Who fills Manatee County seat after commissioner’s death? What Florida law says
After a Manatee County commissioner’s sudden death left a vacancy on the board, questions remain about how the seat will be filled.
Commissioner Carol Ann Felts died Tuesday, Manatee County Government officials confirmed, and another person will be chosen to represent District 1 on the Manatee Board of County Commissioners. According to Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Scott Farrington, Felts’ seat is not officially open until Gov. Ron DeSantis issues an executive order declaring a vacancy.
“There isn’t a set timeframe in which the governor has to act on an appointment, and there has been instances where he has chosen to let a seat stay open if it was close enough to an election,” Farrington told the Bradenton Herald in a Wednesday morning interview.
Recent examples suggest it may take weeks for DeSantis to declare a vacancy.
When a Baker County commissioner died in December, DeSantis did not issue a formal vacancy until over three weeks later . And when a Suwannee County commissioner died in November, an executive order came two weeks later.
Felts, who was first elected in 2024, was set to complete her first time in 2028. Farrington said the District 1 seat, which includes Myakka City, Parrish and parts of Palmetto, will be added to the 2026 election ballot to fill the vacancy through her original term, giving residents the chance to vote in a new commissioner.
But there is a chance that seat be filled by a DeSantis appointee in the meantime.
After declaring a vacancy, DeSantis has the opportunity to appoint someone to fill the vacant seat until the next election. There is no strict deadline on when he must make that appointment, according to Farrington.
If there are two or more contenders from the same political party, the District 1 seat will be included in the Aug. 18 primary election. The seat will also appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
Fellow commissioners and other local officials remembered Felts as a passionate advocate for residents in her district. Manatee County Government is set to honor Felts during the board’s next meeting on March 3.
