MANATEE COUNTY – Seven Manatee County candidates paid Anthony Pedicini’s Tampa-based Strategic Image Management (SIMWINS) political consulting firm a total of $526,508 in the recent primary election, according to the candidates’ campaign treasurer reports.
Six of those seven Pedicini clients lost their Republican primary races and their election bids are over. District 3 school board candidate Jonathan Lynch is the only one of the seven to advance to the general election.
District 7
District 7 at-large primary candidate Kevin Van Ostenbridge’s campaign paid SIMWINS $193,455 leading up to the Aug. 20 primary election. Van Ostenbridge’s campaign raised $239,344 and spent $203,517 on his unsuccessful bid to unseat incumbent District 7 commissioner George Kruse. Van Ostenbridge’s current term as the District 3 county commissioner will end in November. Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed Van Ostenbridge’s unsuccessful District 7 bid. To date, Kruse’s campaign has raised $67,591 and spent $63,004. Kruse now faces Democrat Sari Lindroos-Valimaki in the general election. Valimaki’s campaign has raised $10,828 and spent the same amount.
Supervisor of elections
Supervisor of Elections Republican primary candidate James Satcher’s campaign paid SIMWINS $101,379. Satcher’s campaign raised $122,121 and spent $119,804 in an unsuccessful bid to serve as Manatee County’s next elected Supervisor of Elections. That seat will go to former elections office chief of staff, Scott Farrington, whose campaign raised $78,724 and spent $75,966. In April, DeSantis appointed Satcher to fill the remaining months of former Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett’s four-year term, after Bennett retired in March.
District 3
District 3 Manatee County Commission candidate April Culbreath’s campaign paid SIMWINS $90,895 in her unsuccessful bid to defeat Tal Siddique in the District 3 primary race.
Culbreath’s campaign raised $100,393 and spent $99,088. Siddique’s campaign raised $65,668 and spent $58,901. Siddique now faces Democrat Diana Shoemaker in the general election. Shoemaker’s campaign has raised $40,526 and spent $15,515.
District 5
Appointed District 5 County Commissioner Ray Turner’s campaign paid SIMWINS $66,072. Turner’s campaign raised $89,220 and spent $71,218. Turner, who was appointed by DeSantis, lost his election bid to Republican primary challenger Bob McCann.
To date, McCann’s campaign has raised $41,431 and spent $38,675. McCann now faces non-party-affiliated candidate Joseph Di Bartolomeo in the general election. Di Bartolomeo’s campaign has raised $9,278 and spent $2,320.
District 1
Seeking to fill the District 1 County Commission seat that Satcher vacated in April, Republican primary candidate Steve Metallo’s campaign paid SIMWINS $63,045. Metallo’s campaign raised $101,155 and spent $73,191. Metallo lost his primary race to fellow Republican Carol Ann Felts, who raised $17,011 and spent $12,925.
Felts now faces Democrat Glenn Pearson and non-party-affiliated candidate Jennifer Hamey in the general election. Pearson’s campaign has raised $10,539 and spent $9,986. Hamey’s campaign has raised $16,912 and spent $5,408.
School board
District 3 Manatee County School Board candidate Jonathan Lynch’s campaign paid SIMWINS $4,850. To date, Lynch’s campaign has raised $39,450 and spent $7,834. As the second leading vote-getter in the primary race, Lynch now faces leading vote-getter Charlie Kennedy in the general election. Kennedy’s campaign has raised $13,532 and spent $10,969.
District 1 school board candidate Alex Garner’s campaign paid SIMWINS $6,552 and his third-place finish ended his election bid. Top vote-getter Heather Felton’s campaign has raised $10,276 and spent $8,613. Second place finisher Mark Stanoch’s campaign has raised $34,457 and spent $30,966. Felton and Stanoch now face each other in the general election.
