Families with children at Lakewood Ranch High School, Braden River High School and more than a dozen other east county campuses will choose a new school board member on Tuesday, Aug. 18, when three candidates face off for the open District 5 seat.

Camden Bedinghaus, 23, a Savanna at Lakewood Ranch resident and Lakewood Ranch High School graduate, is running against Jonathan Mullis, a physical therapist and Lakewood Ranch business owner, and Chantal Wilford, a Panther Ridge mother of four who previously ran for the seat four years ago.

The seat is being vacated by Richard Tatem, who chose not to seek reelection. District 5 covers Bashaw, Braden River, Freedom, Gullett, McNeal, Tara and Willis elementary schools; Braden River, Haile, Jain and Nolan middle schools; Lake Manatee K-8; and both Braden River and Lakewood Ranch high schools.

A recent grad, a physical therapist and a former substitute teacher

Bedinghaus qualified by petition, gathering voter signatures rather than paying the filing fee. He was the only District 5 candidate to do so. He attended Sea Breeze Elementary, Martha B. King Middle School and Lakewood Ranch High before enrolling in dual enrollment at Bayside College and later earning an economics degree from the University of South Florida. He directs the Manatee County chapter of Turning Point USA and previously served as a youth coordinator at Bayside Community Church. He has three younger siblings attending Manatee County schools.

His platform, which he calls the "CAM Plan," centers on literacy, accountability and real-world skills. On his campaign website, Bedinghaus claims nearly half the district's students cannot read at grade level, a figure his campaign has not sourced to state testing data. He pledges to declare a "reading emergency" on day one.

"I just went through the system, I know the ins and outs. I've seen what students are struggling with," Bedinghaus told Your Observer in a June 26 profile.

Carolann Garafola, treasurer of the Lakewood Ranch Republican Club and a former 23-year township committee member in New Jersey, contributed to his campaign.

Mullis holds a doctorate in physical therapy from Simmons University and owns Physical Therapy Doctors of Florida in Bradenton. He relocated to Lakewood Ranch in 2017 and has two daughters in Manatee County schools. He serves as president of the Bradenton Kiwanis Club and has volunteered with Project TEACH at Gullett Elementary and Big Bank Theory at Lakewood Ranch High. His six campaign pillars include academic excellence, parental rights, teacher support, school safety, fiscal responsibility and curriculum transparency.

At a League of Women Voters forum Tuesday, June 30, Mullis said he wants to expand a volunteer reading program for kindergarten through second grade, noting that struggling readers "need one-on-one" attention "two or three times a week."

Wilford is a longtime Panther Ridge resident who served as a substitute teacher in Manatee County schools from October 2023 through March 2025. She holds degrees in French, Russian and linguistics from the University of Durham in England and completed post-graduate training as a translator and interpreter. She is a member of the League of Women Voters' Education Issues Action Team and has distributed nearly 1,800 books through the Lakewood Ranch Little Free Library Club.

At the same June 30 forum, Wilford said protecting public school funding is the district's greatest challenge and raised concerns about "self-censorship" among teachers due to book challenges.

When and where District 5 voters cast ballots

The race is nonpartisan, meaning voters of any party affiliation can cast a ballot. The voter registration deadline is Monday, July 20. Early voting runs Saturday, Aug. 8, through Sunday, Aug. 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. On Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 18, polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

If one candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, that candidate is elected outright with no general election. Otherwise, the top two advance to Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Voters can find personalized sample ballots and precinct locations at VoteManatee.gov.