Town halls, meet-and-greets, and how to help return District 22 to the people who live here.
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School Board · Jan 2026
Sarasota · 2026
Meet Martin
Independent by nature. Independent by registration.
Martin Hyde has called Sarasota home for 27 years. Born in the UK and a proud U.S. citizen, he brings nearly 40 years of business experience on both sides of the Atlantic — and a long record of civic involvement across Sarasota and Manatee counties.
He's a former Congressional candidate, a registered No Party Affiliation voter, and a believer that the two-party system has, for too long, favored special interests and the status quo over the people who live here.
He's not perfect. He's honest about that. But he answers to no party, no donor class, and no Tallahassee leadership team. He answers to District 22.
My opponent, State Representative James Buchanan, is the hand-picked successor of the party establishment — endorsed by Senate leadership, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Realtors lobby, and the developer interests that have spent years rewriting the rules in their favor.
He voted twice against letting the residents of Siesta Key even hold a referendum on their own future. He's been a reliable vote for the laws that strip planning and zoning authority away from our cities and counties.
The race in District 22 isn't left versus right. It's the establishment versus the people who actually live here.
27 years in Sarasota. 40 years in business. One reason for running.
Roots
I was born in the United Kingdom and have been a proud U.S. citizen for years. Sarasota has been my home for 27 years, and there's nowhere else I'd rather raise a family or build a life.
I've spent close to 40 years in business on both sides of the Atlantic. That experience taught me two things that matter for public office: how to read a budget honestly, and how to tell when someone is selling you a line.
Family
Family is the through-line of everything I do.
My father passed away nearly six years ago after a long battle with dementia. That experience shaped my strong beliefs about elder care, dignity, and how we treat the people who built the lives we now enjoy. My mother lives with me, with the support of 24/7 carers.
My older brother lives in the UK and has learning disabilities; I'm actively involved in his care. My sister, who lives in Germany, runs a theater school for children and visits us often. I have two nieces — one in medical school, one finishing a Master's in education.
I have four sons. My eldest is a sergeant with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and has served the community for twelve years. My second oldest lives in Atlanta and was recently cast in a professional production of Les Misérables. My second youngest is a father himself — his two daughters are the greatest joy of my life. And my youngest son graduated high school this spring and will be heading to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the fall.
I'm proud of every one of them, and grateful every day.
Independent by Nature
I'm registered No Party Affiliation, and that's not a strategic choice. It's a reflection of who I've always been.
The two-party system, as it exists today, doesn't work for ordinary people. It works for the consultants, the lobbyists, the donor class, and the careerists who treat elected office as a stepping stone. I'm none of those things. I'm a Sarasota resident who has watched, with growing alarm, as decisions about our communities have been quietly moved 280 miles north to Tallahassee — and made by people who don't live here.
I'm not running because I think I'm perfect. A quick Google search will show you I'm not, and I've addressed those things directly in the videos on this site. I'd rather you hear them from me than from someone else.
What I can tell you is this: I have no special interests pulling my strings. No party leadership tells me how to vote. And if I'm elected, the only people I'll answer to are the people who live in District 22.
"Even a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step."
— The Dalai Lama
This is one of those journeys. And I'd like you to take it with me.
Public-meeting appearances across Sarasota and Manatee counties. Every photo is a Facebook livestream screenshot — verifiable against official meeting records.
Issues.
Martin Hyde believes in:
№ 01
Returning Local Control to Sarasota and Manatee Counties
For years, the Florida Legislature has steadily stripped cities and counties of their authority to plan their own communities. Bills like the Live Local Act (SB 102, expanded by SB 328 and SB 1730) have allowed Tallahassee to override local zoning, density, and height restrictions in favor of developers — even when those decisions conflict with the comprehensive plans our local governments spent years building.
The result? Decisions about how Sarasota looks, how it grows, and what gets built next to your home are increasingly made by people who don't live here, by lobbyists you've never met, on behalf of developers who don't have to live with the consequences.
Local people deserve local control. As your state senator, I will fight every preemption of home rule that puts developer profits ahead of community character, environmental protection, and the will of local voters.
№ 02
Lower Taxes Start With Smarter Spending
Every conversation about taxes has to start with the same question: where is the money going?
At both the state and local level, government has grown accustomed to spending without serious oversight. Budgets balloon, line items become permanent, and "essential" programs accumulate that no one can fully explain. The result is upward pressure on every kind of tax — property, sales, fees — that working families and retirees feel most.
I'll bring 40 years of business experience to the State Senate. I know how to read a budget. I know how to ask uncomfortable questions about whether a dollar is being spent well or just spent. And I believe taxpayers deserve a senator who treats public money like their own — because it is.
№ 03
Defending the Florida We Love
Florida is a place worth defending. Our beaches, our parks, our rivers and bays — they're not just amenities. They're the basis of our economy, our quality of life, and the inheritance we leave the next generation.
Storm management, water quality, water availability, and the preservation of natural habitats are not optional priorities. They are the priorities. And they require a state government willing to accept the science, plan for the long term, and stand up to the development pressures that, left unchecked, will ruin what makes this state worth living in.
Clean water and clean air aren't partisan issues. They're survival issues. I'll treat them that way.
№ 04
Preparing the Next Generation
The world our children are inheriting is changing at a pace none of us has lived through before. Artificial intelligence, shifting industries, a global economy in flux — the only way we prepare students for what's coming is to take public education seriously again.
That means strong neighborhood schools, well-paid teachers, modern curricula, and a serious conversation about what kids actually need to learn to thrive in the world they're walking into. It means treating public education as the foundation of Florida's future, not as a political football.
I want every child in District 22 — whether they go on to Embry-Riddle, USF, a trade, or directly into work — to leave our schools with a real foundation.
№ 05
A Senator You Can Actually Reach
Too many elected officials disappear the day after the election and reappear only for the next one. That's not representation — that's marketing.
If I'm elected, I will hold regular, in-person town halls across both Sarasota and Manatee counties. I will be reachable — not through layers of staff, but directly. And I will explain my votes, especially the ones you disagree with, because that's what accountability actually looks like.
Government works best when the people it serves can see what it's doing and ask why.
№ 06
District 22 Deserves Real Representation
District 22 has been treated as a guaranteed seat by one party for so long that the people who live here have effectively stopped being part of the conversation. The primary is the only real election. The party picks the candidate. The candidate goes to Tallahassee. And the voters — the actual voters — are an afterthought.
I'm running as an independent because I believe District 22 deserves better than that. I have no obligation to any party leadership. No litmus tests. No "vote with the team" pressure. Just an obligation to the people who put me in office.
That's not radical. It's how representation is supposed to work.
№ 07
Caring for Those Who Cared for Us
My father passed away from dementia. My mother is in my home today with 24/7 care. I know — not from a briefing book, but from daily experience — how difficult, expensive, and emotionally heavy elder care can be on Florida families.
Florida has one of the largest populations of seniors in the country, and the state's policies on long-term care, memory care, and family caregiver support are not what they should be. As your senator, I will make elder care a priority — because it should be one, and because we owe it to the generation that built the lives we now live.
The Choice in District 22
A clear contrast.
On the issues that matter to Sarasota and Manatee — Hyde and Buchanan stand in different places. Here's the record.
James Buchanan: Endorsed by the system he'd continue.
State Representative James Buchanan is the hand-picked successor to retiring Senator Joe Gruters. He has been endorsed by Florida Senate President Ben Albritton, Senate President-designate Jim Boyd, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Realtors, and Associated Industries of Florida.
That's a list of the people who write the rules. It's not a list of the people who live with them.
Twice, he voted against letting you vote.
For more than two decades, residents of Siesta Key have wanted the right to incorporate as their own town — a basic question of self-determination. To get there, they first needed the Sarasota County legislative delegation to advance their bill to the full Legislature.
January 2022
James Buchanan was one of three "No" votes in a 3–3 tie that killed the request.
January 2023
When the delegation tried again, Buchanan was the lone "No" vote.
Twice, when his own constituents asked for nothing more than the right to vote on their own community's future, he stood in the way.
A record of preemption.
The Live Local Act and its expansions (SB 102, SB 328, SB 1730) have systematically transferred planning and zoning authority from local governments to Tallahassee — in many cases overriding the comprehensive plans our cities and counties spent years developing.
These laws disproportionately benefit large developers and the industries Buchanan's biggest endorsers represent: real estate, building, and commercial development.
District 22 doesn't need a senator who continues to vote that way. It needs one who pushes back.
Clips from public meetings, and direct messages from Martin.
More to come.
Martin is at city and county meetings every week. New videos will be posted here as the campaign progresses. In the meantime, sign up for updates to know when new content drops.
Get Involved
This is our campaign.
Not mine. Ours. Here's how you can be part of it.
i.
Volunteer
Door knocking, phone banking, voter engagement, social media, events, translation. Tell us how you'd like to plug in and we'll send a personalized list of opportunities.
The single best way to introduce Martin to your neighbors is in your living room or backyard. We bring Martin and the conversation — you bring the friends.
Martin or someone from the campaign will be in touch within 48 hours with a personalized list of ways to help. This is OUR campaign — and you just became part of it.
Earned Media
In the News.
Coverage, endorsements, and press releases from the campaign.
