Elias Simmons

Simmons’ alliance with Brown has shaped nearly every part of his work life since the 1980s, when he was hired at a travel agency Brown owned. After earning a bachelor’s degree in agriculture at the University of Florida, Simmons worked at a Jacksonville business incubator called the One Stop Economic Development Center run by a minister close to Brown. Other ministers complained Brown used her influence to help the center receive federal block grant money from the city, and the federal government later ordered the city to repay $313,000. Simmons became a staffer during Corrine Brown’s tenure with the Florida House of Representatives, and followed her to Washington after she was elected to Congress in 1992. As chief of staff, he was paid about $161,000 last year, according to Congressional records.