BRADENTON, Fla. – Voters in the Manatee County primary election sent a clear message. Almost all candidates considered “pro-development” lost their election, including several incumbents on the county commission.
“Voters have started paying attention to what’s going on in Manatee County,” said Scott Farrington, the new Republican candidate for elections supervisor. “They’ve started getting informed. They’ve started doing research.”
Farrington said that meant voters were turning away from candidates who were supposedly “for” more development or who received money from developers. He defeated current Supervisor of Elections James Satcher, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April.
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“I think in Manatee County, developers no longer have the influence they once had,” Farrington said.
In fact, seven of the eight candidates described by a political action committee as “pro-development” lost the election. The only candidate of the eight who won, Bill Conerly, said he is listening to voters as he campaigns for the state House seat.
“I wouldn’t call it a warning, but a clear sign of the need for representation in this district,” he said.
The Manatee County election also comes amid a national picture of DeSantis seeing 11 of his 23 selected candidates lose their elections outright. The question is, is his influence waning?
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“I don’t think so,” Conerly said. “If there is a group that is perhaps more likely to vote in a certain direction and they are forced to speak out, then you will get those results.”
The election also brought criticism of outside consultants, including the Tampa-based organization SIMWINS, which saw most of its candidates lose.
“You can’t stand at the craps table forever without rolling a seven,” said Anthony Pedicini, the company’s president. “We’ve had a good run in Manatee. Voters want to stop all construction and I think they’ll be surprised if that doesn’t happen. But like any election, you trust the voters.”
Farrington agrees.
“I think this is going to change the way elections are run in Manatee County and the way campaigns are run,” Farrington said. “They’ve been very nasty lately.”
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