Sargent, a District 2 challenger, brings in biggest ‘bundle’ of contributions — $10,000 from Lakewood Ranch entities
With the Florida Legislature having changed the law in 2023 regarding filing of campaign finance reports, only quarterly updates have been provided thus far to the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office in regard to the 2026 Sarasota County Commission races.
At the end of 2025, Mark Smith of Siesta Key, who is running for re-election to the District 2 seat, had received the largest amount of contributions of the five candidates, as noted in the records submitted to the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Smith’s total was $56,695, with expenses listed as $3,411.42.
The second board incumbent seeking re-election, Commissioner Joe Neunder of Venice, who represents District 4, had brought in a total of $46,815 by the end of 2025, with expenses adding up to $6,264.12.
One of Smith’s challengers, attorney Kristina Sargent of Sarasota, had received $25,351.06 in contributions, while her expenditures totaled $4,048.12.
Neither Smith’s other challenger, Andrew Bevan of Sarasota, nor Neunder’s opponent, Jim DeNiro of Nokomis, had raised any funds by the end of 2025, the Supervisor of Elections Office records show.
(See the related article in this issue.)
Mark Smith
Smith’s initial report, which reflected the period from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2025, noted a total of $8,980, with $143.23 in expenditures. His contributions ranged from $10 up to the maximum of $1,000.
That report showed that Hugh Culverhouse Jr., the developer of Palmer Ranch, had given Smith $7,000 through various companies, while Culverhouse’s wife added $500.
Mike Gatz, general manager of Gilligan’s Island Bar in Siesta Village, and Gatz’s wife, Crystal, gave Smith $500 apiece, the document also notes.
Most of Smith’s expenses involved Anedot, a New Orleans company that processes campaign contributions. The only other payment went to the Venice CPA firm of Robinson Gruters & Roberts, which is serving as his campaign treasurer. The Robinson is Eric, a former chair of the Republican Party of Sarasota County, while the Gruters is Joe, a state senator and the chair of the Republican National Committee.
Smith’s report for the second quarter of 2025 listed contributions adding up to $9,550 and expenses of $683.79.
Sarasota homebuilder John Cannon and his wife, Phillipa, gave Smith $4,000, contributing $1,000 apiece personally and the remainder from two company-related entities.
Javier Granthon, who has interests in several Siesta Key businesses, accounted for another $2,000, from a personal standpoint and from a company of which he is principal.
Further, Aledia and Mason Tush, co-owners of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, contributed $1,000 apiece to the campaign.
Prominent Sarasota attorney Morgan Bentley gave Smith $300, the document shows, and former Sarasota County Planning Commission member Paul Bispham, who also is on the Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), contributed $600.
In the third quarter of 2025, Smith added contributions of $11,010, plus $675 in in-kind support; his expenditures totaled $1,249.80.
In that report, Smith noted $1,000 apiece from retirees Robert and Anne Essner of Sarasota; Kenneth Schneier of Longboat Key; Stuart Barzman of Sarasota; and Ross Masters of Sarasota. Anne Essner is a member of the board of the nonprofit Architecture Sarasota.
Smith also received $1,000 from Bronco Road LLC of Bradenton and Oasis Landscape Architecture of Sarasota. As noted in the records of the Florida Division of Corporations, the manager of Bronco Road is Robert “Bo” Medred of Genesis Planning and Development, which routinely represents developers in land-use applications that come to the County Commission.
The Daiquiri Deck restaurants — two of which are on Siesta Key — gave Smith the in-kind contribution of $675 for food and beverages at a campaign event, the report indicated.
Smith’s biggest expenses were payments to the Robinson Gruters & Roberts CPA firm in Venice: $1,050.
During the fourth quarter of 2025, Smith reported raising $27,155 in monetary contributions and $1,000 in an in-kind contribution, with expenses adding up to $1,334.60.
The biggest contributor in that period was Siesta Key businessman Chris Brown, who gave Smith a total of $6,000 from four of his restaurants in Siesta Village, plus the Beach Club and Joe’s on Main in Sarasota, which used to be known as Smokin’ Joe’s.
The political action committee James Buchanan for Florida added $1,000, as did Diane Weaver of Sarasota, an insurance executive and leadership and management consultant; architect Ward Friszolowski of St. Pete Beach; the Harvard Jolly architectural firm of Sarasota; Sweet Sparkman Architects of Sarasota; and Philip Kellog, president of the Kellogg & Kimsey general contracting firm in Sarasota.
Attorney Morgan Bentley contributed another $300 to Smith that quarter, and land-use attorney Charlie Bailey, of Sarasota’s Williams Parker firm, gave Smith $500.
Additionally, Smith contributed $10,000 to his campaign.
Mullet Properties provided the $1,000 in an in-kind contribution for food and beverages at a campaign event. The principal of that company, as shown in Florida Division of Corporations records, is Freeman Mullet, who also is the registered agent of Mullet’s Aluminum Products.
Almost all of Smith’s expenditures in that quarter went either to the Robinson Gruters & Roberts CPA firm or to Anedot of New Orleans, the report shows. However, he made payments, as well, for his campaign website.
Kristina Sargent
In contrast to Smith, who filed for re-election in January 2025, Sargent, did not file for the race until Oct. 1, 2025. Thus, she had to submit only one quarter of campaign finance contributions by the end of last year, the Supervisor of Elections Office records show.
The address listed on Sargent’s fourth quarter filing is 527 E. Park Ave. in Tallahassee, which is the address of PAC Financial Management. Its website says that it offers “professional finance and compliance management.”
The largest contributor to Sargent’s campaign has been Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the developer of Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County and Lakewood Ranch Southeast in Sarasota County, and affiliated companies, the document shows. The total was $10,000.
In January 2025, as The Sarasota News Leader has reported, Smith and Commissioner Tom Knight voted against two rezoning petitions for Lakewood Ranch Southeast developments, stressing their concerns about the lack of sufficient capacity on Fruitville Road to serve four of Lakewood Ranch Southeast’s proposed project areas.
Then, in late February 2025, they opposed the rezoning of another Lakewood Ranch Southeast development area. That day, Commissioner Neunder joined them, which resulted in an agent for the Taylor Morrison home-building firm winning a continuance of that hearing. Finally, in May 2025, that rezoning won the approval of all of the commissioners except Smith.
Sargent received $1,000 contributions, as well, from the following: attorney Patrick McArdle of Sarasota; accounting manager Mary Samuels of Sarasota; the Castro Law firm in Bradenton, whose principal is Luis Castro; attorney Michael Biddle of St. Petersburg; Manny Noya of Forest Hill, Md.; and Intelliconnect LLC, which lists a Hyde Park Street address in Sarasota. The Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office website says that the Brian A. Schaffer Trust and trustee Brian A. Schaffer own that Hyde Park Street parcel, the News Leaderlearned; they purchased the property for $1,257,000 in June 2023. Schaffer is listed as the president of Intelliconnect LLC on its website.
Another $1,000 contribution listed on Sargent’s form was attributed to postal worker Colton Edward Phipps of Sarasota. His address is that of a property that Sargent owns, as noted in the Property Appraiser’s Office records, the News Leader learned. The address is the only one attached to Sargent’s name, the News Leader found in searching the Property Appraiser’s Office website. Sargent purchased the parcel for $525,000 in December 2023, the records note.
As a former prosecutor, Sargent’s address is protected from disclosure in public records. The “Protected Voter” notation is shown next to a $100 contribution she made to her campaign and in-kind payments of $203.88 for “websites & marketing” and $17.18 related to the domain name of her website.
Former Sarasota city Commissioner Erik Arroyo, who also is an attorney, gave $500 to Sargent, the form shows.
The largest single expense that Sargent reported on the form was $2,000 to Seagrape Strategies LLC of Sarasota for campaign consulting. She also paid $1,765.94 to PAC Financial Management for services as her campaign treasurer. Most of the other expenses were service charges related to Anedot’s processing of contributions.
Joe Neunder
Having filed for re-election in February 2025, Neunder — like Smith — submitted a report to the Supervisor of Elections Office for each quarter of 2025.
His initial document listed total contributions of $6,000, $5,000 of which came from Dave Balot, co-owner of the Siesta Key Beach Resort and Suites in Siesta Village, who also won County Commission approval in 2022 to construct a hotel on Midnight Pass Road on the Key. Balot used limited liability companies for $4,000 of the contributions.
Michael Holderness, a co-owner of Siesta Key Beach Resort & Suites, gave Neunder $1,000, too.
Neunder also noted $40.30 in expenses, all of which went to Anedot for processing contributions.
In the second quarter of 2025, Neunder added $35,715 in contributions and paid $1,669.56 in expenses.
Siesta businessman Chris Brown gave Neunder a total of $7,000 through a number of limited liability companies and a personal contribution, the document shows. Javier Granthon, who long has been a business parter of Brown, added $1,000.
John Cannon and his wife, Phillipa, along with two entities related to John Cannon Homes, gave Neunder a total of $4,000.
Rick Munroe, who has multiple business interests on Siesta Key, gave Neunder a total of $3,000, the form shows. The $1,000 contributions came from his Siesta Key restaurant, Sun Garden Café; Munroe Consulting Group of Siesta Key; and RM Parking Solutions of Siesta Key.
Dido Holdings LLC, whose principal is Jaime DiDomenico of Nokomis, and DiDomenico himself contributed $1,000 apiece.
Neunder received $2,000 from American Management Solutions LLC, whose principal is Francine J. Krejci in Palm Harbor; $1,000 was from the company itself, while Kara Brandy, whose address is the same as that of American Management, added $1,000.
Neunder received $1,000 apiece from Realtor Marty Rauch of Sarasota; retiree Michael Cloonen of Palmer, Texas; Williams National LLC of Lakewood Ranch, a legal consulting firm whose registered agent is Rocket Lawyer Corporate Services LLC in Tallahassee, with its principal address in San Francisco; Clayton W. Taylor, who is listed as a “medical technology board executive”; Zoom National LLC, a golf cart rental company in Sarasota whose registered agent is in Naples; Rebecca Keiver, an insurance executive and Siesta Key property owner; Guardian Fleet Services Inc. of West Palm Beach; Barbara Lancer of Siesta Key; Robfletch Inc. of Tampa, a towing services firm; and the Grimes Galvano law firm in Bradenton. One of the principals of that firm is former Florida Senate President Bill Galvano, who has appeared before the County Commission on behalf of clients including Michael Holderness of Siesta Key and Schroeder-Manatee Ranch.
Neunder also received $500 from businessman Henry Rodriguez of Nokomis through Rodriguez’s property management company Sarasotaville of Siesta Key LLC.
As for expenditures: Like Sargent, Neunder is using PAC Financial Management in Tallahassee to serve as his treasurer. His biggest second-quarter payment was $1,562.45 to that firm, the document shows. All of his other payments went to Anedot.
In the third quarter of 2025, Neunder added $5,100 to his campaign “kitty,” and he paid $1,829.26 in expenses, that document says.
He received $1,000 during that period from each of the following: Mabry Carlton Ranch Inc. in Sidell; The Gerber Law Group in Venice, a personal injury firm; and Sarasota retiree Tom Shapiro, a member of the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties.
The Chapman Law Group in Sarasota, which handles health care issues, was among those who gave Neunder $500 during the third quarter of 2025. Another $500 contributor was Robyn Marinelli, a member of the Sarasota County School Board.
That document also showed that Neunder made a payment of $1,725 to PAC Financial Management in the third quarter of 2025.
Neunder listed no contributions for the fourth quarter of 2025, though he had expenses of $2,725, all of which went to PAC Financial Management, that form notes.