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Aug 22·edited Aug 22Liked by Cathy Antunes

I would disagree with the assertion that any one group spearheaded the takedown of Pedicini in Manatee. This was a collective effort from many groups along with an excellent ground game from the Candidates themselves especially Tal Siddique personally knocking on thousands of doors by himself. The social media and the engaged people who were spreading the word to family and friends was key. Next Door App had tremendous interest from the informed electorate. The individuals that stepped up and helped specific candidates were amazing, knocking on many doors, making thousands of calls and sign waving throughout the County. The accurate fast reporting of the nefarious acts of Pedicini, DePriest and the Fake MAGA guide by Bradenton Times gave those who were on Social Media the ammunition to prove what I truly believe should be called election interference. They were literally investigating these new PACs such as Endorsements from Christian Fathers which were show to have been registered out of State and only a week old. Liberty Caucus endorsements along with Community Patriots and Republican Assembly of Manatee that agreed on which grassroots Candidates was key and RAMC distributing Voter Guides that had much more credibility then the MAGA Fake Guide. Many people came to the Polls with these guides on their phones or were handed them at the top 4 polling locations during early voting by RAMC information tables. RAMC also manned many tables at top polling locations on Election Day. And finally the Grassroots Candidates themselves debating, going to Speaking Events, not playing dirty politics with unfounded slander. Just getting their message out, while Pedicini peeps hid in their basements watching the Attack dogs do the dirty work. When the Pedicini candidates did attend debates it confirmed his concerns about them speaking publicly.

I say this because collectively many groups, Committees, People, including Take Back Manatee and Certainly the Candidates stood up and we triumphed over the bad guys. If I were to give another County advice to mount a Take Back Campaign, it would be to bring all of these groups to the Planning table together including the candidates and their managers with a master plan. Sure would have been nice to have a working REC to do this. That’s the place we need to start now, fix it where we can do this and finish the Take back in 2026.

A Big Thank You to All Those Mentioned Above for A Great Day Yesterday and for the Peace we all feel today. Tim Mays

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Thank you Tim! Appreciate this feedback and your run down of all the groups who contributed to the grassroots wins in Manatee County!

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Aug 21Liked by Cathy Antunes

It's a great start. Now comes the more difficult tasks of moving from campaign mode into policy mode and sustaining policies and procedures that will advance the public interest.

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Aug 22Liked by Cathy Antunes

Cathy while I liked your take on Manatee County election results and we all appreciate the efforts of Take Back Manatee and it clearly had an impact, you appeared to slight the coalition efforts of many others. TBM would not have had the same impact without these folks: Liberty Caucus, Republican Assembly, Manatee Patriots, Manatee Moms, Citizens for Renewing America and the Bradenton Times all collectively deserve more credit than given. The repeated public blunders of our BoCC could not escape notice even by casual observers. So, some credit goes to the vanquished for self inflicted wounds.

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Hi Kevin, appreciate you and Tim naming the other groups that made a difference. Yes, it truly took a village to bring the grassroots candidates across the finish line. So good to know about this broad coalition of support for good government. People power and awareness can triumph over campaign accounts and PACs choked with developer cash. Looking forward to seeing much needed balance take hold on the Manatee County Commission.

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