- September 5, 2026
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The primary elections have led to a change in the political majority on Sarasota's school board with the victories of two Democrat-backed candidates.
Candidate Megan Tennimon received 55.14% of the vote for the District 4 seat, while Beth Mayberry claimed the District 5 seat with 56.67% of the vote. The seat for District 1 will see the two leading candidates, Jimmy Glover and Heidi Brandt, competing in a runoff election in November.
As Tennimon and Mayberry headed to Tamiami Tap, a crowd turned out in celebration.
"It is so humbling and so amazing, all the support that I've received," Tennimon said.
She said her plans for the coming weeks are to take school board governance training and visit all the schools in Sarasota, to introduce herself to the admin team and all of the teachers.
"Together with the board, I want to make sure that we are celebrating our students at our meetings, that our teachers have a safe place to tell us what's working and what's not, and to bring our community together with our community organizations, our parents; everybody in the community working together for the betterment of our school district," she said.
It was just as much a celebration for Mayberry as she greeted supporters.
"I am ecstatic that our students and our families and our staff have the opportunity to refocus on their classrooms and away from any of the things that are not really pertinent to our public school system," Mayberry said.
While her immediate plans are to visit family, she said she is looking forward to bringing her vision to the board.
"Once I get on there, I think the idea there is to model the good behavior that we expect, to reach out to our community and have full transparency to make sure that we're prepared, regardless of what happens with our funding, and make sure our community understands that there are certain things we may have to prioritize, and we need their input to do that," she said.
Glover and Brandt said they were both looking forward to continuing their campaigns into November. Glover led at 43.58% Tuesday night, followed by Brandt at 31.74%, with candidate Teresa DeWitt receiving 24.67%.
Glover has been blunt in his opposition to the leadership of Bridget Ziegler, the current board chair who holds the District 1 seat. He has campaigned on a promise of returning a focus to the needs of students.
Heidi Brandt, who has been endorsed by the Republican Party, is the president of Southside Elementary's parent-teacher council and has positioned herself as the only candidate with children currently in the school district.
The District 1 seat held by Bridget Ziegler has been a particular topic of discussion in the community.
Her tenure has been controversial and marked by public opposition to some of her policies, which have included a resolution affirming cooperation with law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and another rejecting the federal Title IX regulations from the U.S. Department of Education during the Biden Administration.
"Honestly, it's been exciting," Glover said as the election results began to take shape. "It's been tiring, but it's all been worth it. Just the culmination of a year of campaigning has come to this moment that we're in right now. But I'm really proud of my campaign. We set out to do something, and we believe that we did did a good job."
When asked how she planned to continue, Brandt said she planned to move forward as she has been.
"I've been really proud of my campaign," she said. "I'm going to visit clubs. I'm going to speak at events. I'm going to continue meeting with people throughout the community, going to school board meetings, working with teachers, and I'm just going to continue my campaign and hopefully continue with the same kind of positive feedback that I've gotten this whole time, into November."
