Holmes Beach sees newcomer win city commission seat in Tuesday election

UPDATE: 1:13 P.M. 11/5 HOLMES BEACH, Fla. (WWSB) - Voters in Holmes Beach elected a newcomer to the city commission Tuesday, with Jessica Patel winning one of three open seats in a four-candidate race.

Incumbent commissioners Steve Olick and Terry Schaefer retained their positions, according to unofficial results. Patel’s victory means incumbent Carol Sustek will not return to the commission.

Nearly 950 ballots were cast in Holmes Beach, representing about 42% voter turnout, officials said.

The Holmes Beach race was among the most competitive in Manatee County on Tuesday, with four candidates competing for three city commission positions.

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UPDATE 8:11 P.M. 11/4 HOLMES BEACH, Fla. (WWSB) - Voters across Anna Maria Island cast ballots for city commission seats.

Steven Oelfke, Jessica Patel, and Terry W. Schaefer have been elected.

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HOLMES BEACH, Fla. (WWSB) - Voters across Anna Maria Island are casting ballots Tuesday for city commission seats, with the most competitive race in Holmes Beach, where four candidates are vying for three open positions.

Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Scott Farrington said turnout has been strong, reaching nearly 30% by mid-morning with more than 300 people voting at the polls since they opened at 7 a.m.

“Many of those were vote-by-mails,” Farrington said during a phone interview. “But we’ve had over 300 already go to the polls today.”

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The Island Branch Library on Holmes Beach serves as the single polling location for Tuesday’s election, with voting continuing until 7 p.m.

Holmes Beach has three city commission seats on the ballot with four candidates competing: Steven Oelfke, Jessica Patel, Terry W. Schaefer, and Carol Soustek.

“This election today will decide which of those candidates will get to be the city commissioners,” Farrington said.

Residents who requested vote-by-mail ballots must return them to the Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday for their votes to count.

“If they’re hanging on to it, they either should decide to go to their precinct or they’re going to have to drive it into our office because it’s too late to put it into the mail to get to us by 7 p.m. tonight,” Farrington said.

Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach residents are also voting on city commission seats on Tuesday.

Farrington said he was excited about the strong voter turnout on what he called “a beautiful day to go vote.”