The Manatee County Commission District 3 Republican primary will feature Talha "Tal" Siddique and April Culbreath. The winner will face Democrat Diana Shoemaker in November.
In September of last year, Siddique announced that he would challenge Manatee County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge in the 2024 Republican Primary for the District 3 seat. However, Van Ostenbridge has since jumped to the District 7 countywide race. Immediately following Van Ostenbridge’s move, Culbreath changed from District 7 to District 3.
Siddique is experienced, intelligent, educated, and steeped in traditional conservative values. Culbreath is a former law enforcement officer whose performance record raises questions as to how she was ever able to remain employed for so long by the Manatee Sheriff’s Office, given a prolific record of infractions for conduct that was completely unbefitting a sheriff’s deputy. You can read more about that here.
We do not believe she is fit to hold this or any other public office. What’s more, she has shown complete allegiance to Van Ostenbridge and the developer-sponsored majority currently running our county. There is no reason to believe that she would do anything other than add ink to the developer rubber stamp that has been this county commission.
Siddique has a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Sciences with a minor in Computer Science from George Washington University. He has served in roles within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the U.S. Air Force. He is a proven patriot by way of his record rather than his rhetoric.
Siddique’s campaign has been one of citizen empowerment. If elected, he has vowed to return government to the people and be a genuine representative of his constituents. This would stand in stark contrast to every commissioner on the current board, except George Kruse, whom we also endorsed.
If you want responsive elected officials who are unafraid of standing up to special interests, The Bradenton Times strongly recommends you vote for Tal Siddique in this race.
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Dianna
Clearly Tal values public comment especially since he has been showing up and speaking at commissioner meetings long before he was running for District 3. He has shown more public engagement than both Jonnson or Van Ostenbridge put together. As a District 3 resident that regularly watches meetings and attended the T2T “Van Ostenbridge homeless camp fiasco” I recognized him walking into the meeting and told him how much we appreciated him taking his personal time to go and give public comment. Culbreath has zero interest in what residents in District 3 think- she can’t even come up with one legitimate item for her many fliers. I hope that voters take the time to listen to the podcast, District 3 needs real representation, so this is a no-brainer, vote Tal Siddique.
Saturday, July 20 Report this
CathySlusser
While I do not agree with all of Tal's politics on a national level, I believe he is the right choice in this primary. I am most impressed with his willingness to kindly listen to disagreement and acknowledge that we can differ in opinions but work together for the betterment of our community.
Sunday, July 21 Report this