BRADENTON — Political committees are directing money to two of Bradenton's City Council races this election cycle, using targeted text message campaigns to promote candidates, undermine others, and deliver different messages to different voter groups.
The Bradenton City Council races are nonpartisan, and the text campaigns are unfolding in the general election races for the City’s Wards 3 and 4.
In Ward 3, incumbent Kemp Schuessler faces challenger Thomas Schwarz. Schuessler was appointed to the seat in July 2025 after former Councilman Josh Cramer was named chief of the Bradenton Police Department.
In Ward 4, Keith Green is challenging incumbent Lisa Gonzalez Moore. Green relocated to Manatee County from Virginia in 2020, and in 2024 he filed for the Manatee County Commission District 7 at-large race. Green later withdrew to switch to the BOCC District 1 competition the same cycle, but ultimately did not qualify to appear on the ballot. Gonzalez Moore has resided in Ward 4 for over a decade and in Manatee County for more than 20 years.
The city’s Ward 2 is also on the ballot this cycle, but incumbent Marianne Barnebey faces no opposition.
PACs have become active in the two contested races in recent weeks, sending electioneering text messages to Bradenton voters.
The messages come from two PACs: the Christian Family Coalition Manatee PAC and Floridians for Public Safety PC.
Both have promoted candidates Schuessler and Green in their respective city races, but the Christian Family Coalition Manatee PAC has taken an additional approach in the Ward 4 race—targeting Democrat, NPA, or Independent voters in the city with a message designed to portray Gonzalez Moore as a “MAGA” candidate.
The money behind the messages points to a network of political committees, newly formed companies, lobbyists, developers, and familiar players in Manatee County politics.
Targeting Bradenton voters
The first CFC message targeting the city targeted registered Republican voters and promoted Green for election to the Bradenton City Council.
The message said the Christian Family Coalition had rated Green “Highly Qualified” and featured a photograph of Green with U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. Donalds is also the Republican nominee in Florida’s gubernatorial election
A subsequent text from the group promoted what it called its “candidate report card,” essentially a list of candidates the organization endorsed or rated. The group also sent that message to registered Republican voters.
But then the strategy changed.
A text message sent by CFC on Friday, targeting the Ward 4 race, was sent specifically to voters in the City of Bradenton registered as Democrats or No-Party Affiliates (NPA).
“LISA GONZALEZ MOORE must be MAGA to her CORE!” the message declared.
The text referenced a series of controversial actions and proposals associated with the Trump administration, including January 6 and ICE raids, before declaring that “Conservatives know that we can count on Donald Trump and Lisa Gonzalez Moore through thick and thin!”
It then branded Gonzalez Moore as a CFC PAC “highly qualified” candidate.
The message was accompanied by a fake AI-generated image of Gonzalez Moore wearing a red ball cap with the words “Make Bradenton Great Again.”
The apparent objective was not to encourage Democratic or NPA voters to support Gonzalez Moore, but to discourage them from doing so by emphasizing her alleged MAGA credentials.
The irony is that the same "Christian" PAC has financially supported Gonzalez Moore's opponent, including a maximum $1,000 contribution to Green’s campaign, and has sent multiple texts to Republican voters declaring him the PAC’s “qualified candidate.”
The PAC behind the messages
As TBT previously reported, the Christian Family Coalition Manatee PAC is itself relatively new.
Florida Division of Elections records show that the committee was established June 11, 2026. Agatha Mantanes is listed as its chair, treasurer, and registered agent, and the PAC's address is Mantanes' own West Bradenton home.
The committee's first and only reported contributions came on July 8: $50 in cash and a $47,000 check from the Christian Family Coalition Florida Inc., a statewide not-for-profit corporation based in Miami. The money was put to use almost immediately.
A day later, on July 9, Mantanes' PAC reported paying $34,000 to Wornroots Collective LLC for text messaging services. Wornroots LLC was also newly established, incorporated by Raven Hayes on June 18, just seven days after Mantanes' PAC was formed.
Hayes’ website, Worn & Rooted, describes the Bradenton-based business as a maker of handmade jewelry from vintage silverware and “earth-grown remedies.” The website does not advertise political consulting, campaign advertising, or text-messaging services.
Nevertheless, committee-finance records show the company received a lump-sum $34,000 payment from Mantanes' PAC for “text messaging.”
A familiar political strategy
Although the CFC PAC's involvement in the Bradenton City races is new, the committee and Mantanes were active in other Manatee County campaigns earlier this year.
As TBT reported in August, the Christian Family Coalition Manatee PAC participated in a broader campaign targeting Republican District 1 candidate Liz Arnold in the weeks leading up to the 2026 Republican primary.
That campaign involved PAC-funded text messages raising animal-welfare allegations concerning Arnold and her husband. Records later showed those allegations originated with a complaint Mantanes filed with the county’s Animal Welfare Division on Aug. 3 against Arnold and her husband.
Those revelations placed Mantanes at both ends of the messaging scheme: she filed the complaint that generated the underlying animal-welfare matter while also serving as chair and treasurer of a PAC that disseminated mass text messages promoting candidates in the same District 1 race.
Alleged proof of the Arnolds’ wrongdoing also appeared on a website called “Parrish Paws,” presented as an animal-advocacy organization—but the organization didn’t actually exist. The website was created the same day Mantanes phoned in the complaint to the county, and the fake website included identical allegations to the county’s records of Mantanes’ complaint.
More PAC messages
The Floridians for Public Safety PC has also participated in text messaging City of Bradenton voters about the upcoming races. The PAC, registered, chaired, and managed by lobbyist David Ramba, has sent at least two mass text messages promoting City Council candidates Schuessler for Ward 3 and Green for Ward 4.
Like the CFC PAC, however, the financial records behind Floridians for Public Safety raise questions about the sources and movement of the money being used for the electioneering.
According to committee-finance filings, Ramba’s Floridians for Public Safety PC received two contributions in July 2026 totaling $50,000. The first was $40,000 from Strong Communities of Southwest Florida PC on July 20, and the second was another $10,000 from Strong Communities on July 31.
Floridians for Public Safety reported $80,150 in expenditures during 2026. Of that amount, $75,000 was paid to Pickle Barrel Media for mailers and consulting services.
The payments appear to have been structured as three $25,000 expenditures, each broken into smaller payments of $10,000 or less despite being reported on matching dates.
A database-wide search of Florida Division of Elections records found no other PAC or campaign reporting expenditures to Pickle Barrel Media.
A separate search of Manatee County Supervisor of Elections records found one other local political expenditure to Pickle Barrel Media: Manatee County School Board District 2 candidate Margi Nanney reported paying the company $3,000 for “digital media” on Aug. 13, 2026.
Nanney was also endorsed by the Manatee Christian Family Coalition.
Florida corporate records show Pickle Barrel Media LLC was incorporated in August 2025. The company is registered to a residential address, with Jackson P. Boyce of Tampa listed as registered agent and manager.
Following the money through Strong Communities
The $50,000 Floridians for Public Safety received in July came from another Ramba-controlled political committee: Strong Communities of Southwest Florida PC.
Since its formation in August 2013, the PAC has reported more than $1.8 million in contributions. It has reported receiving $624,400 in contributions during 2026 alone.
Among its notable 2026 contributors are several local development and land-holding interests, including $10,000 from Schroeder Manatee Ranch Inc., $10,000 from NDC Construction, $10,000 from ZNS Engineering, a combined $5,000 from entities associated with Mark Vengroff's One Stop Housing, $16,000 from Blue Sky Communities, $100,000 from Benderson Development and $25,000 from Pat Neal of Neal Communities.
Another $10,000 contribution came from Rye Associates LLC.
Michael Neal and Richard Bedford, names familiar in local development and political circles, are listed as title managers of Rye Associates.
Michael Neal is the son of developer Pat Neal, and Bedford is an architect and real estate and land-use consultant who previously served on both the City of Bradenton Planning Commission and the Manatee County Planning Commission. Bedford is also the father-in-law of political operative Jennings Lawton DePriest.
Ramba’s Strong Communities PAC has reported 23 expenditures totaling $474,550 in 2026. Of that amount, $375,000—approximately 79% of its reported expenditures—was directly contributed or transferred to other political committees connected to Ramba, including his Floridians for Public Safety PC.
More than a PAC-man
Division of Elections records show Ramba as associated with numerous active PACS, and many others since closed. As TBT reported in August, PACs tied to Ramba were also seen connected to certain Manatee County Commission candidates.
Manatee County incumbent and District 4 candidate Mike Rahn’s PAC—the Friends of Mike Rahn—listed Ramba as its treasurer and registered agent. Every dollar of the PAC’s reported $156,000 originated from other PACs connected to Ramba.
A Government Reform and Integrity Taskforce PAC, or GRIT PAC, formed by BOCC District 2 incumbent candidate Amanda Ballard's husband, has reported receiving $57,500 in total contributions. According to records, all but $1,000 of those contributions originated from PACs that appear connected to Ramba.
PACs tied to Ramba also made maximum $1,000 campaign contributions to BOCC Republican candidates Tara Poulton, Mark Stanoch, and Amanda Ballard.
But Ramba's political activity extends beyond PACs.
He and his firm, Ramba Consulting Group, work as lobbyists for a wide range of public and private entities and associations.
The firm's 2026 lobbying records list 44 principals.
Among those clients with local interests are Benderson Development, Neal Communities, Florida Power & Light, Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, the City of Bradenton Beach, the Town of Longboat Key and the Manatee County Port Authority.
Manatee County Commissioners serve as the Manatee Port Authority members. Commissioner Rahn, whose campaign PAC Ramba managed, serves as chairman of the Manatee Port Authority.
According to its website, Ramba's firm employs multiple lobbyists, including Evan Power, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Power's role in state Republican politics intersected with Manatee County politics following the 2024 primary election.
Under Power's leadership, the Republican Party of Florida moved to suspend the Manatee Republican Executive Committee (MREC).
Then, as part of the MREC’s restructuring, the local committee received new board members and committee people, including political operative Jennings Lawton DePriest as committeeman and Bradenton City Councilwoman Jayne Kocher as committeewoman. Neither had even filed to run for the positions.
Mantanes, of the Christian Family Coalition Manatee PAC, also received an appointment to the rebuilt MREC under Power’s lead.
While some of these connections do not establish that a person or company within these political networks was involved in text messaging campaigns targeting voters in the City of Bradenton, they do, however, illustrate how the PACs that paid for those texts are connected to a broader network of political committees, lobbyists, developers, consultants and local political figures.
What the candidate says
TBT contacted Gonzalez Moore about the text message campaign that declared her a “Qualified Candidate” of the Christian Family Coalition Manatee.
Gonzalez Moore said she was troubled by what she described as contradictory messages being sent to different groups of voters about her and her opponent.
“I am deeply troubled by the use of dark PAC money to mislead voters about who I am, and who my opponent is,” Gonzalez Moore said. “The messages that people have shared with me portray me as ‘MAGA to her core’ on the one hand, and ‘Soft on Crime-Anti Cop’ on the other.”
Gonzalez Moore said the issue had nothing to do with political ideologies.
“What concerns me about this manner of negative campaigning is not whether someone calls me a conservative or a liberal; it is that my opponent’s supporters are actively deceiving the voters of Bradenton, and we all deserve better than that. We don’t deserve to be lied to like that.”
She said her message to Bradenton voters had not changed since her first campaign four years ago: “I care about our community, I am dedicated to doing what I can to better our lives in Bradenton, and I am committed to doing that hard work.”
Gonzalez Moore also urged voters to distinguish between campaign material about a candidate and material actually produced by that candidate.
“Residents should know that a message about me may not have come from me, and they should ask about who paid for it.”
Gonzalez Moore told TBT that she never spoke with anyone associated with the CFC PAC, including Mantanes.
This raises another question regarding the CFC's characterization of candidates as “highly qualified.”
In a graphic appearing on the Christian Family Coalition's website, it states, “All candidates either participated in our live candidate forum and/or responded to the CFC Florida questionnaire.”
The graphic, which makes up most of the content on the group’s website, incorrectly identifies local school board candidates Margi Nanney and Jonathan Mullis as State House candidates.
WHOIS records show the current CFC Manatee website was registered on July 13, 2026. The Christian Family Coalition Manatee PAC was created only weeks earlier, on June 11.
What Bradenton voters should know
Though the City of Bradenton's municipal races are officially nonpartisan, unsolicited text messages arriving on voters' phones are actively introducing partisan divides.
Republican voters have been targeted with messages promoting Green and describing him as “highly qualified,” while Democratic and unaffiliated voters have received a separate blast emphasizing Gonzalez Moore's alleged “MAGA credentials,” while labeling her as the “highly qualified candidate.” Despite the opposing angles, both text campaigns were financed by the exact same PAC.
At the same time, text campaigns from a separate PAC have circulated promoting Green and Ward 3 incumbent Schuessler. These texts come from a more complex web of political committees funded by secondary PACs, development interests, and obscured donors. Contributions are moved through committees controlled by the same political operatives.
Companies that received tens of thousands of dollars from these committees for texting or consulting services appeared as newly incorporated—or in the case of Wornroots, just days—before receiving payouts.
For voters heading to the polls, the most critical question may not be about what a campaign text message claims, but rather, “Who paid for it?”
In the Ward 4 race, the answer is particularly revealing: the PAC telling Democrats and NPA voters that Gonzalez Moore is “MAGA to her core” is the same committee that contributed $1,000 directly to Green's campaign while also bankrolling text blasts promoting his candidacy.
Dawn Kitterman is a staff reporter and investigative journalist for The Bradenton Times, covering local government news. She can be reached at dawn.kitterman@thebradentontimes.com.
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