WEST PALM BEACH — In a year where progressive challengers have unseated incumbents, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel was having none of it. She easily won the Aug. 18 Democratic primary in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.
The West Palm Beach resident celebrated her victory Tuesday at Table 26 on Dixie Highway while also marking a family milestone: her mother Dorothy's 101st birthday.
"First, I am such a blessed person because who is with me tonight. She has been with me every election night and she will be 101 next week," Frankel said at her Aug. 18 watch party, whose guests included her son, Benjamin Lubin, a former U.S. Marine. "And this is the perfect present for you, Mom. Happy birthday!"
Frankel led Victoria Doyle and Mark Piper by a wide margin,
recording nearly 75% of all votes cast in the redrawn congressional district, which extends from Riviera Beach south to Delray Beach, according to unofficial results from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office.
Doyle's campaign took a progressive tack, calling for "transformational change" in how Congress approaches issues. The 61-year-old attorney from Lake Worth Beach argued that Democrats had become closely aligned with big-money donors and that the party needed to return to working-class priorities.
The strategy seemed to have momentum across the United States as a series of longtime Democratic incumbents lost primaries to newcomer candidates identifying as progressives or as Democratic Socialists of America. Among those who fell included Diana DeGette of Colorado, John Larson of Connecticut and Adriano Espaillat of New York.
Frankel not only defied the trend, but she also basked in her congressional seniority promising to have a major role in the upcoming 120th Congress if she prevails in November and her party returns to Capitol Hill with a majority in the House.
Palm Beach County's Democratic voters showed their preference for Frankel regardless of when they voted. She led the three-candidate field by wide margins in mail-in voting, early voting and primary-day voting, scoring nearly 4,3000 votes.
Frankel will face Deborah Adeimy in the Nov. 3 election. Adeimy defeated Paola Branda in the Republican primary race on Tuesday.
Frankel, 78, of West Palm Beach, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013. She previously served as mayor of West Palm Beach from 2003 to 2011, represented Palm Beach County in the Florida House of Representatives and was the Democratic leader in the state House.
Her congressional district covers perhaps Palm Beach County's most famous address.
"It's sort of awkward because my constituent is Donald Trump," Frankel said. "Let's face it, this man is enriching himself and putting his name on everything, including the institute for peace and our airport, and too many people are struggling to put a meal on their table, pay their rent and buy gas to go to work."
Frankel told her supporters her parents and her son have always been the driving forces of her political career.
She said her plans was remain in Congress long enough to influence foreign affairs and prevent wars through diplomacy, international aid and other forms of what she described as "soft power."
"To get seniority in Congress, your voters have to trust you and reelect you again and again," Frankel said. "And it paid off, because, folks, when we flip the house, I will be in charge of our foreign assistance. In other words, I will be writing Marco Rubio's budget."
The crowd erupted in applause at the thought of her oversight of Trump's secretary of state, and a man yelled: "Defund Rubio!"
Frankel said the Nov. 3 elections are crucial for Democrats to regain control of the House so they can advance legislation to counter the Trump administration's policies.
"We have to flip the House to take it back, so we can start to take money put it on the right places away from this endless wars and the abomination known as ICE and put it into thing people need like healthcare, housing and childcare," Frankel said.
Mickey Alston, the vice president of AFGE Local 558, the labor union representing employees at Palm Beach International Airport, said Frankel's victory reflected her long record of service to the district.
"This says a whole lot about her, her character, who she is as a person," said Alston. "It shows that people really do trust her.
"It's not just her caring about us, but we also care about her. She's there for the TSA employees, she's there for our children, families and communities, and that's somebody that we want to continuously see in office."
Frankel wasn't the only South Florida incumbent to buck the national progressive trend on Aug. 18. Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz also secured their party's primary nominations against a field of challengers.
Valentina Palm covers immigration and breaking news for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Frankel celebrates twice: Democratic primary win, Mom's 101st birthday
