Brill
BRANDT/DeWitt SCHOOL BOARD RACE EXPOSES BRILL'S INEPT SREC LEADERSHIP
While the trio of Sarasota’s see‑no‑evil, hear‑no‑evil “major media” outlets continue to keep polishing their usual nothing‑burger coverage, they somehow managed to ignore something else entirely:
McFarland and Brandt
the full‑throated embrace of Heidi Brandt by the Republican establishment — led by local Sarasota County Republican Party Chairman Jack Brill and endorsed by Florida State Representative Fiona McFarland both tied to political opertive Max Goodman and the RPOF's Evan Power Tallahassee establishment.
Brandt
Brandt part of the local MAGA women politicians
Bridget Ziegler/Fiona McFarland/Melissa Howard/Alex Miller/Sydney Gruters/April Culbreath
It’s the same old Sarasota script — the insiders applaud, the media nod politely, and the audience pretends not to notice the smell of recycled loyalty wafting from the stage.
Ah yes, the grand achievement of modern vetting — embracing a New York City sex‑texter with a résumé that reads like a cautionary tale. Heidi Brandt, now paraded as the SREC’s hand‑picked savior to replace Bridget Ziegler — whose own “issues” were scandalous — is being ushered onto the Sarasota County School Board to face a Democrat opponent.
Brandt’s only documented New York City footprint — the lone, pathetic breadcrumb in a decade she claims was bursting with professional achievement — is tied to a building known for digital content and adult‑oriented services. Not hospitals. Not wellness centers. Not anything remotely connected to her claimed field.
That’s right — the “experienced health andwellness professional” spent her New York decade not building a career, but running an adult texting operation out of a building aligned with digital smut.
Goodman
And somehow, we’re supposed to believe that Brill’s SREC brain trust and Brandt’s political handler, Goodman, saw no problem here. No red flags, no raised eyebrows — just another day in the moral swamp where “due diligence” means checking if the donor check cleared.
It’s almost poetic: the RPOF party of family values hitching its wagon to a sexting impresario and calling it reform.
DeWitt
Hoffman and Steube
Meanwhile, Brandt’s opponent Terese DeWitt was endorsed by two of Southwest Florida’s most conservative Republicans — U.S. Congressman Greg Steube and Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman — a political signal flare bright enough to light up the Gulf Coast.
But the media? They buried it. Because nothing says “protect the narrative” like pretending there’s no daylight between a U.S. Congressman Steube and a County Sheriff Hoffman versus a local Sarasota County Republican party chairman Brill and Florida state representative McFarland. Just sweep it under the rug as “inconvenient dissent” and get back to reporting on restaurant openings, closings, and whatever else keeps the Uni‑Party storyline tidy.
Power
With assistance from Power's RPOF in Tallahasee, the Sarasota’s Uni‑Party ecosystem, everything is always “under control,” even when the cracks are wide enough to drive a campaign bus through.
Under Brill’s “leadership” at the SREC — a term used here with the same generosity one might use for calling a collapsing shed a “guest house” — Sarasota now enjoys the political math of a 5–0 Democrat majority on the Sarasota City Commission and a 4–1 Democrat majority on the School Board… unless, of course, Brill’s imported sex‑texter miraculously defeats her Democratic opponent. And if Heidi Brandt — whose résumé peaks at running bake sales at Southside Elementary as PTO President — loses, then congratulations, Sarasota: you get the full 5–0 sweep.
BTW, Brandt, ever the multitasker, also moonlights as the designated driver for her alleged husband, which, frankly, is the most grounded qualification in this entire circus.
There was a moment that should have detonated like a political bomb right in the middle of Sarasota’s supposedly “united” Republican front — the same front that claims it’s laser‑focused on stopping progressive Democrats from taking over the Sarasota County School Board and tightening their grip on Sarasota City politics.
But instead of an explosion, it all fizzled into a cocktail‑hour whisper.
That moment was when Brandt’s husband, furious over Heidi’s résumé — especially those twelve mysterious New York City years that somehow evaporated into thin air except for her stint running a sex‑texting operation — decided to aim his outrage at the one person who dared endorse her opponent, Terese DeWitt.
And in that drunken burst of brilliance, he labeled U.S. Congressman Greg Steube “corrupt.”
That should have been the moment the Uni‑Party façade cracked wide open. A congressional endorsement coupled with a sheriff’s endorsement, smashed against the establishment’s chosen candidate, all wrapped in a public outburst from Brandt’s own husband.
But Sarasota’s political machine did what it always does: smother the fire, bury the mess, and pretend the bomb never existed.
Instead of the local media trio — the see‑no‑evil, hear‑no‑evil, report‑no‑evil brigade — acknowledging the political grenade that just rolled across the Sarasota Republican landscape, we got the usual performance--crickets.
One would think once Brandt’s husband finally sobered up with the former sex‑texter sitting beside him would mutter out an apology for calling U.S. Congressman Steube “corrupt.” You’d think that would trigger at least a flicker of outrage from the Republican establishment — maybe a stern word from local GOP Chairman Brill, or even a polite “this is disappointing” from State Representative McFarland.
But no. Just crickets.
The Uni‑Party machine didn’t flinch, didn’t blink, didn’t even pretend to care. A drunken outburst aimed at a sitting Congressman and a conservative Sheriff? Nothing. Not a peep. Not a whisper. Not even the obligatory “this does not reflect our values” press release they usually recycle for moments like this.
In Sarasota’s political ecosystem, silence isn’t accidental — it’s strategy. And when the cracks in the façade widen, the the insiders simply pretend the building isn’t collapsing.
Even when DeWitt laid out, step‑by‑step, how Brill twisted the SREC endorsement process into a pretzel to deliver it to Brandt — the media’s reaction was the same predictable Sarasota soundtrack: silence, denial, and more silence.
DeWitt revealed how Brill let Brandt plaster her campaign literature all over the venue the night of the endorsement vote, while ordering DeWitt to show up with nothing — no signs, no materials, no presence. Then Brill topped it off by illegally proclaiming that Brandt had won the endorsement, followed by banning DeWitt from attending various Sarasota County Republican clubs.
A sitting Congressman and a County Sheriff endorse one candidate, the local party chair rigs the stage for the other, and the the local establishment media – the Sarasota Heral Truibune-The Sarasota Observer—the local foundations financed rag—the Suncoast Searchlight? Nothing. Not a whisper. Not a headline. Not even a lazy “sources say tensions are rising.”
A New York City sextexter Heidi Brant is the SREC nominee to replace another Republican Bridget Ziegler who had some "issues" regarding sexual "issues" going against a Democrat opponent and no one believes we might have a problem with the vetting process of the Brill's SREC. and Brandt's political operative Max Goodman?
Just another day in Sarasota’s political carnival — a place where the Uni‑Party pretends everything is fine while the whole operation has devolved into a full‑blown shit show.
What unfolded during early voting in Sarasota County wasn’t a campaign — it was a traveling circus, a full‑blown shit show under the watchful eye of the Brill‑controlled SREC tents scattered across the county.
There stood all of Heidi Brandt, nestled comfortably among the political operative Max Goodman Republican Establishment’s clients: Sydney Gruters, Jim DiNero, James Buchanan, Rob Rominecki, and John Harshman — all proudly featured on the latest batch of fake voter guides.
Eric "The Prince of Dark PAC Money" Robinson
These guides, of course, didn’t materialize out of thin air. They were churned out of a Sheriden Wyoming venue, financed by a pipeline of dark PAC money funneled through a Venice CPA office run by Eric “The Prince of Dark PAC Money” Robinson.
Nothing says “grassroots Republican integrity” like a slate of stablishment Goodman candidates propped up by out‑of‑state mailers and dark money accountants.
Florida Republican voters don’t “participate” in elections — they wander in like theme‑park tourists, gripping their glossy “Conservative Choice” voter guides as if they’re clutching holy scripture faxed straight from Mount Tallahassee by angels in ill‑fitting red polos.
Sarasota politics: where the swamp doesn’t drain — it prints voter guides.
GOODMAN LED BUCHANAN MACHINE TAKES CONTROL OF MREC
The exact same swamp‑choreography rerun that has stank up Sarasota was dragged, dripping, into Manatee County — like someone hit “repeat” on a political disaster playlist.
The Pedicini/DePriest/Schorsch/Gruters/Goodman Gang
Long‑time Buchanan operative Goodman slithered in with a traveling circus: Anthony Pedicini, the Ybor City tactician who never met a consultant fee he didn’t love; Jennings DePriest, the PAC‑shuffler who treats political committees like shell companies in a carnival game; and Peter Schorsch, the ever‑present “pay‑to‑play” narrator who shows up the moment a check clears.
Together, they helped engineer yet another political remodel dressed up as reform — the kind where the paint is still wet, the foundation is still cracked, and the sales pitch is louder than the truth.
And Goodman didn’t arrive solo. Of course not. He hauled in Sydney Gruters who managed to avoid lifting even a political pinky when the Tallahassee swamp’s head creature, Evan Power, executed his masterpiece of “party management” in closing down the MREC and purging over 135 Republican America First activists from the MREC in 2024. A performance so polished you could almost forget it was happening in the dark.
Kruse/Ballard/Rahn/Saddequ/Poulton
The Gang of Five
The old Pedicini/Beruff Gang of Seven, run out of town in 2024 after turning the Manatee County Commission into a traveling Shit Show, has now been replaced by a shiny new Gang of Five. This sequel is led by Goodman’s client Mike Rahn, who steps in for Pedicini’s former flunky Kevin Van Osterbridge (KVO) — the man who once captained the original Beruff‑Pedicini Manatee County Commission catastrophe.
Same swamp. Same script. Just fewer cast members and a fresh coat of political Kool‑Aid.
May seals the deal with Rahn and Gruters
Rumor has it that Jack May — the same guy who chugged the Pedicini/ Beruff Kool‑Aid in 2022 like it was a limited‑edition flavor and then decided in 2024 to join the crusade to “take out” the very machine he once cheered for -- is now in step with the Goodman/Buchanan Gang of Five takeover of Manatee County Commission with Rahn the new KVO.
Rahn and Ballard who have never found a problem with developers destroying wetlands
In the grand tradition of Florida political recycling, May is being rewarded for hopping aboard the Goodman/ Pedicini/DePriest Express Gang of Five with endorsements for Rahn and fellow Gang‑of‑Seven original Amanda Ballard.
Arnold
And of course, May did his absolute best to target Goodman/ Pedicini/ DePriest/Neal/Beruff nemesis Liz Arnold — because nothing says “principled leadership” like switching teams every election cycle and calling it strategy.
The rumor mill claims May is being groomed to assemble a revamped MREC, complete with the blessing of RPOF Chairman Evan Power — the same Tallahassee operator whose idea of party management looks suspiciously like a controlled demolition.
May on his way for his dream job--Chairman of the MREC
May even let the cat sprint out of the bag after hosting a house party for Gruters, proudly posting on the Manatee Patriots website about his grand plan to “re‑organize” everything. Because nothing screams “grassroots revolution” like announcing your secret strategy on your own website.
Same swamp. Same choreography. Just a new cast pretending it’s a reboot instead of a rerun.
Same swamp. Same choreography. Just a new cast pretending it’s a reboot instead of a rerun.
Power in the center of DePriest/Goodman/Robinson/Pedicini Gang
RPOF CHAIRMAN POWER AND POLITICAL OPERATIVES CORRUPED LOCAL REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES
Welcome to Florida Politics — Where Voters Proudly March Blindfolded into a Machine They Don’t Even Know Exists
Jon Susce
The Sarasota Phoenix team is the last media guardian in the Sarasota/Manatee area and beyond laying bare for all to see how the Sarasota/ Manatee area and beyond is controlled by a UNI Party financed by millionaires and billionaires turning Florida into Paradise Lost.
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