Jim DeNiro paints Joe Neunder’s Sarasota County record as political fairy tale in AI attack ad

Republican Sarasota County Commission candidate Jim DeNiro is giving voters a fairy-tale version of incumbent Joe Neunder’s political record — complete with a magic mirror, lurking wolves and a giant tree sprouting dollar bills representing a growing county budget.

The DeNiro campaign released a one-minute trailer for “Once Upon a Lie: The Story of Joe Neunder’s Make-Believe Kingdom.” The artificial intelligence-generated attack ad targets Neunder over his past financial support for Hillary Clinton, the developer interests supporting his re-election, and Neunder’s vote for Sarasota County’s largest budget.

Presented like the preview for a Summer blockbuster, the ad opens with an AI-generated Neunder walking through a fairy-tale forest to encounter a magic mirror hanging from a tree. He finds Clinton staring back.

“A reminder that Joe Neunder financially supported her against Donald Trump,” the narrator states. 

The scene refers to a $2,700 contribution Neunder made to the Hillary Victory Fund in September 2016, as Clinton ran against Trump. The contribution was the maximum allowed by law at the time.

DeNiro’s campaign has made the donation a recurring line of attack as Neunder seeks a second term while campaigning as a conservative. Friends of DeNiro previously highlighted it in a television ad titled “The Company You Keep,” which also targeted the development interests supporting Neunder.

The new ad then moves to “The Commissioner Who Cried Wolf,” revisiting mailers that warned voters that “big developers want Joe Neunder gone” because he would not support their plans. Those mailers were paid for by Take Back Sarasota, a political committee chaired by Siesta Key businessman Dave Balot.

The committee’s first reported contribution was $25,000 from SKRS MGMT LLC, a company tied to Balot and hotelier Michael Holderness. The mailer said Neunder “stands up to developers” and pointed to his positions involving development near Sarasota Square Mall, Celery Fields and the county’s “Live Local” ordinance.

DeNiro’s campaign has argued that the message conflicts with the financial support surrounding Neunder. It has also highlighted additional support from Conservatives for a Brighter Future, another committee that has promoted Neunder and received contributions from prominent developers, including Randy Benderson, Hugh Culverhouse, Rex Jensen and Pat Neal.

“But the looking glass held more than one secret,” the narrator continues. “Desperate to pull the wool over voters’ eyes, the Commissioner who cried wolf warned of a developer attack, but the wolves weren’t circling Joe Neunder. They were standing behind him.”

The attack ad then turns to county spending, portraying Neunder planting seeds that grow into a towering tree symbolizing Sarasota County’s $2.52 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

“Joe planted the seeds of bigger government and grew the largest budget Sarasota County had ever seen,” the narrator says. “The higher it climbed, the heavier the burden became for those living in its shadow.”

The AI-generated ad closes with a shot of Neunder standing over a desk covered in cash as the narrator endorses Jim DeNiro and teases the upcoming election.

“This August, don’t miss the tale of the Hillary supporter. The developer-backed Commissioner, and the giant budget Sarasota County residents were forced to shoulder. Don’t miss your chance to write a different ending,” the narrator says.

DeNiro campaign spokesperson Max Goodman, who produced the video, said the AI-generated ad “may be make-believe,” but that Sarasota County is living with the result of the record that the piece aims to portray.

“Joe Neunder’s political fairy tale requires voters to forget that he financially supported Hillary Clinton, ignore the developers financing his political operation, and believe that a so-called fiscal conservative can vote for the largest budget in Sarasota County history,” Goodman said. 

DeNiro, a retired Sarasota Police Department Sergeant, spent 30 years with the agency. His campaign has focused on public safety, affordability, infrastructure, growth management and accountability in county government. He has also received endorsements from the Florida Police Benevolent Association and the National Association of Police Organizations.

Neunder was elected to the County Commission in 2022 after serving on the Venice City Council. He has campaigned for re-election as a fiscal conservative and controlled-growth voice.

The two will meet in the Aug. 18 Republican Primary. The winner will face Democrat Julie London Ferguson in the Nov. 3 General Election.