Former Commissioner Donna Hayes:

BRADENTON — Former Manatee County Commissioner Donna Hayes unloaded on incumbent Carol Whitmore this week over statements the Democrat-turned-Republican made regarding past internal politics in the Republican Party of Manatee County.

Former Manatee Commissioner Donna Hayes

Hayes, who retired as BOCC District 5 Commissioner in 2012, is a lifelong, dyed-in-the-wool Republican, who boasts 25 years on the county's Republican Executive Committee, including 10 as chair, along with what she says is a 100-percent perfect record voting for Republicans.

Hayes, who's been spending most of her time in Volusia County helping her son run for County Council, was incensed by repeated comments she saw Whitmore make on video from a recent Tiger Bay forum, and again at a county commission meeting, regarding former Manatee County Commissioner Pat Glass getting thrown off of the REC.

Whitmore's statement revolved around fellow Republican County Commissioner Robin DiSabatino, who she and Commissioner Betsy Benac derided at a recent REC meeting for having been photographed with Whitmore's Democratic opponent Terri Wonder at an animal rights event. The photo was later used by the group – which had endorsed both DiSabatino (who was in an open primary at the time) and Wonder, based on their support of animal rights issues.

County Commissioner Robin DiSabatino

Whitmore and Benac claimed that the photo constituted supporting a Democrat in a race against a Republican, saying it violated the REC loyalty oath. Benac reportedly urged the REC to vote on booting DiSabatino from her position on the committee. DiSabatino explained that she hadn't endorsed or otherwise supported Wonder and didn't know that the photo would be used in a pamphlet, though she didn't see why it would rankle Republicans.

“I was in an open race,” DiSabatino told TBT at the time. “Democrats in my district helped me win. I wasn't in a position to turn down their support, nor would I have. I represent all of the citizens in my district regardless of what party they're affiliated with. How is that 'supporting a Democratic candidate'? This is petty and ridiculous.”

The committee voted not to take action, but DiSabatino resigned from the REC in protest shortly after. When multiple Tiger Bay Club members called Whitmore out on the issue at the forum, while pointing out that she and Benac had both supported Democrat Gwen Brown in 2012 – before the deadline for a Republican to file – and that Glass had also been a longtime Brown supporter, Whitmore gave the crowd a history lesson.

“First of all, guess what?” said Whitmore. “Pat Glass got kicked off the REC years ago because she nominated Gwen Brown to be chair of the board of county commissioners. So it has happened … but you know what, times have changed and I think when it comes to that sort of stuff we are a little bit better, because I think we voted Michael Gallen for vice chair and we didn't get the wrath of our committees then.”

County Commissioner Carol Whitmore

Hayes, who was chair of the REC when the Gwen Brown issue took place, wanted the record set straight.

“I've heard her make that statement twice now, both times on television, and I can tell you flat out that she's lying,” said Hayes, when she called me from Volusia by phone Friday afternoon. “That in itself is nothing new, because Carol's always been comfortable telling a lie; it's second nature to her.”

Hayes said that Glass couldn't have been thrown off of the REC back then, because she wasn't on it.

“Pat Glass was a sitting Republican office holder,” explained Hayes, “but she wasn't a member of the REC back then. She didn't come on until years later. At the time, the REC was disappointed with the commission, which was 6-1 Republican, because they had been deliberately avoiding voting Republican Commissioner Joe McClash as chair. So we thought that was bad enough, but to go so far as to nominate a member of the other party, that was something we didn't approve of. So we sent the Republican board members letters of admonishment, which basically explained our disapproval of that action as Republicans. No one was thrown off of anything.”

Hayes said she's not surprised by Whitmore's mistake.

“She wouldn't have known, because that's back when she was a Democrat. She didn't understand Republican politics at the time, though in my opinion, she doesn't understand them any better today. She's what we call a RINO – Republican in name only. There are a lot of Republicans around here who jumped over when they thought it was the smart thing to do, but that doesn't make them conservatives.”

Hayes said Whitmore's voting record tells the real story.  

“If Carol Whitmore was a conservative, she wouldn't have voted to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars having that half-sent sales tax election in the middle of the summer when they could have done it for free,” said Hayes, who said she made phone calls lobbying against the proposed referendum.

Hayes said she had no feelings one way or the other regarding Whitmore's current race against Democrat Terri Wonder.

“I've never met (Wonder), and I don't know anything about her other than what I've seen in the papers,” said Hayes, noting that she's spent very little time in Manatee County since February, when she began spending most of her days in her RV in Volusia working on her son's campaign. “I don't dislike Carol either. We just don't see eye to eye politically because I'm a Republican, a real one. The way I see it, it's almost like there's two Democrats in that race.”