Manatee School Board race between Miner and Foreman moves to November runoff

Dave Miner will continue to fight for his seat on the School Board of Manatee County after falling short of the votes needed to secure a win during Tuesday’s primary election.

With all precincts reporting, he received 20,355 votes, or 28.5 percent of the vote for the District 3 seat. Mary Foreman trailed just behind the incumbent with 18,890 votes, or 26.5 percent of the total vote.

Since none of the five candidates secured a majority of the vote, Miner and Foreman, the second-highest vote-getter, will again face off in the general election on Nov. 3.

Miner, a longtime Bradenton attorney and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was a well-known gadfly at local school board meetings before he was elected to the board in 2012. His interest in education began more than two decades ago, when his daughter attended King Middle School and faced rampant mold problems.

He served as the board’s chair from November 2018 to 2019. He also serves as a link between the school district, the Florida School Boards Association and the Central Florida School Board Coalition.

Miner recently set his sights on renewable energy and expanded programs for local schools. He could not be reached for comment.

Foreman joined the district’s independent Audit Committee in 2013, after the school district suffered a financial meltdown, and she recently served as the committee’s chair. Foreman has more than 40 years of experience as a certified public accountant and she hopes to leverage that experience on the school board.

The district operates with an annual budget worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Foreman said she would review district finances with a critical eye, asking tough questions and advocating for more classroom resources as opposed to administrative salaries.

“Today was a verification that informed voters understood the issues, understood my agenda, and that is getting more dollars to the classrooms,” Foreman said. “That’s compared to a candidate who succeeded on name recognition and claiming to be a watchdog.”

“He used to be a watchdog,” Foreman continued. “He really was. I’ve known Dave for a long time, but he’s no longer a watchdog and I think it’s sad.”

The other three candidates in the race were Scott Boyes, who received 19.3 percent of the vote; Christine Dawson, who received 17.6 percent; and Rick Murphy, who received 8.1 percent.

This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 8:25 PM.