Detert makes County Commission bid official

Nancy Detert has filed with the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections to run for the Sarasota County Commission next year, confirming long-standing rumors that she was leaving the Florida Senate, where she’s served since 2008, to vie for the local office.

Sarasota GOP Chairman Joe Gruters said he expects she will face little to no opposition, neither in the Republican primary nor the election.

“I’d be very surprised if she had any credible opposition,” he said. “She is certainly one of the most well-respected politicians in Sarasota County.”

Gruters called her a champion for the underprivileged, for families and children who led the charge for film- and tourism-related economic development.

Detert’s office did not immediately return calls for comment, but her decision will affect some other races, most notably Nora Patterson’s fight for her Senate seat. The former city and county commissioner filed to run for the Florida Legislature, but said that she would not run against Detert.

In her 2014 bid for State Senate, Detert raised more than $230,000. Residents and business owners in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch accounted for more than 10% of those contributions.

The Benderson family, Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch and Pat Neal were among prominent local donors, which also included current County Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst and Patterson.

Detert’s decision not to run will create a heavily contested seat, which she won unopposed in both the primary and general election in 2012 and 2014.

Detert’s political career in the Florida legislature goes back to 1998, when she first won election to the Florida House of Representatives. Before that, she served a short stint on the Sarasota County School Board.

In other election-related news, newcomer Albert Edward Stickely III filed to run against Caroline Zucker for second district seat on the Sarasota County School Board. The last school board election saw record amounts of money raised by candidates vying for seats.

In that race, Gruters said, Stickley may face a considerable challenge. Zucker has almost two decades on the school board in two districts. Stickley is, according to Gruters, a very competent attorney and “great human being,” but a relative newcomer to politics.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “It’s never easy to beat an incumbent.”