A race is on in Bradenton Beach.
Candidate qualifying for the general election ended at noon June 17 and, in Bradenton Beach, there is a two-person race for one commission seat and no contest for a second seat.
In Ward 4
Incumbent Commissioner Ralph Cole will face challenger David Galuszka for the Ward 4 seat.
Galuszka, born in Michigan and raised in Las Vegas, has lived in Bradenton Beach since May 2019, when he retired from the U.S. Air Force after serving 20 years.
Galuska ran for mayor in 2021, losing to incumbent John Chappie 242-106.
Cole is an island businessman who has served three terms as a commissioner. However, his terms were not consecutive. He was elected in 2015 for Ward 3, appointed to a one-year term in 2017, elected in 2018 and again in 2020.
In Ward 2
Incumbent Marilyn Maro qualified to run and faces no opponent for her Ward 2 seat.
Still, her ability to retain her seat will be determined at the polls because voters will decide a number of charter questions on the ballot, including whether to eliminate term limits.
Maro has served as Ward 2 commissioner for three consecutive terms. She was appointed to a two-year term in 2016 and was elected in 2018 and again in 2020.
Currently, commissioners and the mayor have two-year terms with a limit of three consecutive terms. The city is the only one on the island with term limits for elected officials.
In the spring, the commission appointed a committee to consider and propose changes to the charter.
The committee recommended asking voters to eliminate term limits and, on May 19, commissioners voted to accept the recommendation.
Now it is up to the electorate to decide the question.
If voters eliminate term limits, then Maro, who is about to term out, will stay in office.
If the vote for the elimination of term limits fails, Maro will not be able to return to the dais as an elected official.
If term limits are not eliminated, the commission can appoint a candidate. In 2017, after Cole lost his race for reelection, the commission appointed him to fill the seat left vacant by John Chappie, who was elected mayor.