Nancy Detert

Nancy C. Detert (October 22, 1944 – April 5, 2023) was an American Republican politician from the U.S. state of Florida who served as a Sarasota County Commissioner from 2016 until her death.

[1] In 1998, when incumbent State Representative Lisa Carlton retired from her seat to run for the Florida Senate, Detert ran to succeed her in the 70th District, which was based in Venice, where she lived.

Running for re-election in 2000, Detert faced Tim Wizba, the Democratic nominee, who did not campaign during the election due to child-care problems.

In 2002, Detert did not face a major party opponent and was opposed only by Sandy Primack, the Libertarian nominee and a software developer who lived in Volusia County.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune strongly endorsed her for re-election, noting that she "seems molded for the times" and "has been both an initiator of ideas and a compromiser on a broad array of issues.

When she ran for re-election to her fourth and final term in 2004, she did not face major opposition once again, and defeated Libertarian nominee Don Wallace in a landslide, with 79% of the vote.

Buchanan's largesse enabled him to donate more than $2 million to his campaign, more than any other congressional candidate during the cycle, with Detert sarcastically asking, "Wouldn't it have been cheaper just to pay us all to drop out?

[6] The Sarasota Herald-Tribune endorsed Detert over her opponents, saying, that she has a "solid record of effective, principled legislative experience" and "a political philosophy unencumbered by dogma.

The two embarked on a contentious and oftentimes vicious campaign, with the Republican Party of Florida running television advertisements attacking Bentley for representing insurance companies as an attorney, which Detert condemned, and the Florida Democratic Party and Bentley attacking Detert for voting for legislation that raised insurance rates by 70%.

"[12] She sponsored legislation that would "allow children in foster care to remain in the system until they are 21," as there were instances in which high school students who had turned eighteen were left on their own.