VENICE - More than 100 voters stood in line at the Venice Church of the Nazarene for Precincts 305 and 307 in the 1500 block of East Venice Avenue on Tuesday morning.
"I'm excited by the turnout; I hope that means good things for us," Cory Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson, a Democrat, is taking on GOP incumbent Nancy Detert for a seat on the Sarasota County Commission.
"It's just really exciting to see people vote," Hutchinson said. "We had almost 70% turnout for my County Commission district before today started, so it's going to be way more than that. That's exciting"
Republican Party volunteers at the Venice precincts were also feeling good about their chances for victory going into Tuesday night.
"Just the enthusiasm here at this poll alone, and we've been at the Anderson building since (early voting) opened up. It has been very positive," said Mary Jo Tingle, of Naples.
Her main interests were the national and state elections, she noted, wearing a T-shirt in support of state Rep. James Buchanan.
"We're rooting for him," she said.
She stood with her father, Venice resident Ray Kisor, who worked in the Ronald Reagan administration as the associate commissioner for enforcement in the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Kisor recalled Reagan standing with his daughter and other volunteers.
"I liked him and I worked for him," he said.
Moreover, Kisor said, it was about having pride in the country.
"If we don't win, so be it, but we're all Americans," he said.
On Election Day, the volunteers of both parties seemed relaxed.
"The atmosphere here has been very nice and cordial. We've been chatting with the Democratic reps back and forth," Venice resident Corodon Fuller said.
Democratic Party volunteer Helen Sarvis, sitting nearby, agreed — also using the word "cordial."
"All that's been said has been said and now people have a chance to exercise their right to vote," Sarvis said.
That hadn't always been the case during early voting. There were moments of bad blood between volunteers, although no crimes were ever alleged.
"I think the tension building up to this, you could cut the tension with a knife," Tingle said. "But today, what's done is done. You're coming to the polls, you know who you're going to vote for. We're not here to sway anybody — we're here to represent and show our support."
"They are, too. And we respect that," she said of the Democratic volunteers.
Brian Kelly, a candidate for Venice City Council, said the year had its troubles but things seemed better Tuesday.
"I'm feeling pretty impressed," he said.
Kelly is running against Bill Willson in the one contested seat in Venice.
"It was difficult to campaign during a pandemic," he said. "I'm more of a one-on-one person; I feel that's how I like to communicate with people."
The pandemic ended most of that — and he wasn't a fan of how forums were put together, he said.
Whatever happened, it's not over, he said.
"I'm always going to keep up my activism," Kelly said.
Fuller, when asked about what Thanksgiving dinner might be like in America in three weeks, wasn't feeling optimistic about talk at the table.
"Very contentious. I don't think it'll die down anytime soon," Fuller said. "I'm thinking that by 2024, I'm hoping that we have a different atmosphere. I don't know what it'll be like — I couldn't have predicted October back in March," he said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By 2 p.m. Election Day, voter turnout in Sarasota County has risen above 75%. But the vast majority of those votes were cast beforehand, either through early voting or vote-by-mail ballots.
Sarasota County has seen a total of 256,594 votes cast of the 340,092 registered voters. So far on Election Day, 28,349 votes have been cast in Sarasota County.
Voting locations are open until 7 p.m. in all Florida counties.
- Brianna Kwasnik contributed to this report.
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