Kevin Van Ostenbridge defeats Matt Bower to win District 3 seat on Manatee Commission
Kevin Van Ostenbridge defeated Matt Bower to become one of the newest members of the Manatee County Commission.
Van Ostenbridge, a Republican, earned 23,185 votes or 58.3 percent of the vote to defeat Matt Bower, who ran without party affiliation, in the race to represent District 3. Bower, who earned 16,535 votes, or 41.6 percent of the vote.
“I feel fantastic and I’m relieved that the campaign is over,” said Van Ostenbridge, who celebrated his victory at Pier 22 Tuesday evening. “I would say that there’s a clear mandate from taxpayers that their expectation of elected officials is fiscal conservatism.”
Once he’s sworn in, Van Ostenbridge said he looks forward to diving into the budget to find ways to fund transportation improvements.
District 3 is comprised of parts of West Bradenton, Manatee’s barrier islands and Cortez.
Van Ostenbridge also campaigned on a platform of repairing old infrastructure, supporting the local economy and tending to water quality issues. As a local realtor and small business owner, he also saw tremendous support in campaign donations from local residents and developers. While Bower raised about $19,000 in his bid for the seat, Van Ostenbridge reeled in over $120,000.
Bower, a local financial advisor, also ran for the District 3 seat in 2016, when he lost to Commissioner Stephen Jonsson. Jonsson did not seek re-election in 2020. Reached for comment Tuesday evening, Bower wished his opponent the best.
“We’re disappointed — no doubt about that, but the voters have spoken, and I feel good about the campaign I ran. I look forward to continuing to help the community because at the end of the day, you can’t be afraid to fail.”
“I hope Kevin does the right things when the time is right,” he added.
Bower originally launched his 2020 campaign for the District 3 seat as a Republican but he switched to No Party Affiliation after a write-in candidate entered the race, which resulted in a closed primary election in August. By switching his party affiliation, Bower ensured that his campaign would run until Election Day.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
