The primary contest in Sarasota County for the District 2 County Commission race is not yet decided, but the game of musical chairs set off by the contest has already started. Two Sarasota City Commissioners, Shannon Snyder and Paul Caragiulo, have both submitted their own resignation letters from their current posts, and both will have to vacate their own seats at City Hall regardless of which one advances to the general election in November. Got all that straight? Basically both quit their jobs on November 18 regardless of their fortune. But the real chasing of chairs begins this fall at City Hall when applicants apply to replace the two on the city board. While Sarasota’s city charter requires a supermajority vote to replace a commissioner who vacates their seat, with only three Sarasota City Commissioners remaining at City Hall it only takes a 2-1 vote to name a successor for Snyder or Caragiulo. The only requirement for the post is that new applicants live in the districts now represented by the departing officials. Sarasota City Commissioners Susan Chapman, Willie Shaw and Suzanne Atwell won’t tip their hats too much in terms of who they think should fill the seats. Of course, if a power hierarchy has been announced, it’s notable that Shaw was just named mayor and Chapman vice mayor, and most people figure those two will form a solid voting block. Also of note, of course, the three remaining commissioners at City Hall are all Democrats, while Snyder and Caragiulo are Republicans, so the political composition of the board could change dramatically if partisanship comes into play. And if you need one more wrench thrown in the gears, there are already rumors that, while Caragiulo and Snyder both have to be out of office by the same time, one of the commissioners might just leave their seat earlier just to prohibit a two-person voting block from getting to select 40 percent of the city board. Anyhow, the Republican primary for County Commission is August 26.

Tea Party hopeful Randy McLendon, who two years ago made an interesting race with Charles Hines for Sarasota County Commission, spent much of June openly pondering a race for Sarasota School Board. Tapping into many of the communication channels for fundraising and buzz generation, McLendon asked the political world via email if he should jump into a Sarasota School Board race this year. Espousing concerns about Common Core curriculum standards and fiscal management, he said he was considering the run not so much as a challenge to incumbent Jane Goodwin, who has filed for re-election, but to offer an alternative and present his own philosophies. “I have delayed as long as possible in deciding to do this because I know it will be an uphill battle,” he says. The feeling-out strategy worked, though, as McLendon within 72 hours had supporters pledging the funds for his qualifying fee. McLendon vowed through the same email chain to file to run during the first week of June, just weeks before the qualification deadline.

Henry “The Tunnel” Lawrence employed many different strategies during his time on the field with the National Football League. During his run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, the Democratic candidate has decided to keep open a number of downfield options. One of the most curious moves has been practically to run against Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett’s history of statements on voting access. On Lawrence’s Facebook page in March, he posted comments from Bennett’s days as a state senator when Bennett said voting “should not be easy” and the right was too often taken for granted. For Lawrence, it was an effort to encourage supporters to get registered and be vigilant about using their vote lest it be lost. Considering Buchanan’s own history—his narrow victory to be elected to Congress in 2006 amid allegations of lost votes cast on electronic voting machines—it’s an interesting choice to make poll access a major pillar of his campaign. Of course, Buchanan has been re-elected in landslides in three elections since his arrival in Washington, so this may simply be a Hail Mary pass trying to find an evasive end-zone.