Candidate Profile: George Kruse

George Kruse is running in the Manatee County Commission District 7 Republican primary, where Republican voters countywide will select the replacement for Commissioner Betsy Benac, who will vacate the seat. Because of the write-in candidate loophole it will not be an open election, even though there are no other candidates on the November ballot.

Kruse had filed to run for the Republican nomination for the Manatee County Commission's District 1 seat held byPriscilla Trace, but jumped races when Benac announced she'd be dropping out. Kruse will face former Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker, who left the district 5 race to run in 6 when Benac made the announcement.

Kruse has spent his career in commercial real estate finance.He graduated from Sarasota's Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in 1993. Kruse has degrees in both Management and Finance from the University of Florida and subsequently received his MBA in real estate finance from Columbia Business School.

"Manatee County is growing, whether we want it to or not," said Kruse in a release announcing his candidacy. "How we manage that growth is the responsibility of our county commission. We need a board that focuses on the key issues facing residents like reducing traffic, keeping taxes low, protecting our beaches, waterways, and environment, and growing smarter."

Kruse began his career working on an affordable housing equity fund at Raymond James, which he says spawned a passion for both finance and studying ways to generate attainable housing for communities. Kruse's experience in this realm led to positions on the City of Bradenton's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and the Chamber of Commerce's Attainable Housing Task Force.

"We can keep our taxes low and restructure our county budget so that we have the financial means to tackle problems like aging infrastructure, traffic congestion, and workforce housing. Focusing on these issues today is critical," said Kruse. "Putting in place long-term plans now, will make Manatee’s predicted growth more sustainable and help retain our community’s small-town feel."

Kruse had raised a respectable $44,000 as of the last reporting deadline, though that is just over a third as much money as Hunzeker has put in his campaign war chest so far. Kruse's support comes from a wide array of interests, some of which are development-related–not a surprise given his professional background. However, it has been Hunzeker who developers have favored in this race, having given the former administrator, who was known to be very build-friendly, the bulk of his support.

Clickhereto watch Tiger Bay's candidate forum featuring the two candidates.