A Florida workforce CEO collected $225,000 a year in taxpayer money for 20 years and couldn't answer one question: what does "woke" mean?
DeSantis' people were watching – and they had a very different answer.
And one woke CEO just found out what accountability looks like when the governor has the authority to remove commissioners who refuse to act.
The Woke Fundraiser That Ended a 20-Year Career
CareerSource Polk exists to connect job-seekers with employers – funded largely by federal tax dollars.
Campbell-Domineck used that platform to host an awards event where, according to a letter from DeSantis appointees, "many of the awards were based on diversity, equity, and inclusion principles."
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FloridaCommerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly – who served as DeSantis' deputy chief of staff before the governor put him in that seat – and CareerSource Florida CEO Adrienne Johnston sent a letter to Polk County commissioners demanding her termination.
"Florida is a free state for free people who are not beholden to woke ideologies that incentivize a race to the bottom by favoring one group over another," the letter stated.
The commission voted 3–2 to fire her with cause on October 6 and dissolved the entire CareerSource Polk board the same day.
The Performance Numbers Tell the Real Story
The woke fundraiser wasn't the only problem.
CareerSource Polk's statewide performance score collapsed from 95% in 2022 to 78% – a C+ – by 2025.
The agency violated a performance improvement plan, ended contracts with CDL training providers without notice, and barred children from its facilities.
Commissioner Becky Troutman put it plainly: "There is no question as to the facts. We are not performing at CareerSource Polk."
While all of this was happening, Campbell-Domineck was pulling $225,217 a year in salary plus $10,000 in bonuses – and her board gave her a positive annual evaluation with a raise.
That evaluation, Troutman noted, left out the one thing that mattered: the jobs for the people of Polk County.
A third-party investigation confirmed some allegations were legitimate and found evidence requiring "immediate corrective action and enhanced oversight" – but declined to recommend any specific personnel changes.
The commission made that call themselves.
This Is What the New Florida Law Was Built For
In April 2026, DeSantis signed SB 1134 – legislation prohibiting Florida counties and municipalities from funding, promoting, or implementing DEI initiatives.
Local officials who violate it can be removed from office.
Residents can sue local governments that break the rules.
The letter from Kelly and Johnston made the stakes plain – DeSantis could remove commissioners from office if they refused to act on Campbell-Domineck.
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Commissioner Bill Braswell, who voted against the firing, admitted the obvious: "The state of Florida has determined that they don't have confidence in CareerSource Polk."
He voted against the termination but supported the board overhaul anyway – because as he put it, "there's going to be change whether we do it or whether we don't."
When the attorney asked Campbell-Domineck whether she understood the woke allegation against her, she responded, "I don't know what woke means."
Twenty years running a taxpayer-funded program – and she couldn't answer that question.
The Polk County Commission knew exactly what it meant.
DeSantis didn't just fire one CEO in Polk County.
Instead, he demonstrated that the DEI cleanup in Florida runs all the way down to county workforce programs funded by your federal tax dollars, and no tenure, no positive evaluations, and no attorney with 90 minutes of arguments can stop it.
The governor put his people in the right seats and gave them the authority to act.
And local DEI bureaucrats are now finding out that accountability has a new address in Tallahassee.
Sources:
- Valerie Smith, "CareerSource Polk CEO fired after DeSantis picks allege mismanagement and 'woke ideologies'," Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, October 8, 2026.
- Paul Nutcher, "Polk County commissioners fire CareerSource leader, dissolve its board," Lakeland Ledger, October 7, 2026.
- Governor Ron DeSantis, "Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Eliminate Local DEI Programs," flgov.com, April 22, 2026.
- Florida Legislature, SB 1134, Florida Statutes § 445.004 (CareerSource Florida statutory authority).
