ONECO — Manatee County Commissioner Amanda Ballard has filed to seek reelection to serve the county’s District 2 for a second term. This time, unlike in her first term, the candidate says she’ll run her own campaign with the help of family and friends and will forgo consultants or political strategists.
In a recent press release, the campaign highlighted the commissioner’s continued commitment to improving livability and public safety and to preserving the quality of life for all Manatee County residents, with an emphasis on the too-often underserved District 2.
A historically minority district, District 2 includes Oneco, portions of Memphis, and areas within the county’s urban core, including portions of Bradenton and Palmetto.
Elected in 2022, Ballard became the first Republican to represent the commission's District 2 since it was established approximately 30 years earlier. A 2021 county redistricting that may have positioned the historically minority district to be slightly more favorable to electing its first Republican commissioner also shifted Ballard’s residence from within the boundaries of District 4 to District 2.
Ballard readily secured the election, defeating the incumbent commissioner, Democrat Reggie Bellamy, with nearly 60% of the vote.
Prior to serving on the BOCC, Ballard worked as a child-welfare attorney for the Manatee County Department of Children Services, where she represented the State of Florida in cases involving the abandonment, abuse, and neglect of children.
When discussing her past legal work, Ballard often credits it with providing her with up-close insight into the challenges families and children in crisis sometimes face within the community, and the unmet needs for resources to help them get or stay on track.
Ballard was born in South Carolina and graduated from the South Carolina School of Law in 2014, before moving to Manatee County. She is a wife and mother of three young children.
Following her election in 2022, Ballard’s first two years in office coincided with a shift in public scrutiny, not only of their elected officials, but also of the county government’s leadership.
By late 2023, the BOCC had passed multiple controversial policy decisions—often 6-1—with Ballard siding with the majority.
Further adding to the public’s growing distrust of their local government at that time was a growing concern that Tampa-based political strategist Anthony Pedicini—the campaign consultant who spearheaded each of the seven serving BOCC members in 2023—may have been playing an advisory role outside of campaigns and on behalf of politically powerful or wealthy special interests.
Though Ballard's first two years were not without some public criticism for her political alliances and her alignment on certain votes from the dais—such as against raising impact fees, or in support of rolling back local wetland protections—her forward-facing groundwork on addressing tough, wide-reaching community needs such as addiction recovery resources, homelessness assistance, and expanding community assets for District 2 had also gained her notable favorability, particularly among her constituents.
In her campaign’s press release, Ballard highlighted numerous projects that have reached completion since she took office, and others that she played a more significant role in, not only seeing come to fruition, but getting off the ground to begin with.
From the completion of generational projects like the John Marble Recreation Center and re-opening of the renewed Bradenton Area Convention Center, to the ribbon-cutting of the Under One Roof women’s shelter and her vision for saving the historic Mixon Fruit Farms from development by reimaging it as a multi-faceted public asset.
Ballard has also championed lower-cost community projects, including the Bookmobile program and the establishment of community gardens, such as the one in District 2’s Elwood Park, with additional community gardens planned elsewhere in the future.
“Over my term as Commissioner, we’ve made great strides in a District that has often felt forgotten and left behind,” Ballard shared through her campaign. “Now, District 2 is in the center of the conversation, for the right reasons.“
Following the 2024 election, Ballard also championed public safety, health, and community space initiatives and, after the 2024 election, led board action to re-establish call-in public comments for commission meetings and cast a supportive vote to reverse the prior board action that reduced local wetland protections.
In early 2025, Ballard joined the TBT podcast to discuss the initiatives she was most focused on for the second half of her first term, including her work on leveraging settlement funds from opioid litigation to address the addiction and homelessness issues created by pharmaceutical abuse, and to share a little about the learning curve of a commissioner, and why she felt changing her position on certain early policy decisions was the right thing for the county and in the public’s best interest.
According to the campaign press release, Ballard is committing to run her own campaign this time around: “No consultants, just my family, friends, and a community that supports the work I’m doing.”
Ballard’s campaign filing records assign her husband, David Ballard, as her campaign treasurer.
“District 2 is the heart of Manatee County,” Ballard said. “It’s where public safety, infrastructure, economic development, and quality of life for hardworking families all intersect. Decisions made for this district demand leadership that understands how all these moving parts work together. I bring continuity, creativity, and collegiality to a Board that could use more of all three.”
Shavonda Sharre Griffin, a non-party affiliate candidate (NPA), is the only other candidate to file so far in the BOCC District 2 race. Griffin quietly submitted paperwork in January 2025, and the Supervisor of Elections website includes a candidate bio and a total of $25.00 in reported campaign contributions.
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Dianna
If district 2 does their homework will they be able to get over her first 2+ years of voting for developers interest, not to mention the votes to give Satcher and others taxpayer dollars to waste, and the list goes on........
Wednesday, January 7 Report this
Debann
DIDN'T VOTE FOR her the 1st time AND 100% WILL NOT VOTE FOR HER THIS TIME....SHE really hasn't done alot for the people of district 2...
Wednesday, January 7 Report this
Debann
HOPEFULLY These commissioners will be one term only
Wednesday, January 7 Report this