Kevin Van Ostenbridge
To get to the final race, Manatee County Commissioners George Kruse and Kevin Van Ostenbridge must win their semifinal — the Republican primary set for Aug. 20.
Kruse is the incumbent in the contest for the District 7 at-large seat on the board of county commissioners. Van Ostenbridge, who holds the seat on the commission representing District 3, is the challenger in the closed GOP primary.
Van Ostenbridge was seeking reelection in District 3, the west Manatee County area that includes Anna Maria Island, but in late May he switched things up and filed to run against Kruse.
George Kruse
The winner Aug. 20 will face Democrat Sari Lindroos-Valimaki and write-in candidate Nathan Meyer in the Nov. 5 general election.
Van Ostenbridge’s campaign, at kvo2024.com, describes the candidate as a third-generation Floridian who “has lived, worked and volunteered in west Bradenton for most of his life.”
He’s worked in real estate, owned an excursion company and coached football at Manatee High School.
District 3 voters elected Van Ostenbridge to the commission in 2020 and, on AMI, he became well known for picking a fight with Holmes Beach officials over public parking and his determination to see a parking garage built at Manatee Public Beach despite city regulations that prohibit such a structure.
Now Van Ostenbridge is seeking election to a countywide seat, campaigning under the banner “Principled. Conservative. Leadership” and with about $238,344 in political contributions.
Kruse also is campaigning as a conservative leader but with a lot less cash — his political contributions, at $65,539, don’t come close to Van Ostenbridge’s money, which largely comes from developers and support from PACs.
Kruse, also elected in 2020, has lived in the area since the mid-1980s and in Manatee County since 2008.
His career is in commercial real estate finance.
At his campaign website, votekruse.com, Kruse pledges to “continue to bring a private sector business approach to solving challenges like smart growth and responsible budgeting to the county commission. We need to bring common sense conservative policies and a public voice back to our board.”