MANATEE COUNTY
The precinct results from the Aug. 26 primary election in Manatee County can be read like a geography lesson.
All of the candidates counted certain neighborhoods as their turf. No one, however, won their countywide or district races in a clean sweep.
Julie Aranibar (Staff photo by Thomas Bender)
Mary Cantrell
(Herald-Tribune archive)
The results in the countywide race for the District 5 seat on the School Board especially show where incumbent Julie Aranibar and former Manatee Technical Institute administrator Mary Cantrell are likely to have strongholds in their runoff on Nov. 4. The numbers also reveal in which areas each candidate needs to do better.
With few exceptions, the precinct returns unsurprisingly show Aranibar, a Lakewood Ranch resident, prevailing handily in the East County while Cantrell hoisted her victory flag throughout much of Bradenton.
Political observers put Aranibar at odds with factions associated with Manatee High in west Bradenton that have long held sway with the School Board.
Those factions are critical of how Schools Superintendent Rick Mills handled complaints against past administrators at Manatee High. Although Aranibar is supportive of Mills, the superintendent may find less favor in Cantrell, whose MTI contract he did not renew.
Whether it exists among the candidates, that east versus west mentality evidently exists among much of the county’s electorate.
Aranibar took the lead in 37 of the 70 precincts.
Aranibar’s strongest showings included Lakewood Ranch, Tara, University Park, Heritage Harbour, Palm Aire, Myakka City, Oneco and the Parrish suburb River Wilderness. She also claimed pluralities in Palmetto and several south Bradenton precincts (though results were razor thin in some and Cantrell surpassed her in Bayshore Gardens).
Some East County spots were in close contention, though. Aranibar surpassed Cantrell by just one vote at Waterlefe River Club and tied with her at Bayside Community Church just east of Lakewood Ranch.
Cantrell prevailed in much of central and west Bradenton (though Aranibar got a three-vote lead over Cantrell at the Elks Lodge on 75th Street and Cantrell was just five votes ahead of Aranibar at G.T. Bray Park), Ellenton, Duette, Terra Ceia, north Palmetto and most of Parrish.
Aranibar claimed a plurality in Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach, Longboat Key and one of two Holmes Beach precincts (Gloria Dei Lutheran Church), while Cantrell gained the upper hand at the other (St. Bernard Catholic Church).
Former Bradenton City Council member James Golden led in Samoset and two precincts in predominantly black neighborhoods in east Bradenton.
Carlton Les Nichols ranked third in some precincts and fourth in most.
In the countywide race for the District 4 seat on the School Board, incumbent Karen Carpenter beat former School Board member Frank Brunner by mostly wide margins in almost every precinct.
Brunner took the lead in two polling places, Christian Retreat on Upper Manatee River Road and Redeemer Lutheran Church in west Bradenton.
In the countywide race for the District 2 seat, Manatee High teacher Charlie Kennedy prevailed but challenger Rodney Jones bested him in nine of the 70 precincts.
Jones took Bradenton Beach by just one ballot and Freedom Village in west Bradenton by eight votes. The black candidate also did well in areas with minority populations including Samoset, three east Palmetto precincts, a polling place off Bradenton’s Ninth Street West and two east Bradenton precincts.
In the Democratic primary in County Commission District 2, challenger Charles B. Smith narrowly prevailed in a required recount by four votes. The precinct returns show just how divided the district became in its choice of contenders.
Of the district’s 12 precincts, Smith took five, incumbent Michael Gallen claimed five and challenger Corie Holmes took the lead in two.
District 2 includes predominantly minority neighborhoods, where Smith — the first black elected to the Palmetto City Commission — found his strongest followings.
Smith unsurprisingly won a majority (more than 65 percent) at the Palmetto Youth Center, a polling place in the east Palmetto neighborhood he represents as a city commissioner.
He earned a comfortable plurality of votes at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, also on the east side of Palmetto, Rogers Community United Methodist Church in east Bradenton and Samoset Baptist Church. He received 50 percent of the ballots at Mt. Raymond Baptist Church in east Palmetto.
Gallen’s strongest showing was at the Manatee River Garden Center in predominantly white west Bradenton, where he got nearly 66 percent.
He also got a plurality at Bethel Baptist Church in west Bradenton, Family of God United Methodist Church in north Palmetto, Renaissance Center south of downtown Bradenton and Ellenton United Methodist Church.
Holmes secured a plurality at Pirate City in east Bradenton and the Coach House Mobile Home Park in north Palmetto.
Smith will face a write-in candidate on Nov. 4.
In the Republican primary for County Commission District 4, incumbent Robin DiSabatino won by a wide margin. But she did not best challenger Tim Norwood in every neighborhood.
DiSabatino prevailed in 10 of the South County district’s 11 precincts, bringing in as much as 71.6 percent of the ballots at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church on Prospect Road.
She even surpassed Norwood at Bayshore Gardens Recreation Center with 61 percent, even though Norwood’s campaign platform placed heavy emphasis on reducing crime and blight in that suburb where he resides.
Norwood’s message fared better at Trailer Estates (just east of Bayshore Gardens), where he won 52.4 percent of the vote.
