Hyde Takes On Buchanan In U.S. House District 16 GOP Primary Election

FLORIDA — In the race for the U.S. House seat in Florida’s District 16, incumbent candidate Vern Buchanan first must overcome challenger Martin Hyde in the Republican primary if he hopes to move on to the general election this fall.

The winner of Tuesday’s GOP primary will go on to face off against Democrat Jan Schneider and write-in candidate Ralph Hartman, who has no party affiliation, on Nov. 8.

Hyde has been a controversial figure in local politics since even before announcing his run for Congress.

The staunch pro-gun advocate previously ran for city commission in 2017, losing to Jen Ahearn-Koch and Hagen Brody in a bid for an at-large seat. He also challenged Commissioner Liz Alpert for the city’s District 2 seat in the 2020 election, but dropped out of the race when allegations of his involvement in racially charged incidents surfaced.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that in a February 2019 incident, Hyde yelled at two construction managers near his home, telling them, “You need to tell your f---ing Mexicans to turn off their Spanish music,” according to a police report.

A viral video from a November 2019 incident at Sarasota’s Bath & Racquet Club shows Hyde confronting a group of Puerto Rican junior tennis players, the Herald-Tribune reported. In the video, one of the young men accuses Hyde of being racist for telling him “to cut grass.”

Hyde was also fined $1,500 for election law violations stemming from his 2017 commission run, reports said.

Then, earlier this year, he made national headlines for threatening to end a Sarasota police officer’s career over a traffic stop. In police bodycam footage from the Feb. 14 traffic stop, Hyde can be seen telling Officer Julia Beskin, who pulled him over for speeding and texting while driving in the area of Euclid Avenue and Fruitville Road, that she’s “making career decisions."

Hyde also told her, "Go call the chief. Tell him how rude you've just been to me. Play him this (bodycam) video. Then call (City Manager) Marlon Brown. Then you call the mayor."

He later apologized to the officer, in person and on his Facebook page, for being “belligerent and rude” and paid the three tickets he received.

Though the businessman briefly took down his campaign Facebook page and set his campaign Instagram page to private, he later announced he was still running for the District 16 seat.

Most recently, following the FBI raid of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Hyde said in a video that he’d have killed the FBI agents if they stepped on his property, the Herald-Tribune reported.

"I wish they'd turn up at my home 'cause they'd have gone home in a body bag," he said.

Buchanan also condemned the raid on the former president’s home, calling it an "abuse of power" that "resurrected the stench of the Russia collusion hoax,” according to a news release from his office.

The incumbent GOP leader and businessman has served in the U.S. house since 2007. He sits on the Joint Committee on Taxation and the House Ways and Means Committee. Buchanan also serves as co-chair of the bipartisan 29-member Florida congressional delegation.

Since joining Congress, 26 of his legislative initiatives have become law, his website said. “These accomplishments include reforms to military training procedures, confronting the drug epidemic, helping Americans save for retirement, strengthening Medicare, improving the U.S. foster care system and measures to stop animal cruelty.”

Among his key legislative issues are health care, immigration, jobs and the economy, national security and Social Security.

His challenger, Hyde, calls himself a constitutional candidate on his campaign website. He also promises to serve as “the voice of the people.”

His website reads, “Whether you agree with his antics or not, Martin has been standing up for all of us for nearly eight years. During that time, he has been a constant target. Why? What has (been) done? What does he know that they don’t want getting out?”

A former professional soccer player from the United Kingdom, he’s lived in Sarasota, where he owns a business, for more than 20 years.

Among his key issues are defending freedom, protecting American prosperity, common-sense foreign policy and reducing debt.

Primary Day Voting

On Tuesday, you must vote in your precinct. If you try to vote at the wrong polling place, your vote will not count.

Precinct and polling location information can be found on your voter information card. To find your precinct or polling location online, or for the most current information about polling place changes, check your Supervisor of Elections’ website or contact the office. Contact information is here.

Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 23. If you are in line at 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote, but if you arrive at the polling place after 7 p.m., you will not be allowed to vote.

To avoid delays at the polling place, bring one or two forms of current identification that include your signature and photo. Without proper identification, you may still vote a provisional ballot, which will later be evaluated by a canvassing board for eligibility. Any of the forms acceptable for early voting are also acceptable for election day voting.

If your photo ID does not include your signature, you will be asked to provide another ID that has your signature.

Voters are welcome to bring a sample ballot to the polling place marked with their choices so there are no delays in voting.

When you arrive at the polls:

1. Check in with your valid and current photo and signature ID.
2. Receive your paper ballot and proceed to a privacy booth.
3. Using the black pen provided, completely fill in the oval next to each of your selections.
4. Review your ballot. If you wish to make changes, request another ballot.
5. If you have any questions, ask a poll worker before you insert the ballot in the scanner. Once a ballot has been accepted, it cannot be retrieved.

If you are satisfied with your selections:

• Take your ballot to the optical scanner in the secrecy folder provided.
• Insert your ballot into the optical scan feeder.
• The scanner will record your votes and place your ballot into the locked ballot box.
• The scanner will alert you if your ballot appears blank or if it detects too many votes.
• You will have the option to either submit the ballot as is or make changes.
• You are not required to vote in every race or for every issue on the ballot, therefore, the scanner will not alert you of instances in which you did not vote.