A fourth player has entered the race for the Manatee Board of County Commissioners’ District 3 seat.
Bradenton resident Jeffrey Gray filed candidate forms June 3 with the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office, signaling his intent to run as a write-in candidate for the District 3 commission seat this November.
District 3 covers the western side of the county, including all of Anna Maria Island and part of Longboat Key.
County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge currently holds the District 3 seat and initially filed for reelection but recently redesignated his campaign to run for the District 7 at-large commission seat.
George Kruse, Republican, is the incumbent in the D-7 seat, representing the entire county and he has committed to running for reelection.
Gray, who had not reported any contributions or expenditures to the SEO as of June 8, will join three others in the race to claim Van Ostenbridge’s seat.
Gray listed “closeflprimaries@gmail.com” as his campaign’s email address, according to the SEO’s website, votemanatee.com.
This year’s commission election will have a closed primary Aug. 20 to determine which of the qualified Republican candidates make it to the Nov. 5 general election.
The Republican primary has a contest between Talha “Tal” Siddique and April Culbreath. Culbreath flipped her campaign from the District 7 race to District 3 after Van Ostenbridge made his switch.
Meanwhile, Diana Shoemaker was running unopposed for the Democratic nomination as of June 8, and a primary will not be needed unless another Democrat qualifies for the nomination.
Gray contributed $20 to Culbreath’s campaign Mach 29, when she was still running for the at-large District 7 seat, according to financial reports.
Gray did not respond to a June 8 call from The Islander.
Manatee County commissioners earn a $98,743 annual salary and serve a four-year term.
The window to qualify for the District 3 county commission seat opened June 10, as The Islander went to press, and will close at noon Friday, June 14.