Incumbent Jen Ahearn-Koch dominated the five-way Sarasota City Commission primary on Tuesday, winning 15 of 16 city precincts and collecting more votes than Harshman and Rominiecki combined as she seeks a third term.
Ahearn-Koch, neighborhood advocate Flo Entler and commercial real estate broker John Harshman all advanced to the Nov. 3 general election, where two at-large seats will be decided. The winners will be sworn in Nov. 6 for four-year terms.
Eliminated from the race were Rob Rominiecki, a former Guggenheim Museum security director, and Yevgeny Khodorkovsky, a software engineer who filed one day before the qualifying deadline.
Ahearn-Koch's lead tops 34% as Entler edges out Harshman
With 83 of 98 Sarasota County precincts reporting as of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Ahearn-Koch led with 5,904 votes, or 34.57%, according to Your Observer's results tracker. Entler followed with 4,968 votes, or 29.09%. Harshman finished third, and Khodorkovsky trailed the field with 573 votes, or 3.35%.
Countywide turnout stood at 29.27%, with 86,225 ballots counted out of 328,751 registered voters as of the July 20 book closing.
Entler outpaced Harshman by about 11 percentage points despite being outraised by $16,513, according to Suncoast Searchlight's analysis. Harshman's lone precinct win came on Siesta Key, where he edged Entler by eight votes.
Parking fight and arts center funding await the new commission
At least one new commissioner is guaranteed. Mayor Debbie Trice, who holds one of the two seats up for election, is not seeking reelection.
The race is officially nonpartisan, but party organizations have chosen sides. The Sarasota County Democratic Party endorsed Ahearn-Koch and Entler; the Sarasota County Republican Party backed Harshman and Rominiecki, according to a Sarasota Magazine candidate profile published in July.
The next commission will face decisions on an $88 million taxpayer share of a proposed performing arts center, a new downtown sound ordinance and master plan, the city's ongoing parking shortfall and continued debates over real estate development.
The parking issue loomed large over the campaign. The commission voted unanimously in August to rescind extended downtown paid-parking hours after intense merchant backlash, including testimony that one sandwich shop lost $10,000 in monthly sales.
"If something's not happening, it's because we're not doing our job," Ahearn-Koch said in a July Sarasota Magazine profile, when asked who bears responsibility for recent commission controversies including the parking hours and a stalled downtown master plan.
Harshman, who founded commercial real estate firm Harshman & Co. in 1989, raised the most money of the five candidates. About one-third of his fundraising came from individuals or groups tied to real estate.
General election set for Nov. 3, registration closes Oct. 5
The general election is Nov. 3. Voter registration books close Oct. 5.
