As Sarasota County becomes more firmly Republican, infighting has reached new heights within the local GOP. That’s on bright display now as competing voter guides hit voters’ mailboxes, neither one of them connected to the official Republican party but both claiming to know the “real” Republicans running in local races.

One mailer bears the branding of the America First SWFL Caucus and the Sarasota County Republican Assembly. Another contains preferences of the MAGA Committee. There’s almost no overlap in the slates supported by each group, and the local party has firmly disavowed a connection.

“These misleading ‘Republican’ groups spamming you do not have the GOP's best interests at heart and we encourage all Republicans to make their own, informed decisions,” wrote Jack Brill, chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota, in the latest newsletter to members.

So how did Republicans find themselves in this place? It seems to be a mix of the consequences of wild success coupled with a complete loss of authority on who can bestow the imprimatur of conservatism in the year 2024.

The success is the easy part to document. For those who have known this county for more than a minute, it feels not so long ago Sarasota seemed to be a purple county. Sure, the party hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since Harry Truman, but Barack Obama came within 220 votes of doing that barely 15 years ago. It felt then like Sarasota would increasingly be a state battleground. Rather, 2008 now seemed the zenith in Sarasota’s blueness in the modern era.

As of June 30, Sarasota’s 153,370 registered Republicans dramatically outnumbered its 85,531 Democrats by almost a two-to-one margin.

But that’s just talking about Republicans as a mass of people. With that sort of advantage in numbers, are the political battles in the region even right versus left anymore? The dueling mailers suggest otherwise.

Insiders will spot who is behind each ad immediately. The MAGA Committee wants to retain state Rep. James Buchanan, R-Venice, and keep a group of Sarasota Public Hospital Board incumbents and allies. The America First mailer would replace Buchanan with far-right challenger Michelle Pozzie and install a group of anti-vaxxers who have compared hospital doctors to prison guards.

But the America First group also sides with controlled growth county commission candidates Alex Coe and Tom Knight, while the MAGA favors business community favorites Teresa Mast and Neil Rainford. The Republican Assembly’s Conni Brunni said nearly every candidate sought out the group’s support, and only now that a slate is advertised are folks furious. 

Both mailers seem to imply support from former (and maybe future) President Donald Trump, employing the America First and MAGA branding he made popular. The truth is, the man running to be leader of the free world likely has no interest in the make-up of local land-use boards.

The slates are in agreement only on races where there’s a clear party favorite like Rick Scott, or a single party option like Mike Moran for Tax Collector. But on anything where there’s intra- party debate, the Assembly ballot favors disrupting as many apple carts as possible while the MAGA slate feels like vetted establishment choices. For the record, the MAGA committee seems tied to consultant Anthony Pedicini who said he’s gotten no significant pushback from the party.

I imagine plenty of voters see candidates they prefer on both lists, but the goal of either mailer seems to send a message that resonates beyond any single contest. There’s a fight underway over exactly who controls the political machinery in this county.

That fight has already extended into the courts. The county party has sued former officers of the America First SWFL Caucus over some $8,000 worth of party assets. Some expect the party to take action on the mailers. But while a judge may help clarify who controls the voter databases and party logos, a nastier fight awaits on the trail to determine who controls the meaning of Republicanism in Sarasota County.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor of SRQ MEDIA.