Former Manatee commissioner sues another commissioner for defamation

Former District 3 Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge went head-to-head with Commissioner George Kruse in 2024 in a run for the District 7 seat.

Kruse won by a wide margin. And now, according to a lawsuit he filed Nov. 27, 2024, he’s placing some of the blame on Kruse’s predecessor in District 7, Betsy Benac.

Benac held the seat for eight years before deciding to step down in 2020. In 2024, Benac reentered the political realm but not on the campaign trail. The Republican was listed as the registered agent of a nonpartisan Political Action Committee called Take Back Manatee that raised about $34,000. 

Van Ostenbridge is seeking damages in excess of $100,000. He was advised by his attorney, Robert Alex Andrade with Moore, Hill & Westmoreland, P.A., not to comment because the filing speaks for itself. 

Benac was served on Jan. 10. She hasn't retained an attorney yet, but plans to because she won't "give in to bullies." 

"To me, this is a frivolous lawsuit," she said. "People should be outraged by this kind of action, but from what I've been told, it's very common for Anthony Pedicini's clients to do this."

Kruse called the lawsuit ridiculous, spiteful, a scare tactic and an attack on citizens. 

“Manatee County and the citizens came up with a blueprint for beating their games,” he said. “They (Van Ostenbridge and his political consultant Anthony Pedicini) don’t want other people to realize that people on a bipartisan basis, working together and becoming informed, can beat their money and attack ads.” 

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Both the political action committee and Benac are named in the complaint for defamation, which alleges that a mailer, distributed by the political action committee, contained false statements about Van Ostenbridge.

Benac said Take Back Manatee had hundreds of volunteers, who simply expressed their First Amendment rights about a commissioner running for reelection. 

"It's crazy to me," she said. "Kevin Van Ostenbridge called me the 'C' word in a public record, yet he's going to try to claim that I personally defamed him."

The mailer’s headline reads, “8 things Kevin Van Ostenbridge doesn’t want you to know.” Van Ostenbridge disputes five out of the eight claims. 

He does not dispute that Manatee County’s budget and debt both doubled during his term or that he wanted “to use federal tax dollars to build a tent city.”

He does dispute that he tried to stop a veteran housing project, weaponized the government for personal gain, surrendered local sovereignty and destroyed wetlands, silenced public comment and championed corrupt staff and grew big government.

Andrade originally sent a cease and desist letter to Benac on Aug. 15, 2024, five days before the primary elections. 

The letter also included a demand to “issue an immediate press release retracting and apologizing for the false statements” and to “distribute a retraction containing language we approve, which will include the names of all individuals responsible for creating and funding the mailer.” 

Benac responded on election day, Aug. 20, labeling the complaint a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation because it was an "attempt to silence political speech on matters of public importance in advance of an upcoming election." 

Florida Statute prohibits SLAPP lawsuits. 

“Since the statements in the mailer were substantially true, there is no need for any retraction,” Benac wrote in her response. 

“Substantially true” are key words already being debated. Andrade wrote in the complaint that Benac exhibited her understanding that the statements were false and "taunted" Van Ostenbridge by claiming his status as a public figure allowed her to publish false statements. 

Benac fired back that "substantial truth is an absolute and complete defense to defamation."

"Mr. Van Ostenbridge's actions, words and votes are being criticized entirely under the umbrella of free speech protections within Florida law," the letter read. 

The mailer cited news sources for each of the eight statements about Van Ostenbridge. 

“(Van Ostenbridge and Pedicini) are all about the Constitution until it comes to the First Amendment,” Kruse said. “They hate that amendment unless they can hide behind it themselves.” 

Kruse compared Pedicini’s campaign against Supervisor of Elections Scott Farrington to Benac’s campaign against Van Ostenbridge.

Saying Farrington didn’t want the public to vote was an “egregious mischaracterization of what was actually said — a bold faced lie.” Saying Van Ostenbridge “fought against a veteran housing project is actually correct.” 

“They’re not mad that somebody lied about them; they’re mad that somebody told the truth about them,” Kruse said.