Candidate Profile: Misty Servia

Incumbent Manatee County District 4 Commissioner Misty Servia was elected to the board in 2018 and is seeking a second four-year term in this year's election. She faces a single competitor in the Republican primary and two write-in candidates in the general election.

Servia is a Florida native and lifelong resident of Sarasota/Manatee. Born and raised in Sarasota, Servia moved to Bradenton in 1988. She and her husband of 27 years have three adult children, a daughter who works as a mental health counselor, and two sons currently serving in the military–US Navy and US Armed forces.

Servia is a graduate of Florida State University, and her professional career includes twelve years working as an urban planner with King Engineering, followed by almost 18 years working as a planner for Manatee County prior to being elected in 2018.

She received a gubernatorial appointment in 2013 to the Manatee County Housing Authority and is entering her fourth year representing Manatee County on the Metropolitan Planning Organization. Servia is serving her third year as the Tourist Development Committee Chair and formerly served on the Manatee County Affordable Housing Committee.

In her first term, Servia has earned a reputation as being a hard worker who comes to meetings prepared to ask questions before making a vote. She has set a new bar for constituent engagement, regularly hosting town halls along with post-meeting videos, in which she informs residents of major votes that took place, taking the time to explain her rationale for casting a vote.

Servia has raised nearly $140,000 as of the last reporting deadline, more than any other local candidate in this year's election cycle. A career land use planner, most of Servia's donations have come from development-related interests, although much of it originates from businesses that do not typically do business in front of our county commission.

While Servia is definitely "pro-growth," she has shown what at times has been a refreshing willingness to vote against development requests, such as with the Gamble Creek development, casting the sole nay vote on that controversial application.