Several write-in candidates qualify for elections in Manatee

Several write-in candidates have qualified to run in the November elections in Manatee County.

The qualifying period ended at noon Friday. As of 12:30 p.m., the write-in candidates, according to the supervisor of elections website include:

-- Annamarie D. Riethmiller, who is running for clerk of the circuit court. She is challenging incumbent Republican R.B "Chips" Shore, who is running unopposed in the GOP primary.

-- Thomas Dell and Scott Findlay, who are running for an at-large seat on the county commission. Incumbent Republican Joe McClash and challenger Betsy Benac are running in the GOP primary.

--  Rodney 'Smokey' Smithley, who is running for supervisor of elections. Smithley had earlier announced he was running for the Republican nomination, but he has dropped that bid. Four Republicans and one Democrat have qualified to run in the race.

Other previously announced candidates have withdrawn their candidacies, including Alphonso Scott Junious, who had earlier launched an independent campaign for sheriff. His withdrawal means the winner of the Aug. 14 Republican primary -- incumbent Brad Steube or challenger William Waldron -- will be elected sheriff.

Junious dropping out means that non-Republicans will also be able to vote in the sheriff's primary.

"All registered voters will be allowed to vote and it should be that way because the office of the sheriff serves everyone in Manatee County, not just Republicans," Waldron said Friday.

Officials continue to update the relevant websites, but to see who has qualified to run in local races check the sites for either the supervisor of elections or the Florida Division of Elections.

O'Brien taking a bus to officially start his campaign for Bradenton mayor (UPDATED)

UPDATED, 2:10 p.m. -- Check out Bradenton Herald reporter Miriam Valverde's story and photos about today's event.

|---|

Richard O'Brien will officially kick off his campaign to become Bradenton's mayor by taking his "mobile campaign headquarters" -- a London-built double-decker bus -- to city hall at noon Wednesday.

The bus, according to O'Brien, will make it possible for him to keep a campaign promise to visit every neighborhood in the city, as he seeks to unseat Mayor Wayne Poston.

“By visiting every neighborhood and listening to the voters I hope to bring a new vision and perspective to the office of the mayor,” O'Brien said in a statement issued by his Tampa-based political consultant. “My vision is to create jobs that will generate tax revenues resulting in a better quality of life for all the citizens of Bradenton.”

 “New energetic leadership is the prescription for success in City Hall. I am a hard worker who will always treat the job as a full-time position.” O'Brien, who lost a city council race in 2009, is a real estate investor and professor of political science at the University of South Florida Manatee-Sarasota.

A Bradenton native, O'Brien last year received the Bradenton Kiwanis "Game Changer Award" for chairing a‘Christmas in July’ event that provided school supplies and services to homeless children in the community.

He currently is the chairman of the Manatee County Democratic Party, although the Bradenton mayor's post is nonpartisan.

Also running for mayor in the Nov. 6 election are longtime city council member Marianne Barnebey and Travis W. Holliday. As of Wednesday morning, only Poston had officially qualified for the ballot. The qualifying period ends at noon Friday.

O'Brien's kickoff event at city hall in downtown Bradenton is set for noon.

Republicans open 'Victory Office' in Bradenton

The Republican National Committee has opened a "Victory Office" in Bradenton, one of 23 such offices in Florida.

The office is at 2601 Manatee Ave. W., Suite D.

A grand opening is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the local GOP's Twitter feed.

Here part of the press release, issued Monday, on the offices:

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today announced the official opening of 23 Victory Field Offices in Florida. These offices will coordinate the get out the vote operations for Governor Mitt Romney leading up to the November election. The RNC will work hand-in-hand with the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) and Mitt Romney for President at each of these 23 offices to ensure that Governor Romney defeats President Barack Obama in November and all Republicans on the ticket are successful on Election Day. 

This is the first round of offices the RNC will open in Florida and demonstrates the fast pace at which the Republican Party continues to cement a path to victory for Governor Romney in Florida.

More Manatee candidates qualify for election ballot

As of just after 9 a.m. Tuesday, several other candidates have qualified for the election ballot in Manatee County.

They include:

Clerk of the Circuit Court -- R.B. "Chips" Shore, incumbent, Republican.
County Commission, District 1 -- Larry Bustle, incumbent, Republican.
County Commission, District 3 -- John Chappie, incumbent, Republican.
County Commission, District 5 -- Frank Archino, Democrat.
School Board, District 4 -- Linda Schaich.
Sheriff -- Brad Steube, incumbent, Republican.
Supervisor of Elections -- Mike Bennett, Republican; Charles N. Williams Jr., Democrat.
Tax Collector -- Ken Burton, incumbent, Republican.

The qualifying period started at noon Monday and ends at noon Friday.

To see who else has qualified, check an earlier posting here and the supervisor of elections' website here.

Election qualifying under way in Manatee County

Several candidates for local offices in Manatee County have officially "qualified" for this year's elections.
As of just after 4 p.m., they include:

County Commission, District 1 -- Corie M. Holmes, Democrat.
County Commission, District 7 -- Joe McClash, incumbent, Republican.
Property Appraiser -- Charles Hackney, incumbent, Republican.
Sheriff -- William Waldron, Republican.
Mayor, Bradenton -- Wayne Poston, incumbent.
Bradenton City Council, Ward 2 -- George Mendez, Gene Brown.
Bradenton City Council, Ward 5 -- Harold E. Byrd Jr.

The qualifying period started at noon Monday, and will continue until noon Friday.

To see who else has qualified or otherwise served notice they are running, visit the supervisor of elections' website.

Manatee Democrats chair Richard O'Brien running for mayor of Bradenton (UPDATE)

Richard C. O'Brien, the chairman of the Manatee County Democratic Party, has filed to run for mayor of Bradenton, according to the Manatee County supervisor of elections website.

A political science professor at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, O'Brien in 2009 lost a city council race to incumbent Patrick Roff by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.

O'Brien joins three other announced candidates for the mayor's seat in Bradenton: incumbent Wayne Poston; city council member Marianne Barnebey; and Travis Holliday.

O'Brien, who has worked with several local nonprofits, declined to comment, saying he would be officially kicking off his campaign with an event at noon Wednesday outside Bradenton City Hall -- complete with an official campaign  double decker bus.

The ballot for Nov. 6 election will be set at noon Friday, when the candidate qualifying period ends.

The qualifying period starts at noon Monday.

Buchanan: Fund-raising will pay for most of his TV ads

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan has a well established track record of when needed, dipping into his personal wealth to help finance his political campaigns. Already this cycle and facing a vigorous challenge from Democrat Keith Fitzgerald, he has loaned his campaign $250,000.

The possibility of Buchanan needing to kick in even more was raised this week when his media adviser said the campaign had reserved $4 million in television ad time in Tampa Bay and Sarasota, starting Aug. 1. As of March 31, he had a reported $1.47 million in cash on hand, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission.

On Friday, Buchanan told the Bradenton Herald's Sara Kennedy he expects he will be able to raise most of what he'll need for the advertising.

"We're going to look to raise most of it, it's our goal, so we're moving towards that," Buchanan said.