The Aug. 23 primary election resolved which Republican will advance to the general election and likely take the Manatee County commission’s at-large District 6 seat.
And it may have put to rest some bad blood between two of the candidates for the seat.
Jason Bearden wrote in a Sept. 5 text message to The Islander that he wanted to drop his pursuit of a theft charge against County Commissioner Carol Whitmore following his primary election victory for the District 6 commission seat.
The potential charge stems from a June 11 incident wherein Whitmore, a Holmes Beach resident, collected and delivered three of Bearden’s campaign signs from private residential properties in the city to the Holmes Beach Police Department.
Bearden initially sought charges against Whitmore for the incident, so the Holmes Beach Police Department filed a capias request for the State Attorney’s Office to review.
The SAO review process can take months to complete but if the capias request was approved and second-degree misdemeanor charges were filed, Whitmore could have been arrested. If convicted, she would have faced up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Bearden, who raised $108,282, won the closed Republican primary with 28,011 votes, or 61.54% of the total vote.
Whitmore raised $139,576 and received 11,532 votes, or 25.33% of the vote, in her pursuit for a fifth term in office.
Carol Ann Felts raised $11,080 and received 5,977 votes, or 13.13% of the vote.
Without a Democratic candidate to face in the general election, Bearden is likely to become the county’s new district 6 commissioner.
He will face two nominal write-in candidates on the ballot Nov. 8.
Whitmore declined to comment to Islander readers in a Sept. 2 text message to The Islander reporter.