HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. — State Rep. Anthony Sabatini is the latest politician to have a photo surfaced of him dressed in blackface.
Now, the Florida Democratic party is calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis and state House Speaker Jose Oliva to ask for Sabatini's resignation.
The Orlando Sentinel first reported on the photo of Sabatini back in October 2018, when the newspaper said the photo was mailed anonymously to media outlets in Lake County. The photo shows the Howey-in-the-Hills Republican as a teenager with his face blackened and wearing a bunch of gold jewelry and a New York Yankees hat.
Back then, Sabatini told the Orlando Sentinel he was a sophomore at Eustis High School when he and his friend Brandon Evans, who is black, dressed like each other for a themed homecoming day. Evans told the Sentinel Sabatini asked to borrow his jewelry and clothes.
Just last week, Florida's Secretary of State Michael Ertel resigned after photos surfaced showing him wearing blackface in a "Hurricane Katrina victim" costume. Then a few days ago, yearbook photos of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam appeared to show him in blackface standing next to someone in a Ku Klux Klan robe. Then, on Wednesday, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring admitted to putting on blackface as a college student in the 1980s.
Sabatini's opponent during the November 2018 race, Democrat Cynthia Brown, condemned the photo in a Facebook post on Monday and called for Sabatini to step down.
"I don't care what age you are, where you grew up, what political party you belong in, this is not where we belong," she wrote in the post.
Then on Tuesday, Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo called for Sabatini's resignation.
"Governor DeSantis did the right thing in accepting Michael Ertel's resignation -- and he and Leader Jose Oliva should do the right thing and ask for the resignation of Rep. Anthony Sabatini," Rizzo said. "In calling out racist behavior Florida Democrats and Republicans should stand united."
Sabatini spoke to the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday and denied the photo was racist. He told the Sentinel the "teenage prank between two friends" had "zero in common" with the scandals involving Ertel and Northam.
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