By Tom Vaught
sun staff writer

Duke Miller won re-election for the Anna Maria City Commission last night in a tight race with fellow incumbent Linda Cramer that changed leads more than once.

With 100 percent of the votes in, newcomer Jo Ann Mattick was the top vote getter with 604 followed by Miller's 509 and Cramer's 487.

"I worked very hard for this," Mattick said tearfully. "To be the top vote getter this year is great. People will have to listen to my ideas now."

It appeared Cramer might be the winner earlier, when 95-percent of the vote showed her leading Miller by three votes.

Fran Barford, former commissioner and mayor of Temple Terrace before moving to the Island, is the next mayor of Anna Maria. She beat long-time resident Tom Turner 698 votes to 261.

"I’m so pleased," Barford said. "I really hoped for this. I wanted to win by a large margin so I’d have a mandate going into office."

In the five-way race for two city commission seats in Holmes Beach, Sandy Haas-Martens retained her seat with 1,123 votes. John Monetti was second vote-getter with 917 and will fill the other seat.

Former mayor and commissioner Pat Geyer came in third with 720 votes and former commissioner Don Maloney had 540 votes. Sheila Hurst came in last with 274 votes.

“I'm glad it's over and I'm glad we didn’t run a negative campaign,” said Haas-Martens. “I thank everyone for voting and I thank The Sun for its endorsement. I hope to continue the work I've done for the past eight years.”

Monetti also expressed gratitude.

“I'd like to thank all the people who supported me during this campaign and those that voted for me today,” he said. “I thank The Sun for its endorsement and my wife for her support. I thank my fellow candidates whose perspective on various issues provided me with invaluable insight. I hope I can continue to provide for the community.”

Meanwhile, outgoing Holmes Beach Mayor Carol Whitmore easily won her race for the Manatee County Commission District Six seat vacated by Pat Glass.

Whitmore had 57,032 votes to Sarah Meaker’s 39,559. At her celebration party at the Twin Dolphin Tuesday night, Whitmore said she was excited.

“I’m ready to move on, to learn something new,” she said. “I want to take what I’ve learned on the Island and apply it on the mainland.”

The race was a clean one, with no mud-slinging, and Whitmore credited her opponent for cooperating.

“We talked about it before the race and agreed to keep the campaigning positive,” she said. “I called her today to wish her good luck and she called me tonight to congratulate me.”

Rich Bohnenberger, a city commissioner and former mayor, is again the mayor of Holmes Beach. Bohnenberger announced he was running for the mayor’s seat and was unopposed.

West Manatee Fire Rescue won its battle to increase its revenue as voters approved 68 percent to 32 percent an increase in impact fees for new construction. With 95 percent of the vote in, the totals were 8,620 for vs. 4,016 against.

There was no local race in Bradenton Beach. Michael Pierce was the only candidate to run for the Ward 2 seat held by Lisa Marie Phillips and Bill Shearon was unopposed for a second term in Ward 4.