturn election results, according to a report by the U.S. Senate committee on the Judiciary.
“Politics will not play a part,” Bondi said during the hearing.
Gainey continued to focus on Bondi’s “compassionate side of her tenure” during his testimony, noting her commitment to fairness and justice. She was compassionate at crime scenes and in hospital rooms, he said.
“The United States of America and the American people would be very well served by confirming Pamela Jo Bondi as our next United States Attorney General,” Gainey said.
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office was not able to comment on Gainey’s appearance at the Senate hearing.
Contact Vivienne Serret at vserret@alligator.org. Follow her on X @vivienneserret.
Vivienne Serret is a UF journalism and criminology senior, serving as the Fall 2024 race and equity reporter for The Alligator's Enterprise desk. She previously worked as a columnist and previously reported for The Alligator's university desk as the student government reporter. She loves karaoke and lifting at the gym.
