Business Alliance, Teamsters make endorsements in local races

If it's election season, it's time for various organizations to make their endorsements.

Here's who the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance is endorsing in the area's higher-profile races:

• Gwendolyn Brown – Manatee County Board of County Commissioners, District 2
• Robin DiSabatino – Manatee County Board of County Commissioners, District 4
• Carol Whitmore – Manatee County Board of County Commissioners, District 6
• Barbara Harvey – Manatee County School Board, District 1
• Julie Aranibar – Manatee County School Board District 3
• Karen Carpenter – Manatee County School Board, District 5
• Greg Steube – State Representative, District 67
• Jim Boyd – State Representative, District 68
• Keith Fitzgerald – State Representative, District 6

And in the13th Congressional District, Teamsters Local Union No. 79, which covers southwest Florida, including Manatee and Sarasota counties, has endorsed former Bradenton City Council member James T. Golden's bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota.