Bower joins race for Manatee County Commission. He won’t accept money from developers
After falling short in 2016, West Bradenton native Matt Bower announced Monday that he’s giving the District 3 seat on the Board of County Commissioners another shot.
Bower lost his previous election bid to Commissioner Stephen Jonsson but learned plenty of lessons in the process, he said in an interview with the Bradenton Herald. District 3 is comprised of West Bradenton, Anna Maria Island and Cortez.
“I learned a great deal in my last campaign. Politics, in general, got in the way last time, and it just wasn’t my time. I’m OK with that, but now it’s time to get back to work again.”
This time around, Bower, 45, has ditched the independent party affiliation and is running as a Republican. That immediately positions him as a head-on candidate versus Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who announced his campaign for the same seat in January and has already raised nearly $90,000 in campaign contributions.
Donations like that, however, may indicate that Van Ostenbridge is beholden to the developers who have funded his campaign, Bower argued.
“I’m not taking a single dime of contributions from them. Not a penny,” Bower said. “I only answer to the people of Manatee County. I think that’s been the biggest drawback for several of our commissioners on the dais. When you raise $80,000 and then say you don’t owe developers something, I think, is disingenuous.”
Reached for comment Monday afternoon, Van Ostenbridge told the Bradenton Herald that his supports stems from people who understand his commitment to the community.
“I have deep roots here. I’m a third-generation graduate of Manatee High School. Friends, family and neighbors have all contributed so far — that includes teachers, nurses, firemen, tradesmen and local businesses. I’m proud of that support,” Van Ostenbridge said.
“Those contributions do not transfer into influence over my decision making,” he added.
Both candidates are set to face off in the Republican primary on Aug. 18.
Jonsson, who is not running for re-election, said Monday that he is endorsing Van Ostenbridge to take his seat in November.
“I think Kevin is the right guy,” Jonsson explained. “I just would rather have the constituents who got me elected to support Kevin. He’s a real conservative.”
If elected, Bower says his top priorities will be fixing traffic, improving infrastructure and protecting the environment. He plans to bring leadership to the board that emphasizes proactive changes, instead of reactive ones.
“When it comes to traffic and infrastructure, we are reactive in every sense of the word. We continue to fall behind in order to get the upgrades we need. We’ve got to grow smartly and that will enable us to get ahead of the future traffic and infrastructure problems we will have,” Bower said.
“Our environment is everything our community is made of. That’s who we are and why people live here,” he continued. “We have to be leaders and protect it. To do anything else is dead wrong.”
Starting a 2020 campaign amid the novel coronavirus pandemic could impact Bower’s plan to connect with voters, he said, but he hopes to lean on the following he created four years ago.
“People are engaged and that’s gonna be a huge driving force for us,” Bower said, referring to his Facebook following.
Bower works as a financial advisor and is a seven-year Army veteran. He also served on Manatee County’s Planning Commission from 2013 to 2017 and still serves as the vice president of the Manatee Tiger Bay Club. For more information, visit Facebook.com/MattBowerforDistrict3/
