When Palm Beach County voters head to the polls Aug. 18, the county's only contested commission race on the primary election ballot will be for the District 6 seat. Two candidates are vying for the GOP nomination, and three are seeking the Democratic nomination.
The district includes Wellington, Westlake, Royal Palm Beach, parts of Green Acres and stretches toward the west to include the Glades area.
At issue for the new commission will be funding levels for thecounty sheriff, how to respond to state calls for reduced spending and development issues.
County Mayor Sara Baxter, a Republican incumbent, has amassed a campaign war chest of nearly $400,000 to fend off a challenge in the GOP primary from Elizabeth Accomando, president of the Indian Trail
Improvement District.
Republican incumbent draws big name, dollar donors
Entities linked to Larry Ellison, executive chairman of Oracle Corporation, have contributed $50,000 to Baxter’s political action committee, Friends of Sara Baxter. The Ellison-linked companies include Lion Country Safari Inc.-Florida and a company listed in campaign finance records as MPB Investments LLC.
Related Southeast LLC, controlled by West Palm Beach developer Steven Ross, also donated $25,000 to the Baxter PAC.
Scores of other contributors that routinely do business with the county have also made contributions to her PAC.
Last November, Baxter received $10,000 from PBA Holdings, the developer that sought to build Project Tango, a hyperscale data center in Loxahatchee. In April, after widespread opposition surfaced to the project, Baxter refunded the $10,000.
County commissioners recently voted 5-1 to block the project. Baxter had to disqualify herself from participating in the debate because she had publicly said she was against it.
As of July 28, Accomando had raised $54,000.
Three Democrats vying for commission seat
Baxter had pulled out of the county commission race to run for Congress but quickly changed her mind after President Donald Trump insisted in a social media post that she stay in the commission race. He has endorsed Baxter for the county seat.
Meanwhile, three Democrats are vying to challenge the winner of the Baxter-Accomando race.
They include:
- Katherine Waldron, who previously served on the Port of Palm Beach District Commission before holding a two-year term in the Florida House of Representatives. She has nearly $180,000 available for her campaign, primarily raised through her PAC, Friends of Katherine Waldron.
- Rudy Tinker is a small business owner, who has raised nearly $80,000. He has not set up a PAC.
- Mario Guzman has worked in the public sector for more than 25 years, including roles with the county, West Palm Beach and Boynton Beach, where he served as public works director. He has raised about $10,000.
Mike Diamond is a journalist atThe Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tango, Trump draw attention to Palm Beach County Commission primary
