- April 25, 2024
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After the deadline to qualify as a candidate closed June 12, the names that will appear on the ballots in the August primaries are official.
Incumbents for several elected positions are again running while others have already secured their seats.
Residents will vote on many positions in the Aug. 18 primary and will have the final vote Nov. 3.
The candidates for county positions are:
District 2
David Graham and Karen Rose will face off for the District 2 seat, currently held by Chair Caroline Zucker, who is not seeking reelection after 22 years on the board.
Graham is a graduate of Riverview High School and is the data management coordinator for the Sarasota County school district. He also is a member of the local teacher’s union.
Although he opposes public vouchers for private schools, Graham is a supporter of charter schools. He also hopes to reduce the overall testing burden on students and implement a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and bullying.
Rose is a former special education teacher, principal and executive director, and she retired from Sarasota County Public Schools in 2018. Rose previously ran for school board and lost to Shirley Brown in 2018.
Rose hopes to allocate funds for mental health and low-performing students, provide citizenship programs at an early age to diminish bullying and reduce student assessments.
District 3
Incumbent Eric Robinson will face off against businessman Tom Edwards for the District 3 seat.
Originally from New York, Edwards has built two businesses and worked with elected state officials to advocate for small businesses. He hopes to protect public schools from the voucher system and privatization.
He also wants to work with the new superintendent to mend relationships among the teachers union, teachers and community.
Robinson, elected in 2016, is a certified public accountant. While on the board, Robinson has supported enhanced safety measures and programs to continue the district’s high ratings.
He hopes to continue working to make student-focused budget decisions that utilize the district’s tax dollars efficiently.
District 1
Republicans Mike Moran and Mike Hutchinson will face off during the primary. The winner will face Democrat Mark Pienkos.
Moran is the incumbent for District 1 and the current Sarasota County Commission chair. During his time on the board, Moran has supported changes to the Economic Development Corp. and focused on expanding the county’s economic diversity.
Hutchinson, a retired software systems engineer, decided to run after seeing many green areas of the county built up to high density areas. He had a career as a systems engineer for L-3 Communications in Sarasota and has been involved with the Republican Executive Committee.
Pienkos, a retired educator, filed for candidacy in March to ensure District 1 voters would have a Democratic candidate to vote for. He received an endorsement from Fredd Atkins, who was moved into District 2 after the current board voted to redraw district lines.
District 3
With only two qualifying candidates, incumbent Nancy Detert will face North Port’s Cory Hutchinson in the general election.
Detert, a Republican, has had a long career in politics, having served in the Florida House of Representatives, Florida Senate and Sarasota County School Board. While on the board, she has been a proponent for affordable housing options and economic development.
Hutchinson, a Democrat, is the youngest candidate in the field at 23. He is a career adviser at Laurel Nokomis School and serves as chair of the North Port Charter Review Advisory Board. He hopes to provide resources for the mental health community and improve access to affordable housing.
District 5
Republicans Ron Cutsinger and Chris Hanks will face each other in the primary, and the winner will face Democrat Alice White in the general election. The winner will replace Charles Hines, who has reached his term limit.
Cutsinger is a financial adviser who has served on the Sarasota County Library Advisory Board, the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and as chair of the Sarasota County Planning Commission. He wants to focus on infrastructure, preserving the county’s nature and keeping taxes low while fostering economic development.
Hanks, a former mayor of North Port, is seeking a seat on the commission rather than a second term on the North Port City Commission. He serves as the city representative on the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County and the Sarasota County Tourist Development Council.
White, a retired teacher, is known as “the tree lady” and hopes to be an environmental steward if elected. Although she hasn’t served in political office, she began the nonprofit People for Trees. She would focus on overdevelopment and traffic and mobility issues.
Republicans Kurt Hoffman and Paul Fern will face off in to succeed Sheriff Tom Knight. Because no Democratic candidate filed, every county resident no matter their party affiliation will vote for one of the two candidates.
Hoffman, who is second-in-command at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s office, has a 30-year law enforcement career, including a stint as assistant state attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit.
Hoffman has an endorsement from Knight, and should he be elected, he hopes to address county jail capacity and building relationships among governmental bodies.
Fern retired from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s K-9 unit in 2018. After 25 years in law enforcement, Fern now owns Wings N Weenies on Fruitville Road.
He’d like to reopen the South County office for detectives and focus on management of the sheriff office’s multimillion-dollar annual budget.
Although there will be several choices on the August ballot, some elected positions have already been decided after no challengers came forward by the deadline. The following officials have already won another term in office:
