Politics
Jordan Varnadore wins GOP Primary, advances bid to succeed Will Robinson in HD 71
Jordan Varnadore won the Republican nomination for House District 71 Tuesday, defeating Melton Little and Dylan Paul Modarelli in the race to succeed term-limited Bradenton Republican Rep. Will Robinson.
With all precincts reporting, Varnadore received over 9,000 votes, or 62%, while Little received just over 30% and Modarelli received about 7%.
The victory sends Varnadore to the November General Election against Democrat Ocean Fitts and no-party candidate Joseph Hoolihan.
Varnadore’s campaign highlighted his roots as a lifelong, multigenerational Palmetto resident, as well as his association with the Republican Party.
He is Vice President of Marketing at GarrettRichard, a family business he co-founded with his father. Varnadore described himself as an America First conservative, with a platform focused on parental rights, Second Amendment protections, law enforcement and small businesses. He supported reducing business regulations and giving parents greater say over what their children are taught.
Little, a longtime Manatee County lawyer, grew up in Bayshore Gardens and later built a local law practice. His campaign highlighted years of involvement with youth sports and charities, including recognition from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County.
Little aimed to reduce harmful runoff into local waterways and said roads, water capacity and other infrastructure need to keep pace with development. He also supported reducing taxes and regulations on small businesses and argued local governments should have greater authority to handle local issues.
He also made opposition to a developer-proposed cruise port near the mouth of Tampa Bay part of his platform. That issue has been prominent during Robinson’s final term. Robinson opposed the proposal as part of a broader environmental record that included efforts involving harmful algal blooms and seagrass restoration.
Little’s campaign also called for housing affordability, immigration enforcement, religious liberty and Second Amendment protections.
He earned support from officials such as U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, retired Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells and former Manatee County Republican Party Chair Donna Hayes.
Modarelli built his campaign around a more populist message and his personal experience overcoming hardship. He says his father died from a heroin overdose when he was 5, leaving his mother to raise him with financial help from relatives. He later worked as a police officer before entering the emerald trade and building a jewelry business. He is married and has one child.
Modarelli described himself as a “Populist Republican.” His economic platform included down-payment grants for working families, zoning changes to lower housing costs, restrictions on corporate landlords and an end to for-profit prisons.
He supported abortion restrictions, opposes gun restrictions, calls for armed security at every school and wants tighter limits on mail voting and ballot drop boxes. His campaign also proposed 10-year mandatory minimum sentences for trafficking fentanyl and calls for the drug to be classified as a “weapon of mass destruction to unlock national-level response,” according to his campaign website.
HD 71 covers much of western Manatee County, including Bradenton, Palmetto and coastal communities. Republicans carried the district comfortably in 2024, when Robinson won with nearly 60% of the vote.
Varnadore will face Fitts, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, and Hoolihan in November.
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