About Those 703 Petitions
Talking Sarasota County Commission, District 4 Campaign
by Julie London
The decision to run for Sarasota County Commission was an absolute no-brainer. I didn’t care that I would be running in a populated conservative district. After all, Sarasota’s challenges have nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with livability - our safe, traffic-free streets, clean water and enjoying the perks and comforts that made us move to (or stay in) Sarasota.
However, this current board of commissioners needs babysitters and watchdogs. There has not been a Democrat on the County Commission since 1970, and I want to ask: How’s that working out for all of us? Not. So. Good.
I compare it to the fox guarding the henhouse. They’re protecting each other, instead of the people they serve. I went to David Dean, the Sarasota County Democratic Party (SCDP) Chair for my initial thoughts about running. He expressed surprise (in a good way) and sent me to the Supervisor of Elections (SOE) office just under the wire to file.
Qualifying
In order to qualify to be on the ballot, I would need to pay close to $6,500.00 or collect 703 ballots from one district in one week.
They said it couldn’t be done.
The buzz started with the possibility of fundraising for the qualifying fee. As an ordinary citizen, I was appalled. My thought was: If simply choosing to have more than one name on the ballot didn’t have the support of 703 people living in the district I would represent, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put myself out there as that voice.
We weren’t asking for their vote, instead tasking residents to participate in the best that Democracy elections offer - a robust choice on the ballot. Was spending $6,500 of other people’s money the best way to do this? The thought made me nauseous.
Sarasota needed change from the contradictory same old ‘oh woe is me’ attitude of the county commissioners as they chop down trees for the developers, dismiss their own constituency and display egos the size of the Massachusetts turnpike.
I write. I’ve been putting out people’s stories for decades - whether it was in my dog lover’s publication (The Doggone Good Times), a local tennis magazine I published (Tennis Territory) or this blog (Dear Bubbie). Community voices are the fabric of why people care followed by how they can help. It’s the man / woman / child / elder on the ground - who’s voice needs to be heard the most. Not the “bulls*** compassion” (as Jamie Kattrein put it) of a person in power, who is clueless from their perch on the dais.
Getting the show on the road
The best part of beginning the task of obtaining 703 signatures on petitions, is that the volunteers for the party were all on the same page. This wasn’t my campaign. This was Sarasota’s campaign. This was the people’s campaign for the opportunity to choose and change.
SCDP Director of Voter Outreach Karen Lundeen took this to heart, and with the experienced hand of someone who had worked with national campaigns, became the war room strategist. What was compelling about her, is that she didn’t ask anyone to do what she wasn’t doing herself. She was like the boss of a business - doing whatever it takes to get the job done - whether it’s cleaning a bathroom or talking with a Fortune 500 client.
Everyone was treated the same, as I got my orders via email that demanded attention. I was told that my friends and family were to take over specific locations. She had me in such a panic, I thought to myself: “Wait. Do I have friends? Who’s my family?” However, I knew that her experience was going to pull the impossible off.
Besides, my initial experience with getting petitions signed was off to a rocky start. A neighbor informed me that the man living next door to her, was a liberal Washington, DC attorney. Therefore, I felt comfortable chasing him and his wife down their long driveway. This would be an easy two petitions signed.
Not only was he not a liberal, but after catching up with them, he told me that I was “against his religion”. He spouted off such divisive language, that I finally told him: “I thought you were just the nice guy who gardened across the street.”
That caught him off-guard and his wife immediately said: “Oh he is.” He seemed to break out of his hard shell, when we agreed on the seemingly corrupt relationship of developers and the board. I told him that was why Sarasota needed a watchdog on the dais and he agreed. His aghast wife quickly signed a petition and I stuck with neighbors that were friends.
What pulsed in my head was him laughing and saying: “You’re going to lose.” Nothing fuels me more to accomplish the impossible than someone not believing what ordinary looking and sounding folks can be capable of.
My husband had the opposite experience. He went to friend’s house to fix a leaking sink and her reaction was: “She’s gonna win!”
Enter Barbara Fittipaldi, who was Lundeen’s yang to her yin. The contrast created a force that no one could see coming. Barbara moved to Sarasota in 2015. She is married, the mother of two daughters, and a proud grandmother of four.
Having taught courses in management and leadership at Rutgers University. Barbara founded the consulting firm Center for New Futures, where she focused on leadership and communication consulting.
She later worked on national campaigns and then served on staff with the Florida Democratic Party. Her focus now is strengthening the SCDP infrastructure and grassroots power needed to win in 2026 and beyond.
The up’s and down’s
In the first few days, I was able to turn in over 276 petitions to the SOE office. The only time I thought we were done was when only 217 petitions were accepted. The woman at the office explained: “The ones rejected the most were because they lived outside of the district.”
I sent Barbara and Karen an email expressing the “bad news”, but neither one acknowledged it, instead staying on task with the collection process. Just another day pounding the pavement. I decided to break out the pink mailbox. That had also worked for volunteers Adam and Terrie. Wylie set up a “petition clinic” at Pelican Cove.
I also sent out two emails to the Democrats in the district via Daniel Kuether’s Electd with a link to the petitions to sign. I absolutely insisted that this request going out had to be my voice. This was exactly who they would be getting. In return, I received stories of parents or themselves and how they participated in the Democratic process. I wrote every one back, and then my husband and I went driving to all ends of District 4 to pick up petitions.
What a joy that was! I got to enjoy the beauty and pride of home ownership in finding petitions left at entryways. Meeting people was so inspiring, because we shared a common goal - stop the out of control growth in Sarasota. We wanted transparency and to trust our governing board.
The worry never stopped that we might be short just a few signed petitions, so I started asking everyone in my neighborhood to sign the petition - including Republicans. I was stunned by the majority of them saying that they would vote for our cause of change. One said that he always voted along party lines and considered himself a conservative, but knew that Sarasota was at an inflection point.
A staunch Republican who walks her dogs took a petition and I didn’t know if she’d sign it or not. I was rewarded when I saw her petition returned with neat handwriting in the pink mailbox.
The volunteers were working so hard, and people had such faith in this campaign that led with the heart, that I didn’t want to personally let any of them down.
Desperate times call for Jeffery Kin
I wasn’t really thinking when I approached long time friend Jeffery Kin, the Executive Director and CEO of Rising Star. This organization puts on the Living Arts Festival in Sarasota. With a fundraiser coming up, I asked if he could throw out a mention to the campaign during the event. Asking for something like this was difficult, but Jeffery is so down to earth, that there was hope he’d say yes.
He did.
On Saturday night, I got my little sparkly on and headed to the fundraiser when it hit me what a huge ask this was.
Somehow, Jeffery managed to announce my petition drive, among the show tunes that people danced and sang along to. (We’re still friends, and I’m so thankful.)
As I was slowly collecting petitions in the pink mailbox, friends like Theoni Soublis and Kali Alyse Nelson were in full swing.
Robin Williams, Traci Lipton and Dean Davidson were going all out. Terrie, Wylie, Jamie and the women who were at the office going over the petitions were hard at work with smiles on their faces. Chris S., Alli, Suzi, Dom and so many others stepped up for something they believed in.
But it wasn’t just my campaign - the SCDP were boosting other candidates to meet their numbers.
Despite all the hours and literal sweat the team was putting into the drive, even towards the end, Joanne DeVries advised that money could be raised if the quota hadn’t been met.
On the final Saturday, it was all guns out at the Pride Festival, where Karen stopped every person walking by with the questions: “Are you registered to vote? Where do you live?”
On Mother’s Day, the Sunday before the Monday noon deadline, women were at the office going through the petitions and doing whatever they do with them. At 5:30, Karen showed up to the office and I walked in with my straggling last few petitions. She talked, but could barely form a sentence. “I’m just tired!” she said and laughed. Yet, as I was double-checking the count, Karen was still energetic as she punched in data and checked addresses to make sure they were in District 4.
That’s when it hit me. Karen was the inimitable Jane, played by Holly Hunter, from the 1987 movie Broadcast News. “I’ll meet you at the place near the thing where we went that time.”
Like the determined Jane, Lundeen didn’t want credit. “This was very much a ‘family’ effort!” she said. “We layered in multiple strategies, as we saw the need to increase momentum. It would not have been possible without great ideas from Precinct Captains that we folded in. And it took all of us believing we should try — that maybe we could pull off the impossible — and working tirelessly as one.”
The results are in
With over 1,100 petitions dropped off, David drove down from headquarters to the SOE to drop off the last batch of petitions that came in the morning of the deadline. It was a full circle moment - going from the time I told him I was running to seeing if my name would be on the ballot.
Dean is a stronghold of the party. He has the infinite wisdom to not micromanage, yet hold his ground when necessary. Dean is a listener and respectful of what each person brings to the table. There is no ego, just a quiet presence with a fierce desire for party values to be represented in the U.S. Congress, Florida legislature and locally.
I kept checking to see if the campaign made the magic 703 petitions accepted and that my phone volume was up.
On Tuesday afternoon, I was making chicken for the dogs, when I decided to check my email. There it was: an email from the SOE. We made it with a total of 953 signed petitions. We were 250 over. Sarasota showed its face - people want choice and change.
Epilogue
As the days passed, the work was just beginning. More petitions trickled in, but this time to my regular mailbox. When I saw the Republican woman walking her dogs, I thanked her for signing the petition.
I told her that I learned how every single petition mattered and all these people did their part in making a difference during an inflection point in Sarasota’s history.
“I’m glad you’re running,” she said. I had to ask her why.
“Because you’re a real person. You’re one of us.”
That was all I needed to hear.
In the next Dear Bubbie: While I sat at the Sarasota County Commission meeting on May 19, my public school advocate friends were in attendance at the Sarasota County School Board Meeting. Watching later on YouTube never quite rings the same, but it was an interesting one, and we’ve got the details for you here in: A “Light and Cheerful” Sarasota County School Board Meeting Marks the End of a Successful Year.
There are so many people who want to vote, but are clueless as to who to vote for. This is the real life experience we’re hearing about from so many people.
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This is fantastic. Manatee County needs to learn from you and the SCDP.
Congratulations! I was able to drop off a few at HQ, and I'll be pushing you to victory!
Bonne chance, mon ami!