Reflections on the Two County Commission Elections

There aren't many of us that have chosen to run as something other than a Republican in a Sarasota County Commission race. And one thing that binds us together is that, for the past forty years at least, none of us have prevailed. If there is any solace for Mark and Cathy it is that the they received more than twice the number of votes their opponents did, the last time their opponents faced opposition. Thank you for giving the entire electorate a chance to weigh in.

When I lost I was told recovery would take about a year, which wasn't far off, but, at least in my case, it wasn't losing that was hard to accept; but some of the circumstances surrounding the loss. I hope Mark and Cathy are not nagged by comparable concerns.

Nora now returns to the Commission knowing that over 71,000 more voters think she should be serving than did previously and Joe experienced a comparable boost in affirmation, garnering more than 68,000 more votes than he did last time around. I hope this provides them with more confidence that they are, in fact, the people's choices. And, of course, this is a confidence tempered by the realization that more than 45 thousand people aren't convinced, which may be like a "room for improvement" notation on an otherwise favorable report card.

As I mentioned in a previous blog posting, it is good to know that the majority of the county commission will be serving as result of having won recently in a general election, a fact attributable to those few of us who brought them to those general elections, despite the odds, popular wisdom, and recent history.