MANATEE COUNTY – Right-wing Republicans Mike Rahn and Jason Bearden won landslide victories over GOP incumbents Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore in Tuesday's Manatee County Commission Republican primaries. Democrat Reggie Bellamy fended off a primary challenge from former District 2 Commissioner Charles Smith.
The Rahn/Servia and Bearden/Whitmore races were some of the most expensive and negative campaigns in Manatee County history. Servia, a former county and private sector land planner, was seeking a second term but lost to Rahn in a 25-point landslide. There are no other candidates on the November ballot, which will make Rahn the winner.
Whitmore, a nurse who has served on the board since 2006 and had previously been Mayor of Holmes Beach, lost to Bearden, who billed himself as an "entrepreneur," by 36 percent. Grassroots activist Carol Felts, who was also seeking the party's nomination, received 13 percent of the vote. Bearden is also uncontested on the November ballot.
Bellamy, who'd narrowly beaten Smith (then the incumbent) in 2018's primary, won by 28 percent this time out after amassing a much larger campaign war chest, much of which came from developers and east county landholders. He will face Republican Amanda Ballard in November.
Whitmore and Servia had grown increasingly isolated after the prevailing Republican bloc of George Kruse, James Satcher, and Kevin Van Ostenbridge won seats behind strong support from developers in 2020, joining incumbent Vanessa Baugh to form a majority. All four commissioners endorsed and campaigned for Rahn and Bearden.
Click here to view the complete Manatee County election results.
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