It's Election Day in Sarasota: 2 City Commission Seats Up For Grabs

Today's the day six candidates running for City Commission have waited for: Election Day.

City of Sarasota voters will choose today, March 12, two commissioners in the citywide race.

Campaigning around the city went into full force on Monday, the Herald-Tribune, and absentee voting saw an uptick:

"Sarasota County elections staff said they anticipated voter turnout would be on par with past years, though this year's absentee voting numbers shows a slight increase in interest.

As of Monday, 2,068 people have voted absentee — 945 more than the last city-wide race in 2009, according to the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office. However, the number of early voters dropped from 1,111 in 2009 to 872 this year."

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and you can find your voting precinct on SarasotaVotes.com. 

Here are your candidates:

• Suzanne Atwell (incumbent)
• Susan Chapman
• Richard Dorfman
• Linda Holland
• Kelvin Lumpkin
• Pete Theisen

Unlike November's election, there will be no referendum questions to decide—just the candidates.

If a candidate fails to receive the majority of votes, a runoff eleciton would occur Tuesday, May 14, between the three candidates who received the most votes.

The elected candidates take office on Friday, May 17, and will serve one four-year term.

Sarasota will have at least one new commissioner as Commissioner Terry Turner decided not to run for re-election.

For more information, visit the City of Sarasota election page.