A local Tea Party leader says he’ll throw his hat in the ring for an open Sarasota County Commission seat. Randy McLendon, the Englewood Realtor who organized the local Taking Our Country Back faction of the Tea Party, has made a campaign announcement, but has yet to file to run for the Sarasota County Commission seat being vacated by Jon Thaxton.
McLendon said he took the political temperature of tea party and conservative leaders to assess their support and “The encouragement I received from that announcement is prompting me to take the next necessary steps,” including the process of officially filing for the campaign this week.