Image by Hannah Edgman from Pixabay

 

My thoughts on the candidates for the Sarasota County School Board, County Commission, Committeeman/woman, Charter Review, Hospital Board and State House

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

 

I repeatedly get asked which political candidates I am endorsing or supporting. I have met and interviewed several of them, but not all due to time constraints. I try to avoid endorsing candidates in the General elections, when Democrats, Republicans, and/or independents are challenging each other. Most individuals know my party affiliation is Republican and can go from there. 😊 However, I do put out endorsements for candidates within my political party, going into the primary on August 20th.

The candidates I am supporting have the skills and abilities to perform well in their respective roles. As a resident of Sarasota County, I believe that it is essential to elect leaders who are committed to improving our community, they must demonstrate their commitment to public service by volunteering for several causes, and I will work tirelessly to make our community a better place. Below are the candidates from the different races and my thoughts regarding them.

 

Republican Party Primaries, open to registered Republicans

    • State House, District 74 – Michelle Pozzie. Michelle impressed me enough during out interview, which you can view at https://thesuncoastnews.com/2024/07/interview-with-michelle-pozzie-candidate-for-state-house-seat-74/ .  Like many of you, I received the flyer claiming that Michelle is a Democrat in disguise. She is definitely right of her opponent, which is why Michelle received the endorsement of the America First caucus out of Venice. James Buchanan rarely shows up to events or interviews, so we can only look at his voting record and how his father’s influence helped him win this seat. My support is with Michelle Pozzie, but she has a huge hill to climb, to overcome the developer money that is behind James.
    • State Committeeman – Joe Neunder. We have worked together on some other issues, and he is the most qualified for this position, versus his opponent.
    • State Committeewoman – Conni Burnni. Connie certainly did not help me with my election runs and may have worked against me, but she did contact me after the race when she found out that I was correct about money being funneled by the party into PAC’s pushing Nick over me, in my race. Something that is not supposed to be happening in our party. She is more qualified than Rachel Frank. Rachel was placed onto the Venice City Council to appease Jack Brill. She ran unopposed for her current seat on the council and Rachel has never really been challenged. She has a bright future, but Conni is more qualified at this point in time.  I did interview Conni, which you can watch at https://www.facebook.com/TheSuncoastNews/videos/451143667719967 , It is muffled for a few seconds when I talk, but clear when she talks.
    • County commissioners
      • Tom Knight. I have known Tom for a few years, and I believe he will be a better fit for the community than Neil Rainford. I base this upon Tom’s proven record as the sheriff of Sarasota County, my research, and my interview with Tom. Neil Rainford will only talk about his stance on national issues and his votes while temporarily serving on the county commission. Neil has shown that he cares more about his financial backers and over development of the county, than the issues impacting the average residents of Sarasota County. I did interview Tom and you can see it at https://thesuncoastnews.com/2024/06/interview-with-tom-knight-who-is-running-for-sarasota-county-commission-representing-venice-and-north-port/.
      • Alexander Coe – I met Alexander a few years ago and I have followed her position on several issues throughout the years. I believe she will serve the community interest better than her opponent Teresa Mast (both are Republican’s). Like Rainford, Teresa appears to have the developers pushing her big time via the PAC’s.

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      • Tax collector

      I have never been a fan of Mike Moran. If a candidate in my party is not worthy of an office, I will not endorse them because they are the candidate representing the Republican party, in a particular race. His decision on the County Commission favored the developers, lining the pockets of the influential and abusing the power we the people give our political figures to fight for our interest, not their self-interest. The whole PACE funding controversy surrounding Mike is very concerning. You can read some of these issues below:

    • Sarasota County Hospital Board
      • Central – Tanya Parus. I have known Tanya for a few years, and she has been an advocate for medical freedom. She has made it clear to me that she does not want to privatize Sarasota Memorial.
      • Seat 1 – Undecided. Not enough information at this time for me to put my support behind either candidate. I will research more prior to elections.
      • Seat 2 – Undecided. Not enough information at this time for me to put my support behind either candidate. I will research more prior to elections.
      • Seat 3 – Undecided. Not enough information at this time for me to put my support behind either candidate. I will research more prior to elections.

County School Board – August 20th is their General Election

      • District 2 – I interviewed Karen Rose (Republican) and Liz Barker (Democrat). This will be a tight race. As I said above, I am not endorsing in the races involving a Republicans versus a Democrat. My hope is that the voters will research each candidate thoroughly and they can start by watching my interviews with Karen and Liz.
      • District 3 – Tom Edwards is a Democrat, and he is taking on Gregg Wood and Thomas Babicz, who are both Republicans. Within the Republican ticket, I am supporting Gregg Wood. He appears more balanced, he is a parent of three kids, and I believe he will be more effective than Thomas. I am basing this upon my communications with Gregg and some of the brief speeches that I have heard from Thomas. I just could not arrange a time that is acceptable with either Gregg or Thomas, so I could not interview them at the time of this posting.  This will be a difficult race for the Republican’s with a split ticket, which may lead to Tom Edwards retaining his seat on the board. The only chance the Republican’s have is if they come together behind one candidate. I did interview Tom and did not find him to be the boogey man that I thought he would be. He seems like an intelligent induvial with some innovative ideas.

      • Charter Review Board

    • District 1 – Undecided. Not enough information at this time for me to put my support behind either candidate. I will research more prior to elections.
    • District 3 – Undecided. Not enough information at this time for me to put my support behind either candidate. I will research more prior to elections.
    • District 5 – Undecided. Not enough information at this time for me to put my support behind either candidate. I will research more prior to elections.

 

I strongly urge you to vote based upon your research, such as my video interviews, attending forums or reaching out to the candidates. Do not turn to the Republican or Democratic Party and ask who the R or D in the race is. I can attest to the fact that the Republican Party will push one Republican over another based upon the direction provided by Jack Brill, even though they are not supposed to and even though the other candidate may be better for the position. Trust me, Jack Brill and developer friends have done this to me in a couple races. Going so far to send out a text to all Republicans erroneously stating that I was a Democrat (like they did to Pozzie), hide my brochures under their candidates’ flyers in the Republican tent, and told people that Nick was the only Republican in our race. So, do your own homework and do not rely on the mailers, support staff at the tents, or misleading text that are sent out. 🙂

 

Either way you vote, get out and vote. You cannot sit at home and not cast your vote, then complain about politicians and how bad of a job they are doing.  😊