Election Day in Manatee County? Yes, but races were already decided. Here are the winners
Other cities in Florida and around the country had elections on Tuesday, but you couldn’t find any polling sites open in Manatee County.
As an off-year election cycle, the only races took place on Anna Maria Island for public positions in the cities of Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria. And the races in those cities were uncontested, so elections weren’t needed, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office.
“In all three cities, the number of candidates that filed equaled the number of seats that were open,” Scott Farrington, Manatee County’s assistant supervisor of elections, wrote in an email. “None of the island cities placed any resolutions on the ballot, so there is no need for an election ... and we will not have any polls open.”
Because each race has already been decided, here’s who automatically won Manatee County’s 2023 elections:
Holmes Beach
In Holmes Beach, Commissioners Pat Morton, Terry Schaefer and Carol Soustek won re-election to two-year terms without opposition:
▪ Morton first joined the City Commission in 2003 and held his seat until 2020. The commissioner took a short break before being elected to the board again in 2021. Morton is the board’s liaison for recycling and solid waste, development and emergency response.
▪ First elected in 2019, Schaefer is a retired banker from Illinois where he previously served as a school board member and on a development committee. In Holmes Beach, Schaefer works closely with the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, Anna Maria Island Elementary and the city’s police pension board.
▪ Soustek, who serves as the chair of the Holmes Beach City Commission, has served on the board since 2014. She is a retired accountant who volunteers with Anna Maria Turtle & Shorebirds Watch, beach cleanup events and Hands Across the Gulf.
▪ William Romberger was also elected to the city’s charter review commission.
Bradenton Beach
▪ Without an opponent, John Chappie cruised to another term as mayor of Bradenton Beach. He has held the seat for six years in a row. He also served as mayor from 2001 to 2007 before serving eight years as the District 3 representative on the Manatee County Commission.
▪ Commissioners Jacob Spooner, who has been a city commissioner since 2015, and Janet Vosburgh, who has held a seat since 2014, were also re-elected to two-year terms on the Bradenton Beach City Commission.
Anna Maria
▪ City Commissioners Jonathan Crane and Charles Salem were both re-elected to serve two-year terms in the city of Anna Maria.
This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 1:32 PM.
