If voters want a real say in Sarasota County elections, they must pick party wisely
Soon after Becky Ayech and her husband moved to Sarasota in 1978, she visited the Supervisor of Elections’ office to register to vote. As she started to check the box for party affiliation, the woman giving assistance stopped her.
“Don’t put down Democrat,” she counseled. “You’ll never get to vote for anything. If you want to vote, you need to be a Republican.”
“And sure enough,” says Ayech, a resident of Old Miakka, “she was right.”
Why? Because regardless of what (if any) party a Sarasota voter may align with, history has shown it is Republican primaries that have determined the outcome of most Sarasota County’s partisan elections since 1968.
For example, the last non-Republican candidate elected to the Sarasota County Commission was in 1966, almost 58 years ago. (William P. Carey’s triumph was short-lived; he served just one fouryear term.) Sarasota County Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates, a Democrat seeking her 11th term this fall, has been a longtime lone ranger in a county that has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Ayech, who has spent the past several decades fighting to keep her rural neighborhood in the east county from being developed, has changed her party affiliation several times – from Republican to Independent to Democrat and back again – all in an effort to have her vote count more toward the changes she hopes to see.
“I know it’s an old adage, but you vote for the person not the party,” she says. “So I’ve been everything.”
This year, Ayech is not alone. As concern among county residents has risen over escalating growth, development and traffic – as well as the direction of the county’s nonprofit hospital board – more and more non-Republicans are contemplating temporarily changing their party affiliation to be able to vote in August primaries that would otherwise be closed to them. (There are currently no non-Republican primaries in August, though everyone can and should vote in nonpartisan races, such as for the school board.)
Those primaries will determine which Republicans will move on to the November general election or, in cases where there is no non-Republican opponent, may serve as the final selection. Several primaries have multiple Republican candidates who hold very different views – meaning who emerges from the primary could have a dramatically different impact on the office.
For example, in the hospital board race, nine Republican candidates are running for four open seats on the ninemember board; three of those seats are closed primaries and require Republican Party affiliation to vote. Unless a Democrat or a non-party affiliated candidate enters the race for the fourth seat before the June deadline, it will be a “universal” primary, meaning anyone can vote, and it will become the final selection. Several hospital board incumbents are facing challenges from fellow Republican candidates running on a “medical freedom” slate that advocates significant changes to the board’s previous policies and oversight.
According to surveys, residents have identified “population growth and new development” as the most important issue facing Sarasota County every year but one since 2014. In three district races for Sarasota County Commission seats, some candidates financially backed by development and construction interests are pitted against other Republicans who propose more strategic and conservative growth. (With the institution of single member districts, residents can only vote for the seat within their district.)
Currently only Republican incumbent Ron Cutsinger has filed in District 5, but in District 3 there are two Republicans (incumbent Neil Rainford and former County Sheriff Tom Knight) in a closed primary and in District 1, Republican Theresa Mast (backed by the construction industry and developers), faces Republican Alexandra Coe in a primary that will decide the winner and will be open to all (since there are no other candidates).
“Who gets elected will really make a big difference,” says Susan Schoettle, a former county assistant attorney who has changed her party affiliation multiple times and this year is urging her friends to do the same.
“Because I believe this coming election is so critical for the future of our county,” Schoettle says, “I am telling everyone I talk to about this opportunity and how important it is that we elect different people than the developer funded and supported candidates. If we can elect one or two candidates that support reasonable growth and are respectful of the concerns of local residents, we can possibly turn the tide.”
Schoettle, who said she is “not a joiner,” was unaffiliated with any party for most of her life, voting primarily for Democrats but also for the occasional Republican. She now says it “took me a lot longer than it should have,” after moving to Sarasota in the mid-’90s, to recognize that “the decision was being made every year in the primary and I didn’t have a say in it.”
“After living in Sarasota County for some years, I finally realized that because I didn’t register as affiliated with the Republican Party, I didn’t have any real voice in who would represent me on the county commission,” Schoettle says. “I have been registering as a Republican to vote in the local primary for years now.”
Not only did doing so make her vote feel more influential, it also meant her name was put on party mailing lists that allowed her to “get more insight into how that side was coming at things.” Over the years, Schoettle has also changed her party affiliation in the other direction when there was a Democratic primary she wished to vote in. (“Though there aren’t many of those,” she concedes.)
In order to vote in the closed primaries in August, voters must declare Republican Party affiliation 29 days before the election. (For the upcoming August primary, that is Monday, July 22.) This can be done by phone, online, or in person at the Supervisor of Elections office. Anyone who wishes to change their affiliation back directly after the primary is also free to do so – though, obviously, you can vote for any candidate from any party in November, regardless of your affiliation.
“Voting can be very frustrating here and it’s a perfectly legitimate option,” says Schoettle.
Ayech jokes that even if you’re a diehard Democrat, “your arm will not fall off”ifyouswitchyouraffiliation.
“If we didn’t have to change parties to change the government, that would be great,” she says. “But until then, you have to play the game we’ve been given. The way I look at it is, if everyone on your block is playing basketball, leave your football at home and go play with them. That’s the only way anything will change. Then, maybe next time you can play football.”
Contact Carrie Seidman carrie.seidman@gmail.com 505-238-0392. at or