A former employee who claims she had a two-year-long affair with Lee County Elections Supervisor Tommy Doyle calls him a pathological liar.

The woman, identifying herself only as Rose, spoke in an online interview with Cathi Chamberlain, based in Pinellas County. Chamberlain has a website called WARN, standing for: We Are Real News.

Chamberlain talked with Rose before Doyle faced a primary opponent in August, 2024. Doyle won the Republican primary and then was re-elected in November. Doyle recently announced he is resigning from office in January of 2026 because of unspecified health concerns.

"Lying for so long does not make it right," Rose said of Doyle. "I was the victim. Once you cheat, you're always going to be a cheater. These people never change."

Supervisor Doyle reiterates that the personal matter that occurred several years ago has not affected and does not affect the office's ability to conduct secure and accurate elections. His office also emphasized that the woman left her job in 2020, not because of a sexual harassment settlement, but because of an ongoing medical issue and inability to return to the job. She agreed to take a severance package of 20 weeks of pay.

Rose said she moved to Lee County to take a job in the supervisor's office not long after Doyle was first elected in 2016.

She said Doyle began paying attention to her and checking on her often in the office. "It becomes such a pressure and harassment ... the leaving chocolates on the table, the notes on the table," she said. "It's a process. It's just unbelievable."

The affair began in 2017 and lasted until 2019, according to Rose. She said she became distracted and distant from co-workers at the office, and sometimes lost her temper, because of what was going on with Doyle at her home. "I would have outbursts. Who wouldn't?," she said.

At one point in 2018 she was presented with a Performance Improvement Program form. She described that as basically a guide to improve an employee's work. She said it was suggested that she address issues of distraction and outbursts while interacting with co-workers.

Rose also revealed that she was suspended from work for one week without pay because she had complimented a male co-worker on a successful work project. She admitted she patted him on the rear end in a moment of exuberance. She likened it to baseball players patting a teammate who gets a big hit or makes a great play.

She said in the interview that Doyle went to Human Resources right before the suspension and questioned the action.

Rose said her information is that HR asked Doyle what was going on, why was he trying to protect Rose? She said at that point Doyle backed off and signed the suspension paperwork.

Rose said Doyle came to her house during the suspension and gave her cash to make up for lost wages.

Rose said her time at the elections office ended on November 13, 2019, when she had a previously scheduled surgery for an undisclosed health situation. She said there were serious complications after surgery, and she could not work again. She did file a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing Doyle of harassment.

"He was abusing his power and it upset me greatly, emotionally," Rose said.

She claimed that a month later, Doyle called her while she was recuperating and pleaded with her to drop the complaint.

She agreed to do so, and in the interview, blamed her poor health and lack of a clear mind for not refusing his plea.

On January 31, 2020, Rose withdrew the EEOC complaint. She signed a statement saying the affair was consensual and blaming hurt feelings for filing the action in the first place.

"I realize I am not entitled to legal redress for hurt feelings," the document stated. The next day she signed the severance agreement with the elections office, giving her $32,100 over a 20-week period.

Rose said Doyle came to her home at one point after the severance was signed, and gave her $2,000 in cash. She said she needed that to continue her health insurance. It was not clear from the interview whether she asked Doyle for that money, or if he just offered it on his own.

Doyle apologized to Lee County citizens for the affair, and the elections office is standing by its statement from some time ago, after the woman withdrew her federal complaint and took the severance.

Here is the statement from the office:

“There was no misappropriation of taxpayer dollars. The payroll funds were issued to an employee who had been unable to work for the SOE (Supervisor of Elections) Office for a significant period of time due to a medical issue and who had not been medically cleared to return to work when her FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) leave expired. When the FMLA expired the employee chose the option of receiving the severance pay rather than remaining on unpaid administrative leave potentially indefinitely. In the related separation agreement, the former employee specifically confirmed that she was receiving the severance funds in lieu of being placed on unpaid administrative leave.

"This was not a settlement of a sexual harassment complaint. The individual who filed the sexual harassment complaint retracted the sexual harassment allegations in a written document she filed with a federal agency, the EEOC. In that written retraction, she admitted that the allegations she had made in her complaint were erroneous, that there was no unlawful conduct, that she was not entitled to any form of legal redress, and that she had no evidence that anyone at SOE took any adverse employment action against her.”

Rose said she saw Doyle at least once after she left her job. She said Doyle invited her to his home in June or July of 2020, because, she quoted him as saying, he wanted to hang out with her. Rose said she went to his home and Doyle said his wife was out of town, making arrangements for their daughter's wedding.

Rose said she has since moved out of Lee County, but would not say where. She said she agreed to the interview with Chamberlain last August, because she had found out that Doyle was facing an opponent in the Republican primary election.

"He is a pathological liar, not only to his wife and family, but to the citizens," she said of Doyle. "So deceiving. I am not afraid anymore. I will speak out."

Chamberlain asked Rose why there wasn't a big public outcry against Doyle.

"Everybody sees the good guy, the friendly guy," Rose said.

Mike Walcher is a reporter with WGCU News. He also teaches Journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University.