Don’t forget the down-ballot: Four GOP pariahs want to privatize Sarasota Memorial Hospital, but word is getting out and they are getting nervous

Four years ago, the Florida Politics team was the first to break the news that COVID-19 had reached Florida. 

Since then, the vast majority of Americans, regardless of political affiliation or how they viewed the various handlings of the pandemic, have done everything possible to put that dark period in the rearview mirror. 

Consider this. When is the last time you heard Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump utter a single reference to the pandemic that, only a few years ago, was rocking the globe?

Why hasn’t he?

Because people want to move on and look to the future.

However, as is often the case, there is an exception to every rule. And that exception resides in Sarasota County where four COVD-obsessed whackadoodles are running for Hospital Board with threats to privatize Sarasota Memorial Hospital — a five-star health care facility no matter how you slice it.

Sure, these loons are now doing everything in their power to reverse their positions, understanding that a platform that involves hiking medical costs and forcing doctors to find work elsewhere is not exactly a winning message.

The group, which includes Tamzin Rosenwasser, Stephen Guffanti, Mary O’Neill and Tanya Parus, is so nervous they are begging other elected officials in the region to join their cause. 

“By joining together, we can show the Establishment that Sarasota County is NOT FOR SALE, and their Dirty Tricks don’t work here anymore!” an email obtained by Florida Politics reads. 

I doubt Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Nuender or School Board chair Karen Rose want to be within three yards of these people.

Yet there’s more. The group even published a three-minute video that has about as much sizzle as a melting ice cap. Let’s just say it’s not exactly a Max Goodman production, but more on that later.

The call to arms and the Powerpoint-lite video are undoubtedly in response to gains the group’s four Republican competitors have made since announcing their candidacies.

Let’s take a look. 

There is Republican Kevin Cooper, whose resume as an Army combat veteran and a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee would make him just as qualified to run for state or federal office.

Then there’s Pam Beitlich, whose 40 years of medical experience caring for women and children while overseeing Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit essentially makes her overqualified to serve on the hospital board.

And then there are the two incumbents, Sharon DePeters and Sarah Lodge, who courageously served in the trenches while helping to steer Sarasota Memorial Hospital through the pandemic.

These four Republicans running as an anti-privatization slate have also received support from a Sarasota County grassroots organization called Citizens for Healthcare Excellence. They are currently running an ad — produced by aforementioned ad maven and Republican political consultant Max Goodman — alerting Republicans to the dire threat Sarasota Memorial Hospital is facing from a group of conspiracy-prone extremists.

As with any down-ballot races, there is certainly no guarantee the most qualified will prevail. That’s an inherent risk.

But for the sake of the hospital and the patients in its care, here’s hoping Republicans get it right at the ballot box.