MANATEE COUNTY – Manatee County Supervisor of Elections candidates Scott Farrington and James Satcher squared off in a June 19 debate hosted by the Lakewood Ranch Republican Club. After the debate, both candidates issued debate-related campaign messages.
In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Satcher to serve the remaining months of the four-year Supervisor of Elections term that Mike Bennett vacated when he retired in March. Satcher was serving as the District 1 county commissioner at the time. Farrington, then the Supervisor of Elections Chief of Staff, also sought the gubernatorial appointment and resigned from office the day it was awarded to Satcher.
With no Democratic candidate entered in the race, the winner of the Aug. 20 Republican primary election will serve as Supervisor of Elections for the next four years.
When non-party-affiliated candidate Thomas Dell joined the race as a write-in, the Supervisor of Elections primary race became closed to all but registered Republican voters. Because of Dell’s actions, Democrat and non-party-affiliated voters can’t vote in the closed primary. Dell also served as a primary-closing write-in candidate in 2020 and 2012.
Opening remarks
Lakewood Ranch Republican Club Vice President Bruce Stamm moderated the debate, asking questions club members submitted in advance.
During his opening remarks, Satcher said, “I came into politics kicking and screaming. My background is in ministry and that’s not something I’m ashamed of.”
Satcher noted he received 66% of the District 1 votes cast in the 2020 election and was one of the county commission’s most conservative leaders during his time in office.
“On April 12th, the governor of Florida appointed me the Supervisor of Elections and I’m proud to serve in that capacity,” he added.
Farrington said he worked in the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office for 10 years before spending the past 11 years working in the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections office and serving as Bennett’s chief of staff.
“I’m going to venture a guess that most of you voted in Manatee County before and I’m also going to say you had a good experience in that process and you trusted that when you cast that ballot, that ballot was counted the way you intended. Mike Bennett, myself and the staff at the elections office did that for 11 years with the highest level of integrity, the highest level of security and that’s what experience gets you. It also gets it to you on a budget, without cutting corners.”
Debate topics
The first question Stamm posed sought the name of the candidates’ campaign consultants and consulting firms.
Satcher refused to divulge the name of his campaign consultant and said, “I’m tempted not to answer that question. I don’t know what it has to do with my performance as the Supervisor of Elections. Sure, I have a political consultant.”
Satcher’s Appointment of Campaign Treasurer form lists Wendy White as his campaign treasurer. White shares the same Tampa address as political consultant Anthony Pedicini’s Strategic Image Management (SIMWINS) consulting firm. According to Satcher’s June 15 campaign treasurer’s report, his campaign paid Pedicini’s SIMWINS consulting firm $40,000 on June 1.
Satcher, Kevin Van Ostenbridge, George Kruse and Vanessa Baugh utilized Pedicini’s services during their successful 2020 county commission campaigns and White is currently serving as campaign treasurer for Van Ostenbridge, fellow county commission candidates April Culbreath, Ray Turner and Steve Metallo and school board candidate Jonathan Lynch.
After noting that Satcher didn’t answer the question, Farrington said Bennett and one of Bennett’s past associates have provided consultation in an unofficial capacity.
When asked about the experience they’d bring to the elections office, Satcher said, “My experience was in ministry. My experience after that was the county commission.”
Farrington said while working in the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office he earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in information systems management from the University of South Florida. He’s also received a Master Florida Election Certified Professional certificate from the state of Florida and a Certified Election Registrar and Administrator certificate from The National Association of Election Professionals.
The candidates were asked what single change they’d make to the voting process if given total autonomy to do so.
Farrington said he would extend early voting through Election Day rather than ending it the weekend before Election Day.
“If you vote on Election Day, you have to go to your precinct, whether it’s convenient for you or not on that day. I would like to extend it through Election Day and then you could go to whatever precinct was most convenient,” Farrington said.
“I believe we should have a national holiday on Election Day and we should go back to everyone voting on Election Day,” Satcher said, noting that overseas military personnel and those with illnesses and other circumstances could still use absentee ballots.
“I think we’d be better off if we were all voting in person,” Satcher said.
Stamm noted the Florida Division of Elections recently presented a report to the Florida Legislature that stated there were very few issues and complaints associated with the 2020 and 2016 general elections in Manatee County. Stamm also mentioned Satcher’s recent request to the county commission to increase the elections office budget and his desire to implement the Clear Ballot ballot imagery system prior to the November election.
Stamm asked what, if any, election issues need to be addressed.
“No system that requires human input is perfect,” Farrington said. “I’ve always said elections would be great if we could take the voters out of it. They would be perfect, ”Farrington joked, prompting laughter from the crowd.
“But I am unaware of any circumstance or issue that garnered the scrutiny that would require security measures beyond what we have in place,” he added.
Regarding the Clear Ballot system, Satcher said, “If we have systems in place that the liberals can’t come against and can’t argue there’s anything wrong with them, what’s wrong with having a picture of every single ballot that’s cast? We need to have confidence in this election.”
Closing remarks
During closing remarks, Satcher said, “The Supervisor of Elections office is really the area that we need to be safeguarding across the state, across the nation and obviously here in Manatee County.”
Regarding the closed primary race, Satcher said, “Every left-wing journalist across Manatee County, they’re only putting out one side of the story and then at the end they say if you want to switch your registration, you can. They want liberals to vote in my election to skew my election the other way. Over and over and over again they’re encouraging election interference, telling Democrats to swap parties and then saying you can still vote however you want in November.”
Farrington then said, “This race is a primary race and it’s a primary race because a write-in filed. That write-in closed the primary, so that means only Republicans can vote. I believe the Supervisor of Elections represents all voters. Elections are not Republican. They are not Democrat. They do not belong to either party. They belong to all voters. If you want to be able to trust your election, you need to be able to trust that the Supervisor of Elections is not bent one way or the other. Every voter, despite party, should have had an opportunity to vote on who they want their supervisor to be.”
Post-debate comments
On June 24 and 25, the Satcher campaign distributed a campaign message focused on a single comment Farrington made during the debate: “Elections would be great if we could take the voters out of it.”
Satcher’s campaign message said, “You read that right. Big government bureaucrat Scott Farrington believes you are the problem with our elections. Scott Farrington thinks your vote shouldn’t count. He’s just like the liberals. Don’t let Scott Farrington steal your vote.”
On June 25, Farrington posted a response at his campaign Facebook page: “I hesitate to even acknowledge the negative ‘ads’ sent via text and email to voters in Manatee County. Many of you have reached out with your own thoughts on these types of campaigns and misleading tactics.
“I have served voters in Manatee County for over a decade. And I have done that with integrity and transparency – always with the voter in mind. I said from the beginning that I would run my campaign based on my experience and ability to do the job. This kind of negative campaigning does not change that.
“I encourage you to watch the entire debate. You can determine for yourself who has the competence, the integrity and the knowledge to protect your elections and your vote.
“The debate starts at the 26-minute mark and the specific question and answer section that was taken entirely out of context for an attack ad starts at the 1:07 mark,” Farrington stated.
The debate video can be found here.
Party affiliation
Non-Republican voters who wish to vote in the Aug. 20 Republican primary that will also determine or help determine the winners of multiple county commission races can legally and easily change their party affiliation at the state-run Register To Vote Florida website before the July 22 deadline.
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