Candidate: STEPHANIE ELLER

Stephanie Eller has lived in Lee County since 1975. She has been married to husband Terry for 38 years and they have one son. Terry is a Sergeant with the Lee County Sheriff's Office. She is the child of a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and spent her childhood traveling throughout the country and overseas. Stephanie is a graduate of Bishop Verot High School and the former Edison Community College, now Florida Southwestern, where she completed programs in Education and Criminal Justice. She obtained her BSM and MS in Management at the former International College, now Hodges University. She worked for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office from 2000-2015 and took an early retirement due to the resign to run law requiring her to leave her position to run for office. During her 15 years there, Stephanie held the positions of Records Clerk, Patrol Deputy, District Detective, Youth Services Detective, School Resource Officer Sergeant, Public Information Officer, and Patrol Sergeant. Prior to her career in law enforcement, Stephanie held various positions in the banking industry starting as a clerk and working her way up to branch manager. She left banking to be the office manager of a water well drilling business owned by her husband and his business partner. After selling the business she managed a camp and retreat center. She has served on the boards of SW Florida Crime Stoppers, Lee Republican Women’s Club and the North Fort Myers Civic Association. Stephanie also teaches self-defense awareness classes (SAFE classes) to women and believes this and other proactive crime reduction programs are essential to maintaining safe communities. Due to the resign to run law Stephanie left the sheriff’s office on August 3, 2015. She is now available to meet with and listen to the needs and concerns of the citizens as her campaign unfolds.