Challenger Candace Luther files for Betsy Benac's District 7 Manatee Commission seat

MANATEE -- A candidate has officially filed to run for the District 7 at-large seat on the Manatee County Commission.

Republican Candace Luther filed the necessary paperwork for the 2016 election. The District 7 at-large seat is held by commission Chairwoman Betsy Benac said she plans to run for re-election but has not yet filed.

Luther could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

When asked about her plans Tuesday afternoon, Benac confirmed she will run.

"I'm definitely going to be running, but I haven't gotten around to filing," the Republican said. "We have a lot of good things going on, but we need to make sure to continue addressing the growth that we are experiencing. We need to recognize challenges that need to be funded. We need to talk about how we are going to do that."

Benac said she wants to continue work done during her first term. Benac was elected to the commission in 2012, beating Joe McClash, who was first elected to the commission in 1990.

"We have so many challenges that come up that we need to address," she said. "Some of them you hear every day in terms of our growth. ... How we are going to fund transportation moving forward and protect our quality of life. I'm very excited to be part of a team that gets to address those significant issues."

Although a challenger has filed, Benac said she probably won't file any sooner than initially planned and will set up her fund-raising account in 2016.

"I look forward to the race to come," she said.

There are now candidates for all four commission seats up for election in 2016.

The three other Manatee County Commission seats up for re-election in 2016 are:

District 1, which represents Parrish and north county, now held by Larry Bustle, who withdrew his name for re-election. Nathaniel Leonard, Corie Holmes and Ron Reagan have filed.

District 3, which represents West Bradenton and Anna Maria Island, held by John Chappie, who has filed for re-election.

District 5, which represents Lakewood Ranch, Myakka City and other parts of East Manatee, held by Vanessa Baugh, who has filed for re-election. Tom Batchelor and Kathleen Grant have also filed.

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Challenger Candace Luther files for Betsy Benac's District 7 Manatee Commission seat ."