{"id":375714,"date":"2026-08-19T15:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/375714\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:58:08","slug":"sheriff-waters-backs-byron-donalds-but-refuses-to-weigh-in-on-property-tax-reform-as-other-sheriffs-take-a-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/375714\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheriff Waters backs Byron Donalds but refuses to weigh in on property tax reform as other sheriffs take a stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Hours after Jacksonville\u2019s 14th police involved shooting this year<\/a>, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters appeared at a campaign victory rally in Orlando for the Republican candidate for governor, Byron Donalds.<\/p>\n

Waters got a shout-out from Donalds during his victory speech. <\/p>\n

\u201cI see Sheriff T.K. Waters from Duval County is right here in front. How you doing, T.K.?\u201d Donalds said. <\/p>\n

News4JAX spoke to Waters at the event on Tuesday night and asked him why he decided to attend. <\/p>\n

\u201cI needed a couple of days off,\u201d Waters said. This is a good way to take them. My wife and I never get away from home very much so we decided needed since we got an invitation. This would be an opportunity to take a vacation and get back fresh and go back to work.”<\/p>\n

Waters has made it a point to attend nearly every media briefing involving an officer-involved shooting, but on Tuesday, JSO Chief Michael Paul addressed the media while Waters was out of town. <\/p>\n

Waters said he was aware of everything happening with the shooting. <\/p>\n

\u201cTough situation,\u201d he said. \u201cSounds like the sergeant was in his vehicle. Someone came up got him out of his car. Ended up taking a shot at him. He returned fire and that\u2019s the end of the story. Investigation is continuing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donalds won the Republican nomination after receiving President Donald Trump\u2019s support in the primary. His victory puts him in position to seek the governorship as Florida\u2019s first Black governor. <\/p>\n

Sheriff Waters has been selective about commenting on political issues, but he has entered political debates in the past. <\/p>\n

In 2024, Waters came out against a ballot initiative that would have legalized the use of marijuana in Florida for those 21 years and older. That amendment failed. <\/p>\n

RELATED | Sheriff Waters on Amendment 3: Not good for Florida; \u2018marijuana smoke is the most offensive smell to me ever\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Notably, Donalds shouted out Waters after talking about Amendment 3, which would eliminate homestead property taxes. Donalds said on Tuesday that if the amendment passes, he will not jeopardize funding for police, firefighters, and first responders \u201cbecause they have our backs and we have theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, center, waves next to his wife Erika, while standing on stage with their children Darin, left, Damon, second from left, and Mason during at a primary election party Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo\/John Raoux) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n

The amendment, backed by current Gov. Ron DeSantis, has come under fire by several local law enforcement agencies and the Florida Sheriff\u2019s Association for what it might potentially do to budgets and resources for law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Randy Reaves, president of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police, echoed the concerns of other law enforcement groups, saying the impact here in Jacksonville could be severe.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur concerns are that big of a budget cut for us here. We do believe that that could directly affect public safety and the work that our men and women do on a daily basis,\u201d Reaves said.<\/p>\n

MORE | Growing concerns over Amendment 3 as more groups speak out against the property tax proposal<\/a><\/p>\n

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has been a vocal opponent of the proposal<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Lawmakers) have no idea what the devastation of Amendment 3 in its current form will be to cities and counties,\u201d he stated. \u201cWhen you get to some small counties, it\u2019s going to wipe them out. It\u2019s going to be 50% of their taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, News4JAX asked for the Sheriff\u2019s take on Amendment 3. <\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s office responded, saying, \u201cThe\u00a0Sheriff\u00a0does not comment on\u00a0pending\u00a0legislation. That is why we recommend reaching out to the FOP.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

News4JAX asked him again on Tuesday why he chose not to comment on pending legislation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI usually stay out of legislation proposals,\u201d Waters said. \u201cThat\u2019s something for people that make those rules. Do my best to stay out of that stuff and enforce what they tell me to enforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waters said being at the event with Donalds did not change his stance on that. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of me supporting a candidate, which I think I\u2019m allowed to do,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Waters added that he is not publicly supporting any other candidates besides Donalds. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a fighter, he believes in law and order, all the economic plans that he has for our state, it\u2019s going to be awesome,\u201d Waters said.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Hours after Jacksonville\u2019s 14th police involved shooting this year, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters appeared at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[445,1039,28,116,118,117,99,2916],"class_list":["post-375714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-byron-donalds","tag-duval-county","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-politics","tag-t-k-waters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}