Thaxton to run for Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections in November

Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton will run for Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections in the fall election, according to Thaxton in a phone interview with the Pelican Press.

He will face current Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent, who was dealt criticism following commission approval of reprecincting at a May 22, commission meeting.

Thaxton raised more than $31,000 campaigning for the District 5 county commission seat as of April 9. However, the Division of Elections of the Florida Department of State requires that Thaxton send a notice to supporters, who've already donated to his commission campaign fund, about the change of status. His campaign must do so within 15 days and recipients have 30 days to respond about whether or not to withdraw their contributions.

A rare case, Thaxton is still working out the details of the decision and doing so without guidance from past elections, he said. "I've been involved in Sarasota County local campaigns for over 20 years and I can't think of a single example," he said.

As of April 2, Dent has raised $619.10 in her campaign for re-election. 

Thaxton made the decision to run for Supervisor of Elections more than three weeks after the Florida Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of term limits in a May 10, ruling that cut the Osprey native’s bid for a fourth term in the commission.

With regards to the monsoon of phone calls and emails following the announcement, Thaxton remarked that his day "has been pretty wild."

Contact Alex Mahadevan at [email protected].