2026 Voter Guide: Sarasota County

Elections

Oct 10

Part of our Tampa Bay Voter Guide 2026. Your county Supervisor of Elections is the official source; when in doubt, check with them. Information current as of Oct. 11, 2026.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and anyone in line at 7 p.m. can vote. On Election Day you must vote at your assigned precinct; during early voting you can use any early voting site in your county. Bring a current photo ID with a signature.

Your elections office

Supervisor of Elections: Ron Turner
Website: sarasotavotes.gov
Phone: 941-861-8600
Office: Terrace Building, 2001 Adams Lane, Sarasota; branch offices in Venice (4000 S. Tamiami Trail) and North Port (13640 Tamiami Trail)

Early voting

Mon., Oct. 19 through Sun., Nov. 1, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily. The county planned 11 early voting sites; see the list at sarasotavotes.gov.

Voting by mail

The deadline to request a mail ballot is 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Requests from 2024 have expired, so if you haven't asked for a 2026 ballot, you need to. Your ballot must reach the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. Nov. 3. A postmark is not enough, and mail ballots cannot be dropped off at Election Day polling places. If your signature is missing or doesn't match, you have until 5 p.m. Nov. 5 to fix it with a cure affidavit.

Request a ballot at sarasotavotes.gov or 941-861-8600. In August, ballot intake stations were at all three elections offices and every early voting site; check the Supervisor's site for November hours.

Your sample ballot

Find your sample ballot and precinct at sarasotavotes.gov.

On every Florida ballot

Governor: Byron Donalds (R), with running mate Bryan Avila, vs. David Jolly (D), with running mate Gwen Graham, plus several no-party and Libertarian candidates. Gov. Ron DeSantis is term-limited.
U.S. Senate (special election): Sen. Ashley Moody (R) vs. state Rep. Angie Nixon (D), plus no-party candidates. The winner serves the last two years of Marco Rubio's term.
Attorney General: James Uthmeier (R, incumbent) vs. José Javier Rodríguez (D).
Chief Financial Officer: Blaise Ingoglia (R, incumbent) vs. Annette Taddeo (D).
Agriculture Commissioner: Wilton Simpson (R, incumbent) vs. Joey Mendoza Atkins (D).
Amendments 1, 2 and 3, all placed on the ballot by the Legislature. Each needs 60% yes to pass. What each amendment does.
Merit retention: Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz, plus appeals court judges for your district.

Local races and questions in Sarasota County

U.S. House

District 16: Sydney Gruters (R) vs. Kelly Kirschner (D) vs. Mark Davis (no party). Read our Spotlight on Mark Davis.
District 17: Rep. Greg Steube (R) vs. Matt Montavon (D) vs. Michael Quirk (no party).

County Commission

District 4: Jim DeNiro (R) vs. Julie London (D). DeNiro beat Commissioner Joe Neunder in the August primary.

Commissioner Mark Smith (R) won his District 2 primary and has no Democratic opponent.

School Board (runoff)

District 1: Heidi Brandt vs. Jimmy Glover.

Megan Tennimon (District 4) and Beth Mayberry (District 5) won in August.

City of Sarasota

Two citywide commission seats are in a runoff among Jen Ahearn-Koch, Flo Entler and John Harshman.

Also on the ballot: Charter Review Board, Hospital Board, and fire, water and community development district seats.

Sources

How we reported this: compiled Oct. 10, 2026, from the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections, the Florida Division of Elections and the news reports linked above, with AI research help. Candidate lists from primary results can change; your sample ballot is final. Spot an error? Tell us.

Joseph Jackson