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Upcoming Event

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The next Sarasota Republican Club meeting will be held on

 

Thursday, February 20, 2025

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6:00 pm at Marina Jack

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Guest Speaker:

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Former ABC & Fox News Anchor, and

Former Charter Review Board Member

Ray Collins

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Politics.  And the media.

 

Our February discussion will have it all with a speaker who has been a TV news anchor and an elected official.  Ray Collins has a unique perspective on the adversarial mainstream media.

 

He'll talk about how he has seen local media change since he began decades ago.  Countless 'journalists' accepting paltry wages just so they can be on TV.  ("The news is here to bring you me.")  Where does that leave political reporting? It's not a priority on the local level--and Ray will tell us why. This will be a fun give-and-take discussion. 

 

Ray is an award-winning TV newscaster whose 34-year career included anchoring "Good Morning Suncoast" on ABC 7 and "Good Day Tampa  Bay Weekends" on Fox 13. He also was on-the-air in Richmond, Buffalo and Ft. Myers. 

 

In 2019, Ray affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty and quickly rose to the top, closing $70 million in his first few years. He's won an award each year for productivity. 

 

In 2020, voters elected Ray over four other candidates to the Sarasota County Charter Review Board, where he rose to Vice Chairman.  The Sarasota County Republican Party has Ray conduct a classroom training session for candidates each election cycle. He's worked one-on-one with Congressman Vern Buchanan, former State Senate President Bill Galvano and several other politicians. He also is a media consultant, helping companies and individuals attract media attention. (www.RayCollinsMedia.com)

 

Ray is the 'voice' of the Sarasota Open pro tennis tournament, the women's pro tennis tournament in Naples and he emcees several other big events each year in the area. He's also a travel writer, having been published 200 times covering resorts and destinations around the world. 

 

Ray is a Buffalo native who graduated from St. Bonaventure University. He spent a semester interning on Capitol Hill, played on the Division 1 tennis team and was later inducted in the campus radio station's Hall of Fame.  

 

Ray and his wife, Erin, live near downtown Sarasota and enjoy bike-riding to tennis, pickleball and yoga. 

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