On Sunday evening, island residents Rene and Margarethe Miville, Brenda Kinnaman, Mr. and Mrs. Jason Maughan and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Phoenix hosted a fundraising event in Miville’s beautiful Captiva home for democratic Florida senator Dave Aronberg.

Aronberg announced that he would be running for Florida Attorney General in June, and according to Miville, the event was incredibly successful financially and well-attended by supporters of both parties from Captiva, Sanibel and Fort Myers.

“Dave Aronberg always inspires everyone. What a great opportunity to enjoy such an exciting night with our island friends,” Kinnaman said.

“Everyone had a wonderful time. It was a feel-good event and there was lots of cheering. The food was terrific. I want to especially thank the Jacaranda for their generosity and the great food. It was just fantastic,” Miville said, offering additional thanks to Ellington’s and the Sunset Grill for their wonderful provisions to the event.

Miville said he supports Aronberg for several reasons.

“Dave Aronberg is Harvard law school trained and incredibly bright. He’s very bipartisan and is loved by both parties,” Miville said.

Miville says that one of the main reasons he supports Aronberg is because of the senator’s stance on offshore drilling in Florida waters.

“He does not believe in the data feed from the lobbyists. The facts that they’re feeding us aren’t true. Dave believes that if we’re going to pursue offshore drilling, we need to get real facts and look at everything very carefully. Instead of ‘drill, baby drill,’ he wants to go slowly and look at all the facts,” Miville said.

Miville said it’s important for communities like Captiva and Sanibel to support elected officials such as Aronberg.

“I think the important aspect of the event was the fact that we can band together as a community and support. If you create a direct link by showing support to people in office, once they’re elected, we can rely on them. It’s great to be in a position of that strength and to have that relationship because it makes a difference in the community. I think we made a good example of that Sunday night.

“You have to do good for the community and we have to do everything in our power to protect our beaches. Anyone that’s willing to support our cause is someone we’d be willing to support in spades,” Miville said.