Alvero Hires High Profile Lawyer Amid Calls To Resign
*This story has been updated to correctly attribute a post to Brady White*
The aftermath of comments made by School Board member Robert Alvero has begun to boil over. Prominent political figures in Clay County and throughout the state of Florida are now calling for his resignation in light of his alleged racially insensitive comments. Alvero has now hired high-profile civil rights attorney Anthony Sabbatini.
On Sunday, a series of public posts from local politicians began to surface. The first came from the Chairwoman of the Clay County School Board, Erin Skipper. In a statement posted to Facebook, Skipper condemned Alvero’s comments as inconsistent with the School District’s values. She added that the comments would be addressed at the board’s next meeting on January 8th, 2026.
State Senator Jennifer Bradley was the next to comment and the first elected official to publicly call for Alvero’s resignation, citing the comments as “beyond the pale” and “unfitting his position.”
The Republican Party of Clay County issued a statement from Chairwoman Rhonda Jett calling for Alvero’s immediate resignation in light of his “disappointing and hurtful” remarks.
Next, local Republican Brady White called for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to name Scotty Taylor as a replacement for Alvero. Taylor is the current Republican Committeeman for Clay County, a retired firefighter, and universally well-liked in local politics.
The Clay County School Board has the authority to censure one of its members, but they do not have the legal authority to remove a board member for any reason. Per state law, only the governor can remove a sitting school board member.
On Monday, the Florida Commissioner of Education, Anastasios Kamoutsas, announced that Alvero was required to appear at the next State Board of Education meeting in January to explain his conduct.
The story, initially covered by Clay News & Views, began to gain coverage from news outlets across Florida. News4Jax, First Coast News, and The Florida Times-Union published stories about Alvero. Florida Politics and Florida Voice News also covered it, giving the story a state-wide reach.
Then, late Monday evening, high-profile civil rights lawyer Anthony Sabitini announced he had taken on Alvero as a client to defend him from “Woke political actors— seeking to reinstitute cancel culture.”
Sabatini’s post also mentions that these same “woke actors” are targeting Alvero because they are “mad they lost the election.”
While no individual was named in Sabatini’s post, Clay News & Views uncovered a smear campaign against Alvero during his 2024 school board bid. A sitting school board member and an official in the Clay County Republican Party spearheaded efforts to paint Alvero in a negative light. You can read that story here:
Alvero Tops Hughes For School Board Seat
The race that started with four candidates has been whittled down to one, and Robert Alvero is the last man standing. Alvero topped Hughes by just under 9% or 9,967 votes.
Really sharp reporting. The move to immediately frame accountability as "cancel culture" is such a revealing tell about how political rhetoric has shifted. I remember when officials would at least try to address the substance of their comments first, but now the reflex is to weaponize anti-woke language as a defensive shield. Sabatini's framing strips away any space for discussing whether the actual comments werea problem, turning it purely into culture war territory.