Ron Reagan Files to Campaign for Larry Bustle's County Commission Seat

Posted Wednesday, October 7, 2015 12:00 am

Jackson Falconer

BRADENTON – Insurance agent and former state representative Ron Reagan has filed to run for the Manatee County Commission seat currently held by outgoing commissioner Larry Bustle. The filing was done one week after Reagan announced his candidacy for the seat.

Reagan was elected to represent District 67 (Manatee and part of Pinellas County) in the Florida House from 2002 to 2010, when his limit on terms came up. He was re-elected three times to serve the district, was Deputy Speaker from March 2009-2010, and was Majority Floor Leader and Whip from December 2008 to March 2009.

"It was a great experience," Reagan said, when asked how that time in the House affected his growth and understanding as a political representative. "I saw some of the best economic times in 2006 and 2007, and some of the worst (beginning in 2008)."

"Virtually all of the district I'm looking to represent in the county commission was in my legislative district," said Reagan. "I do believe that all of the connections I made in Tallahassee"–such as ones he says he made in the Legislature, in the Department of Transportation and elsewhere–would prove to be a great asset in terms of working with those connections if elected, he said.

A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Reagan moved to Florida before he was 20 years old and graduated from State College of Florida (then known as Manatee Community College) with an Associate's degree.

"I started coming down here to visit family, and decided to make it my home after falling in love with the area by spending summers and Christmas here," he said, adding that he saw Manatee County go from "the small quaint community that it was and then explode into what it is today." He says we want to continue that growth, carefully. "I want to make sure growth is properly planned," he said, and also wants to make improvements in transportation a priority.

After his last term in office expired, Reagan worked as Director of National Advocacy and Outreach for the National Coalition for Safer Roads, a nonprofit based in Texas. He says he no longer chairs the committee for that organization but is still affiliated with them.

A lawsuit against Reagan was filed in late September by Darrell Turner of Turner Tree & Landscape. The lawsuit alleges Reagan did not pay back a $20,000 business loan from Turner. "I believe that with time, that situation will work itself out," he said, not wanting to comment further due to the legal nature of the issue.

Also currently running for Bustle's seat are Corie Holmes, a private investigator and former Manatee Sheriff's Deputy, and Nathaniel Leonard, a U.S. army veteran currently employed as a counter-terrorism expert. All three candidates are Republicans.

Bustle, a two-term commissioner and former mayor of Palmetto, announced in late September that he would not seek re-election in 2016. The commissioner, who physically attended his first BOCC meeting since suffering a stroke in May, advised that he made the decision "after a summer of rest, rehabilitation, recovery and careful reflection."