Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida, isn’t your typical sheriff. The 72-year-old career law enforcement officer has amassed nearly four million followers on social media, where he shares stories of unfolding cases with a deadpan Southern drawl and the blunt delivery of a seasoned stand-up comic. In one clip, he calls a prostitute dressed in drag “Coyote Ugly“”; in another, he shows up to a news conference announcing a drug bust wearing a gold chain, stating “I got their drip, I got their money, we got their guns, we got their dope.” His most popular video—where he details the arrest of an 18-year-old for threatening to shoot up a McDonald’s after the store messed up his order (he refers to the man as a “McNut”)—has been viewed over 21 million times.
“It’s just another day in the office,” Judd told me. He’s squeezing in the time to give me a call between meetings, just a week ahead of Florida’s November 3 election, where he’s leveraged his large following to emerge as one of the state’s loudest voices against a proposed constitutional amendment to lower property taxes across the state.
If it passes by a 60 percent vote on Tuesday, the amendment will increase the state’s current homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, and $250,000 in 2028. Those in favor argue the proposal will bring much-needed tax relief to Floridians who are struggling with the rising cost of living, while those opposed say the cuts to local services will be so drastic that some counties will struggle to perform even their most basic duties, including providing road repair or park services.
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“It’s a train wreck,” Judd told me of the proposal, “It’s the most insane constitutional amendment I think I’ve ever seen.”
Judd has become the face of the “vote no” movement. Earlier this week, at a press conference where he stood behind a podium wrapped in the phrase “Too good to be true,” Judd declared: “It does not give the government a haircut with the appropriate tools and scissors; it gives us a haircut with a weed eater. As a result, you’re going to be left with the bloody results.”
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