Florida › Manatee County › Manatee County Commissioner District 2
2 candidates are tracked for Manatee County Commissioner District 2 on the November 3, 2026 ballot: Amanda Ballard and Charles B. Smith Sr.. Candidate information follows official Manatee County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
August 18 primary result: incumbent Amanda Ballard won the Republican primary 67.5 to 32.5 percent over Edward Bailey, per the Supervisor of Elections' unofficial results, and meets Democrat Charles Smith on the November 3 ballot.
Amanda Ballard
Republican · Incumbent
Per her official Manatee County commissioner biography on mymanatee.org, Ballard worked for nearly eight years as an attorney in the local child welfare system before being elected to the County Commission in November 2022; she holds a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2015.
2026 priorities
- Housing affordability and reducing homelessness, per her official commissioner biography on mymanatee.org
- Addiction recovery and job training, per her official commissioner biography on mymanatee.org
- Strengthening families in Manatee County, per her official commissioner biography on mymanatee.org
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-19.
Reported fundraising: $56,521 (county campaign-finance filings).
Campaign site →
Charles B. Smith Sr.
Democratic
Charles B. Smith Sr. is a qualified Democratic candidate for Manatee County Commissioner District 2 on Manatee County's 2026 ballot, per the Supervisor of Elections' official qualified-candidate list.
Reported fundraising: $8,475 (county campaign-finance filings).
