Bitter battle for Broward County sheriff

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Voters will get to decide who the next Broward County sheriff will be today.

A pair of lawmen are fighting to be the Broward County sheriff. Incumbent Al Lamberti has had the job since 2007 and former North Bay Village Police chief Scott Israel wants the job.

Israel's support groups have tried to play up the sheriff's support group with criminals before anyone knew they were criminals, while Lamberti's supporters have tried to make Israel look like a crook because he was once investigated by Fort Lauderdale Police department's internal affairs. However, they did not mention that Israel was cleared.

When asked about the negative ads, each candidate blamed the other. "Some political guru told me when you can't talk about yourself, you trash the other guy," Lamberti said. "This election isn't about me, it's about the 6,000 men and women, like the folks here with me, that come to work every single day and serve the public. The election should be about what we've accomplished over the last five years."

Scott Israel said, "I'm a little bit disappointed with my opponent and the negative ads, the attack ads. We thought it was shameful for Republican Al Lamberti to allow a video to be posted by some actress saying that I dated this woman. It went to the depths of negative campaigning."

The sheriff is responsible for the future of about 6,300 employees in the sheriff's office as well as the county's fire rescue service and an annual budget of approximately $700 million per year.

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