BRADENTON, Fla. — Manatee County voters who came out for Tuesday’s primary voted against local developer-backed candidates in several closely watched races.
Less than a quarter of the almost 275,000 registered voters in Manatee County cast a ballot.
In one of the night’s heated contests, Scott Farrington ousted Supervisor of Elections James Satcher.
“It’s incredibly humbling to know that people have trust in me, and I’m humbled, I’m humbled,” Farrington said Tuesday night.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Satcher to fill the seat after the retirement of longtime supervisor Michael Bennett, despite lacking any experience. Bennett had recommended Farrington in his resignation to DeSantis.
Farrington has more than two decades of experience, including most recently as Bennett’s deputy and chief of staff.
“The staff there is amazing. They’re still there. So, it’s kinda like a family and like I have taken a long trip and come back and see my family,” Farrington said about returning to run the office.
Farrington won with about 59% of ballots cast or 24,300 votes.
Satcher’s appointment was a breaking point for many voters who cast their ballots against the establishment.
Bradenton resident Joe Grissett Jr. is a retired teacher who still works teaching kindergartners and first graders to read in an after-school program. He was among the slow trickle of voters who cast their ballots at the precinct at GT Bray.
“Well, to be honest with you very bluntly, anyone that DeSantis appoints, I have a question about because I know his agenda, and I am not included in it,” Grissett said.
Ron Blunden was also voting at GT Bray.
“I thought we needed a little bit of change, so I voted a little bit of change in there,” Blunden said.
Those who came out to vote Tuesday shared how they felt it was their sense of civic duty to do so.
“I think they should do as I do, vote every election. And make sure you vote in the general election; a lot of people skip that election. People just need to vote. Instead of complaining, vote,” Grissett said.
“If we are going to sit back and complain, then we better have something to complain about,” Blunden said. “If we voted, we did our part, and we’ll go from there. If we don’t vote, then don’t think we can complain as much.”
In the races for county commission, Commissioner George Kruse and commission candidate Tal Siddique will each take on their democratic opponent in November.
Kruse ousted fellow commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge in the race for his county-wide seat, taking about 58% of ballots cast, or 24,195 votes. On Tuesday night, Kruse and Siddique shared a watch party-turned-celebration at Central Café in Bradenton with Farrington.
“We came into this from day one and said, ‘We’re not going to hire Pedicini, we’re not going to take the developer’s money, we’re not going to run negative, we’re going to run campaigns that should be run at the local level,” Kruse told the crowd gathered.
Software engineer and newcomer Siddique beat out Republican opponent April Culbreath, a longtime Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy with a history of misconduct. Siddique took about 61% of the ballots cast, or 6,061 votes.
“Our opponents spend millions of dollars running the most negative campaign you can imagine, but thanks to you and perseverance and prayer, we overcame all of it,” Siddique told the crowd.
At the polls earlier in the day, lifelong Bradenton resident Deverell Hughes shared why he voted for Siddique.
“I read some of his materials. He is not someone I might have voted for in the past, but he is a fresh face,” Hughes said. “I like the spirit of the campaign he was trying to run.”
Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone obtained the most recent batch of Florida teacher exit interviews which detail, in their own words, why teachers left the classroom this summer.
