The Manatee County Commission District 5 Republican primary will feature Republican Robert McCann and NPA candidate Joseph Di Bartolomeo.
Dr. McCann won an impressive grassroots victory over developer-backed incumbent Ray Turner in August’s Republican primary. Turner had been appointed to the seat when Vanessa Baugh retired and consistently voted in line with developer interests. Despite having far fewer resources at his disposal, McCann connected with D5 voters to easily win a pivotal race that helped ensure that Big Development would not have a majority of commissioners in its pocket on the next board.
McCann is a Navy veteran, a recently retired physician, and a lawyer with a Master’s in Business/Health Care Administration. In 2000, he was vetted as a candidate for U.S. Surgeon General. His education and broad diversity in professional experience make him one of the most qualified county commission candidates we have encountered.
McCann has loudly decried the outsized influence that developers currently enjoy and has pledged to restore local government to a body that truly represents the people in our community instead of a limited cabal of special interests. What’s more, he has a proven track record of someone with both the integrity and fortitude to deliver on such promises.
Joseph Di Bartolomeo is a qualified candidate, and we are grateful he decided to enter this crucial race. Di Bartolomeo filed to run for the seat precisely because he wanted to give D5 residents the option to vote for someone who would have the courage to push back against the special interests that have directed the current board.
Had Commissioner Turner prevailed over McCann in the Republican primary, we would be endorsing Mr. Di Bartolomeo. That said, in this race, we find Dr. McCann to be the stronger of two qualified candidates.
1 comment on this item
Only paid subscribers can comment
Please log in to comment by clicking here.
mklimek
Mr. McCann has accepted an endorsement from Ret. Gen Mike Flynn who is a member of the Sarasota Republican Executive Committee which is defunct as a result of corruption. He is also a supporter of Trump. For these reasons I feel that he is more vulnerable to MAGA influence. The greedy developers will keep at him until he folds. We cannot risk this. Joe Di Bartolomeo has my vote.
Yesterday at 11:37 AM Report this