Atwell, Dorfman Earn Support From HuB Election Poll

Who does the online audience of Sarasota prefer to be their next city commissioners? So far online voters like incumbent Mayor Suzanne Atwell and challenger Richard Dorfman. 

The HuB completed an online poll this week polling 337 city residents, of which 328 responded they were city voters, on some key election issues. Nearly 19,000 city voters turned out for November's general election.

In a snapshot, if voters had their way, Atwell and Dorfman would be in office, more condos per acre could be built, more live music could be played downtown and they would have an elected mayor, according to the HuB poll. None of those issues are referendum issues yet, but are key issues facing candidates this election. 

The election is for two citywide seats on the City Commission and will be held Tuesday, March 12. If a runoff is required, it would occur Tuesday, May 14. The final day to register to vote is Feb. 11.

Out of the 337 who responded, 158, or about 47 percent, favored Atwell while 129 or 38.3 percent supported Dorfman.

Here are the results for the other candidates: 

• Susan Chapman — 30.9 percent |  104 votes
• Linda Holland — 22.3 percent | 75 votes
• Kelvin Lumpkin—19 percent | 64 votes
• Pete Theisen —10.4 percent | 35 votes

The age range of respondents trended in the older range, with nearly 70 percent of the respondents were over 45 years old. About 40 percent of that were older than 60. 

Here are other key results, with 337 respondents for each question:

• Do you support a sound ordinance that supports more live music and a more vibrant downtown? 85.5 percent said Yes
• Do you support having an elected mayor? 81.3 percent said Yes.
• Do you support allowing more condos to be built per acre on property zoned for condo development? 53.7 percent responded Yes