Bob Sweat, community pillar and Manatee elections chief for decades, dies at 82

Robert “Bob” Ishmell Sweat, a decades-long servant of the people of Manatee County, died on Wednesday at the age of 82.

Sweat served as a Bradenton City Council member for four years before a 28-year career as Manatee County’s supervisor of elections.

He oversaw the office through Florida’s notorious role in the presidential election of 2000. In Manatee, the process went smoothly compared to elsewhere in the state.

A year prior in 1999, Sweat had sought transparency regarding the state’s recount policy on behalf of Manatee County voters. His query prompted a four-page opinion from the Secretary of State’s office— a ruling that demanded physical reprocessing of ballots in the event of a recount— that could have potentially changed the outcome of the following year’s election, had it been enforced in all Florida counties.

“I felt very strongly, for the protection of voters in Manatee County, that we needed some clarity for the future,” Sweat told the Los Angeles Times in the aftermath of the 2000 election.

Sweat retired in 2012, vowing to spend time with family and pursue neglected hobbies, including golf and fishing. He was succeeded by current elections supervisor Mike Bennett.

Bennett, a former state legislator, recalled the comfort and guidance that Sweat provided at the time.

“It was scary,” Bennett said of the new responsibility. “Because Manatee County under Bob Sweat was always considered, truly, as a model for everybody else.”

But Bennett said that Sweat made the transition easy for him and was always there to offer advice.

“The professionalism that he brought to the office, the wonderful, wonderful job he did gave me a tough hill to climb when I got here,” Bennett said. “He left me with a fantastic staff and a great history of running wonderful elections.”

Sweat was a Manatee High School alumnus and athlete. He played on the football team that won the 1955 Western Conference Championship and the track team that won a state championship title that same year.

It was in those early school days that he met Gene Gallo, who moved to Manatee County as a sophomore.

“We’ve been friends ever since,” said Gallo, a former fire chief and Bradenton City Council member since 1991.

Gallo has many fond memories with Sweat, including their time volunteering for the local youth football league and dinner and poker nights that the two men and their wives spent together. Gallo also remembers the night that he got his friend started on the path towards public service.

“I saw him at a Manatee football game one night and I said, Bob, we need some young blood on city council,” Gallo recalled. ‘He said, ‘What do you mean, city council?’ He called me later that week and asked me to tell him more about it.”

Sweat was elected to the council in 1981 and stayed on until 1985. The friends got to serve together professionally for several years, Gallo as fire chief and Sweat as fire commissioner.

“He was a great city councilman,” Gallo said. “He gave a lot to this community.”

Sweat also became a champion of public service outside of work. He served as a director and officer of the Manatee County Fair, a member of the Manatee County 4-H Foundation and a president of the Bradenton Kiwanis Club, where he remained active after his retirement.

Sweat loved to fish, according to Gallo, and through Kiwanis he was able to share the passion with local kids.

“He used to take them to the Green Bridge, it must have been 50 to 100 kids. He would bait their hooks for them, stand with them as they fished. He just loved it.”

During his tenure as election supervisor, which began in 1985, Sweat put a major emphasis on registering new voters, and the results were irrefutable.

By the time he left office, more than 80 percent of the eligible population was signed up to vote, according to a proclamation from Manatee County, and initiatives created by Sweat made it easier to register than ever before.

And he kept making time for volunteer work.

“Even when he became supervisor of elections he did not quit giving to the community,” Gallo said. “If there was something that needed to be done, he was the first in line.”

Sweat was recognized for his service in 1996 when he received the first ever Kent C. Schulz Award from the Leadership Manatee Alumni Association.

“We will all miss Bob, but also know that Heaven has gained greatly today,” Brett Pollock, another past president of the Kiwanis Club, posted on Facebook on Wednesday.

Sweat is survived by his wife Suzanne, children and grandchildren.

The Bradenton Kiwanis Club will share details about services for Sweat at a future date.