Mark Smith and Joe Neunder warn of a disinformation campaign against them by out-of-state PACs.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: August 18, 2026
Host: A developer-funded PAC campaign has attacked two Republican incumbents on the Sarasota County Commission. Ramon Lopez has a report from a press conference held by those two commissioners.
Ramon Lopez: The Sarasota County Commission is the governing body that oversees the county’s budget, manages public services and enacts local ordinances.
Mark Smith (l.) and Joe Neunder (r.) | Photo: Lopez
The Board consists of five members who serve staggered four-year terms. And no commissioner may serve more than two consecutive terms.
They are elected by voters in the district in which they reside. Elections are held every two years, with either the District 1, 3 and 5 seats or District 2 and 4 seats up for election.
This year, it’s District 2 and 4 currently represented by GOP members Mark Smith and Joe Neunder respectively, both first-term commissioners.
District 4 covers the length of Laurel Road to Clark Road east to west and north to Bee Ridge Road along US-41. It’s the largest chunk of real estate in the county’s five districts. The area is rife with Republicans.
Siesta Key is split into county commission districts 2 and 4. Mark Smith reps the northern end of the barrier island. That’s in District 2, which importantly also includes the entire City of Sarasota.
Joe Neunder at his primary election watch party. He lost his re-election bid to Jim DeNiro. | Photo: Lopez
District 2 is Democrat-heavy and provides the best chance for them to break the Republican stranglehold on the county commission. It’s been 50 years since the Dems have been represented on that governing body. Neunder and Smith want to keep it that way.
District 2’s commissioner race will be decided in the Republican Primary, since no Democrat declared. District 4 will have dark horse Democrat Julie London facing either Neunder or rival Jim DeNiro in the November general election [Jim DeNiro won the election by 800 votes, or 53% – ed.].
But Neunder and Smith have more to worry about than just Democrat opposition. They say wealthy area developers may be behind a shadow campaign to unseat them in the primary election. The attack ads urge voters to cast ballots for their rivals, Kristina Sargent and Jim DeNiro.
It is reported that the attack ads were the product of two nonprofit corporations registered in Wyoming.
At a press conference at Gulf Gate Library, Neunder called the negative campaign cowardly behavior. He said county voters needed to be told that the outsiders were trying to influence the outcome.
Joe Neunder: We have outside players trying to weigh in and convince Sarasota voters to buy into what has been described as disinformation and inaccurate information.
RL: Smith said he was confident of a win, but was worried about Neunder’s chances.
Mark Smith
Mark Smith: These are criminals. These are run by unscrupulous folks that will do anything—anything to try to win this and knock us out of office. I feel confident that I’m going to win and win big, but Joe, on the other hand—he’s in the trenches. That’s why I’m here today: to support my buddy and colleague. We can’t take a chance on not getting him re-elected.
RL: Neunder is worried that the negative messaging is now standard operating procedure.
JN: I think this is a beta test. I think this is the first go-around where these consultants—political operatives—institute things like AI, high-privacy states like Wyoming and Delaware to incorporate organizations and fund Facebook campaigns, Google campaigns, YouTube campaigns in order to try to deceive.
RL: On the campaign trail, Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
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