Election 2026 | Question of the Week, Week 1, District 1
Why are you running? What are the planks of your platform? — July 10
Each week through the Primary, The Breeze will ask the candidates for Cape Coral City Council an issue-related question. In the interest of fairness, each candidate is limited to the same amount of space, about 100 words, for their response.
Cape Coral City Council races are non-partisan races. Council members qualify in their respective districts but are elected at-large. This means all registered city voters may cast a ballot in each race regardless of where they live and the party to which they are affiliated, if any. This year’s Primary, on Aug. 18, features three Cape Coral City Council races: Mayor and the seats for District 1 and 6. District 4, with only two candidates, will be on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot.
The candidates below are running for the District 1 Cape Coral City Council seat:
Question of the Week: Why are you running? What are the planks of your platform?
• Sean Hartman
Simply put, I am running to serve the People of Cape Coral. I have watched as residents have had their voices ignored and their concerns go unanswered. I work in customer service and if I treated residents the way some Councilmembers treat them, I’d be out of a job. I want to bring my customer service experience to the Cape Coral City Council. My platform includes:
• Cutting the Public Service Tax and keeping taxes low
• Protecting our environment, parks programs, and natural beauty
• Reforming permitting and deregulating homeowners
• Expanding Multimodal Transportation
• Opposing data centers and Flock cameras
• David Newton
I’m running for City Council because I believe Cape Coral deserves experienced, accountable leadership focused on the issues that matter most to residents. After a lifetime of serving my country in the military and my community as a police officer, I want to continue serving by protecting our quality of life. My platform is built on strong public safety, responsible fiscal management, improving infrastructure, addressing traffic congestion, increasing transparency and accountability, and supporting smart economic growth to strengthen our commercial tax base while keeping Cape Coral a safe, beautiful place to live.
• Thomas James Senatore
I am running because Cape Coral needs more leaders with real business experience serving on the City Council and in the Mayor’s office. Too often, elections are decided by popularity rather than qualifications, leadership, and proven results.
After owning and operating my own business for more than 40 years, I understand budgeting, contract negotiations, accountability, and making difficult financial decisions. I semi-retired two years ago because I believed I had the experience and skills to help our city make better decisions, eliminate wasteful spending, and ensure taxpayers receive the greatest value for every dollar spent. My platform is built on fiscal responsibility, transparency, smart growth, and putting the citizens of Cape Coral first.
• Tom Shadrach
I am running to get things done by using common sense and holding the city manager accountable for costs and schedules. Affordability is a major concern; the council has increased the three major taxes to the residents by 82% in the last five years. Safety is always necessary for any community. Police and Fire protection are a priority. Infrastructure – roads and water is the other major plank that must be a focus. My experience with program management and finance make me the most qualified to meet these goals to keep taxes and assessment down and making our government run more efficiently.