08/19/2026
The Sarasota County Primary produced winners and losers on the ballot, but it also exposed a much deeper problem inside the Republican Party.
Let us be very clear: the Sarasota County Republican Party has repeatedly failed to deliver victory in School Board races.
Look at 2024. Karen Rose had the endorsement of Governor Ron DeSantis and still lost. Even more troubling, Jack Brill had polling numbers eight weeks before the primary showing that Karen was headed toward defeat. He knew the campaign was in trouble.
He did nothing.
In 2022, conservative candidates succeeded because their supporters refused to surrender to political insiders. They ignored demands to withdraw support from Robyn Marinelli and built the ZEM campaign into one of the most effective conservative school board campaigns in the country.
But behind the scenes, Jack Brill repeatedly tried to shut it down.
Now look at 2026.
With all 98 precincts reporting, 109,395 Sarasota County voters cast ballots. Republicans represented more than 53% of countywide turnout.
Yet Jimmy Glover, the Democratic Party-endorsed candidate, finished first in the countywide School Board District 1 race with nearly 44% of the vote.
Despite Republicans casting a majority of the ballots, a veteran, licensed mental health therapist and small-business owner finished third. Republican apathy, a fractured conservative vote and the complete failure of local party leadership helped produce this result.
Jack Brill and Alice Rothbauer failed Republican voters. More importantly, they failed Sarasota County’s children.
Under their weak and feckless leadership, the Sarasota Republican Party has become consumed by favoritism, backroom alliances, and personal vendettas instead of turning out voters, defending conservative principles, and supporting qualified candidates.
Their conduct appears far more aligned with liberal socialist values than with the conservative principles they claim to represent.
The current conservative members of the Sarasota County School Board also remained noticeably quiet.
Were they more concerned about protecting their higher political aspirations than defending the future of the board, Sarasota County’s children and the conservative voters who helped elect them?
Leadership requires courage when it matters. It does not mean remaining silent because speaking out might complicate your next campaign.
The problem is not “Republican infighting.” That is the excuse weak leaders use whenever grassroots Republicans begin questioning their decisions.
The real problem is an establishment filled with minions and political varmints who would rather support a woman facing two active defamation cases and questions surrounding her reported involvement with two sexting apps than support a veteran and licensed mental health therapist who stepped forward to serve her community.
That choice tells Republican voters everything they need to know.
This was never about unity. It was about protecting a political club.
Their version of “unity” means remaining silent, obeying leadership and never questioning who benefits from their decisions. Real unity must be built around principles, transparency, competent leadership and respect for Republican voters.
Unity cannot be demanded by failed leaders who refuse to accept responsibility for terrible voter engagement, disastrous political judgment and yet another preventable loss.
The Sarasota Republican Party does not have an infighting problem.
It has a LEADERSHIP problem.
Jack Brill should understand this clearly: this is only the beginning of the political accountability.
The questions will continue. The records will be examined. The receipts will be shown. Republican voters deserve the truth about what has happened to their party, what occurred behind the scenes, and who is responsible.
TO BE CONTINUED…
