Politics
Mark Flanagan won’t run in CD 16 this election cycle
The Manatee GOP Chair had considered a run, potentially offering competition in the establishment lane.
Manatee GOP Chair Mark Flanagan will not run to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan.
The former Florida House lawmaker previously told Florida Politics he received a number of calls urging him to run for the open seat in Florida’s 16th Congressional District. But he won’t be doing so this year.
“I have given it a serious look, but I am not planning to run in CD 16,” he said. “I will stay actively engaged and do what I can to help ensure the right candidate is successful.”
He did not signal if he plans to support a candidate already in the running.
“Still early,” he told Florida Politics. “I am paying close attention to who can bring people together, raise the resources needed, and stay focused on delivering for the district. That is what will matter most.”
Flanagan notably stepped away from consideration after Sydney Gruters launched her own campaign for the seat. The former New College Foundation leader boasts the endorsement of President Donald Trump and is married to Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters.
But Flanagan heads the dominant political party in Manatee County, the heart of the district. CD 16, at least under its current configuration, doesn’t include any part of Sarasota County, where the Gruters now live.
That could change when the Florida Legislature meets this month to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.
Flanagan was called in by the Republican Party of Florida to lead the local party during a period of political upheaval. After the state party suspended the entire Manatee County Republican Executive Committee amid a wave of filed grievances, leaders tapped Flanagan to take over as the new county Chair. It’s a job he has held before, in 2004, shortly after he completed an eight-year stint in the Florida House.
He also previously ran for Congress in 2006, the year Buchanan ultimately won his freshman term.
