County Commissioners (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota: home, neighborhood, buying)

[beach43ofus]

Can anyone confirm for me the party affiliation of this areas County Commissioners? It's not as easy to find as you might think.

Are all 5 Sarasota County Commissioners Republicans?

Are 6 of 7 Manatee County Commissioners Republicans?

I read on the Patch that Trump won both Counties by a comfortable margin, is that correct?

I didn't realize this area was so conservative. All the Democratic Party controlled State auto tags I'm seeing led me to believe otherwise. I'm unsure how to reconcile that.

[craigiri]

Easy.

A LOT of the people actually paying the bills don't move their domicile to Florida - but pay taxes, own property and may live there many months a year.
Year-round locals have tended republican - which makes sense since they are usually pro-development (make money from it) etc., etc.....

"In 2008, Obama lost Sarasota (county) by about 200 votes"

"n the Tampa Bay region, Obama once again carried Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, by a 6-point margin, receiving over 13,000 more votes than he won in 2008. Obama also won Pinellas County, home to St. Petersburg, by a 52%-46.5% margin"

Area is solid purple - would be light blue if actual property owners voted, but many don't. We, for example, won't move our domicile as we would rather pay into the system up north where we get better medical coverage, etc - and everyone isn't out to rip off seniors. Numerous friends also feel the same way.

So, it's a toss-up. Trump is a NYC limo-liberal so his popularity has little to do with "conservatism" or the GOP. It's only that people down here don't know who he is (people who did, like in NYC, NJ, and CT all voted against him)....

So, long story short - purple in the entire area from Tampa down to SRQ......and, IMHO, leaning more toward light blue but that depends on whether new residents move their voting registrations.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Gibson345

Nay, Manatee County is, and has been conservative for decades...SRQ is a mixed bag

But isn't 5 out of 5 Sarasota County Commissioners Republican? Am I right on that? If I am, how is that a mixed bag? Trump carried Sarasota County by a wide margin...right? I'm not seeing any mixed bag or Purple at all in the geography of this forum. It's solid Republican.

[craigiri]

Originally Posted by Gibson345

Nay, Manatee County is, and has been conservative for decades...SRQ is a mixed bag

https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/...nty-and-party/

Yes, even Sarasota county has a sold GOP majority.

It would be interesting to know how many non-voters are homeowners in both places - and to do informal polling of them.

But it's a truism that the greater Tampa area can easily swing the state in statewide or federal elections - since most are within 1-2% or less.

It would be an interesting study to see if there are any trends in any of these fast growing places - that is, if new residents vote differently than the "natives".

[beach43ofus]

I heard from a lady at a place that issues voter registation cards in Sarasota County's largest city, North Port, that North Port's very Conservative, as are most of it's new residents. She wouldn't throw out any percentages, but just said "almost all" the new voter ID's she issues are issued to Republicans.

Many people use the term "Red Neck" when referring to North Ports swelling population. I dont see the West Villages as being "Red Neck" however.

I think North Port is more Conservative than the City of Sarasota is Liberal, and North Port has more voters and its growth rate is larger.

I still find it shocking that North Port is so much more populated than Sarasota, and growing so much faster. If that trend continues, this forum's area will be growing increasingly Conserviative for years to come.

[CaptCephus]

Not really surprising about NP, it's not really surprising about Mana or SRQ either...heck most every neighbor on my street is registered as a Republican according to the voter published data. Most are center-right, and a small portion are center-left, but few are raving lunatics of the left, or lunatics on the right.


As far as a net forum goes, who really knows what political bent they really have in the first place? it's just a very very small snapshot of who even knows what cd is in the first place. I guess the worst thing a person can do is to believe that everybody must think the same, whether it's on the right or on the left. It doesn't work that way. On other social platforms however, it's pretty clear that the operators of those platforms have a left-leaning personal/corporate agenda unlike the middle majority of their users...the same thing exists on college campuses and even high schools today....not to mention most graduate schools where the students get spoonfed a diet of leftist thought to the intentional exclusion of competing theory/examination.


Northport of course is one of the largest landmass cities in the US and is growing quickly. It used to be *thought of* by the elistist residing in the City of Sarasota, as a bit "redneck"....not any more for sure....but back in the day even Englewood was thought to be redneck/lower class. Things change...political winds shift (just look at 2016 in the US).

[twinkletwinkle22]

I don't have to look at a map to know whether an area voted blue or red, if there is a college or university it will lean blue, if no college or university in the area it will be red.

The older the voter's age the more conservative the voting except for historically liberal areas such as Southeast Florida which has many NY and NJ retirees. I don't think they watch Fox News.

[beach43ofus]

twinkle,
While there are several colleges in this forum's area, but none major.

I have confirmed however, that 11 of 12 County commissioners in this forum's area are Republicans. Also, that Trump won both County's that this forum encompasses by a wide margin.

In the last General election, Republicans won every race. Here's a link to all those results:

Local Election Results: Sarasota County - News - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL

How does this impact people potentially moving to the area covered by this forum specifically?

According to this New York Times article (see link below), (I'm paraphrasing here so please read the article for precise verbage) when home buyers are making decisions on where to buy, they choose places where they they feel people are much like themselves, and the social fabric should be considered moreso than the physical structure they are buying. The article mentions President Trump, so the columnist must feel politics are now, or should be, part of this decision framework.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/o...-decision.html

I'm wondering if the heavy Republican makeup of the County Commission, or political landscape as a whole in this specific forum area, is being taken into consideration, as the New York Times article claims they are, or should?

What do you all think? Is this columnist off base? Do people care about the political landscape of the area they are considering buying in? To what extent? Or, are politics and religion just something people keep to themselves?

I have not had anyone ask me about religion since moving here, but we have had people come right out and ask us point blank if we voted for Trump, or not. Not just 1 or 2 either. We find this unusual, especially since we just met them.

In Georgia, where we came from, that just isn't done so abruptly.

[MattMN]

I don't think people move to nor avoid this area based on politics. I don't think someone will choose North Port over Sarasota because NP is more conservative, nor vice versa. I don't think that makes the NYT writer off-base, because politics is one small part of the article. And politics might make a bigger difference elsewhere.

For example, I've seen on other CD forums where people really are motivated to move based on politics. But it's not usually neighborhood-specific nor necessarily city-specific. It's conservatives tired of living in a high-tax and progressive state. Or liberals tired of being in a super conservative gun-slinging state.

My guess is Manatee and Sarasota counties are drawing a high number of more wealthy retirees. And in general, higher-wealth individuals, or even older individuals, tend to be more conservative on the political spectrum. (Please note "in general", as obviously there are many this does not apply to.) Thus, your Republican-leaning pockets in this area.

Lastly, I do find it odd someone would outright ask you if you voted for Trump, unless you were having a specific political discussion. I have not encountered that at all, either at work nor in my social gatherings nor anywhere else. I know we have folks on both sides of the political spectrum in our neighborhood, and we all get along great and find plenty of other things to talk about.

[beach43ofus]

Thx for sharing Matt. It smacked us right in the face when we were asked about how we voted. It wasn't at a political rally or anything like that either...once in a model home, once at a neighborhood sporting event, and once at the pool.

I think these people are what you describe as "conservatives tired of living in a high-tax and progressive state" and they are so over zealous about it, they feel they no longer have to keep their political leanings under wraps anymore. They were so badly outnumbered where they came from, they learned to keep quiet. Now that they are here in a much more conservative area, they want to tell the World.