Politics

12 Palm Beach municipalities have elections Tuesday. Here’s who’s running and what’s at stake

Published

2 days ago

March 8, 2025

A dozen municipalities in Palm Beach County are holding elections Tuesday.

Ten of them — Boynton Beach, Jupiter, Lake Park, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Loxahatchee Groves, Pahokee, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach and Royal Palm Beach — have seats up for grabs.

Two others, Golf and Highland Beach, don’t have any candidates running. Instead, they’re asking voters to weigh in on important government matters.

Here’s what’s at stake.

Boynton Beach

Voters in the county’s third-most populous city have a chance to pick a new Mayor on Tuesday as the current officeholder, Ty Penserga, must leave due to term limits.

They’ll also pick between two candidates running for the District 3 seat on the City Commission.

Four candidates are running for Mayor: former Boynton Beach Community Agency Advisory Board Chair Golene Gordon, marketing executive Courtlandt McQuire, former City Commissioner David Merker and real estate broker Rebecca Shelton.

In the District 3 race, incumbent Commissioner Thomas Turkin, a 33-year-old Republican, faces a challenge from 25-year-old political operative Dominick Vargas, who carries an endorsement from the Florida Democratic Party.

Jupiter

Three three-year posts will be filled in Jupiter’s election, including the municipality’s top elected office.

Jim Kuretski, a 70-year-old whose service with Jupiter dates back to his first election to the Town Council in 2001, is seeking a second term as Mayor. Standing in his way is Council member Cameron May, a 37-year-old fellow Republican.

Three candidates are seeking the open District 1 seat: Realtor Phyllis Choy and accountant Andy Weston, both 76-year-old Republicans, and 62-year-old Democrat Teri Grooms, an administrative office specialist who has served on multiple community advisory panels.

For the District 2 seat, 41-year-old Republican incumbent Council member Malise Sundstrom hopes to deflect challenges from 72-year old Democrat Linda McDermott and 55-year-old Republican Willie Puz.

Lake Park

In the small town of Lake Park, population 8,984, all four incumbent Commissioners — Kimberly Glas-Castro, Michael Hensley, Mary Beth Taylor and Judith Thomas — are running for additional three-year terms.

Two other residents, John Linden and Michael O’Rourke, hope to supplant them.

Voters will cast ballots for their four preferred candidates. The four candidates who receive the most votes win.

Lake Worth Beach

Commissioners representing even-numbered districts at Lake Worth Beach City Hall are running to keep their jobs for three more years Tuesday.

In District 2, which covers the city’s northwest area, incumbent Commissioner Christopher McVoy, a 67-year-old soil scientist and author, faces a challenge from fellow Democrat Carla Blockson, 68, who chairs the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

In District 4, which spans the city’s southeastern region, incumbent 41-year-old Commissioner Reinaldo Diaz, the founder of Lake Worth Waterkeeper, faces two opponents: 69-year-old Realtor Greg Richter and 47-year-old businessman Anthony Segrich.

Richter, like Diaz, is a Democrat. Segrich was a Republican until 2022 and is currently registered with no party affiliation.

Lantana

After Group 2 Council member Kem Mason coasted to re-election unopposed, a contest between Group 1 Council member Lynn Moorhouse and challenger Jesse Rivero is the only one on the Lantana ballot.

Moorhouse, an 81-year-old Republican, is a retired dentist and Navy veteran whose local service runs decades deep. He was a founding member of the Lantana Chamber of Commerce and served on the town’s Planning and Zoning Board for nearly a decade before winning his Council seat in 2004.

The incumbent’s two-plus decades in office is long enough, according to Rivero, 51-year-old firefighter who serves on the Lantana Master Plan Committee and is a registered member of the Florida Democratic Party.

Loxahatchee Groves

The small town of Loxahatchee Groves has one Council seat and one question on the ballot.

Three candidates are competing to replace Council member Robert Shorr in Seat 4. Shorr chose not to seek re-election.

The candidates include Paul Coleman, Steve Hoffman and Brian William Zdunowski.

Coleman, a 50-year-old Republican, has worked as a building inspector for Palm Beach County for the past seven years. He unsuccessfully challenged Shorr in 2022.

Hoffman, a 55-year-old no-party candidate, is a quail farmer. Zdunowski, a 45-year-old Republican, works for a medical software company.

The ballot question asks if Loxahatchee Groves should use Palm Beach County’s Canvassing Board as its canvassing board during municipal elections, which would save money.

Pahokee

In small Pahokee, Group 1 Commissioner Clara “Tasha” Murvin, who is currently serving as the city’s Vice Mayor, faces a challenge from James Scott.

Murvin, 58, beat one challenger three years ago without opposition. She’s now hoping for a repeat against Scott, a 63-year-old fellow Democrat.

Other posts that were up for election — Mayor and Group 2 Commissioner — automatically went to their respective incumbents, Keith Babb Jr. and Derrick Boldin, in November after no one filed to run against them.

Palm Beach Gardens

Two City Council seats will be decided Tuesday in 61,146-resident Palm Beach Gardens.

For the Group 2 seat, incumbent Council member Marcie Tinsley, 56, faces 51-year-old Scott Gilow.

For Group 4, 47-year-old firefighter John Kemp faces 66-year-old Chuck Millar.

All four candidates are Republicans.

The Group 4 race has involved some mudslinging, due to Millar’s legal issues predating 2019. He’s said he’s a changed man and hasn’t gotten into any trouble since.

Riviera Beach

Two incumbents on the Riviera Beach City Council are defending their seats against lone challengers, both of whom previously served on the Council until 2016.

In District 1, incumbent Tradrick McCoy, 41, faces 64-year-old Bruce Guyton.

In District 3, incumbent Shirley Lanier, 59, is working to repel Cedrick Thomas, 47.

Royal Palm Beach

Incumbent Royal Palm Beach Mayor Jeff Hmara, an 80-year-old Democrat, is trying to win election to the post his Village Council peers appointed him after the death of Fred Pinto in September.

Two Republicans — Vice Mayor Selena Samios, a 52-year-old marketing pro, and Justin Plaza, a 42-year-old tech entrepreneur — aim to stop him.

Also on the ballot: 35-year-old Republican international affairs consultant Steve Avila, 56-year-old Democratic media professional and nonprofit founder Donielle Pinto, the late Mayor’s widow, and Democratic 59-year-old grant writer Sylvia Sharps.

The three are competing for the Council’s Group 3 seat. Its appointed occupant, Adam Miller, ran unopposed for the Group 1 seat Samios is vacating.

Other incumbent Council members Richard Valuntas and Jan Rodusky of Group 2 and Group 4 also coasted back into office without opposition.

Golf

Voters in the 265-resident village of Golf have three ballot questions to answer:

— Shall the Village Charter be amended to allow for the Village Council to consist of three or five members?

— Shall the Village Charter be amended to provide that a vacancy shall be filled to the end of the term of office of such vacancy?

— Shall the Village Charter be amended so that if there are less than three members of the Council who are eligible to vote due to vacancy or lawful abstention that the remaining member or members may approve the matter by unanimous vote?

Highland Beach

Voters in Highland Beach have one ballot question. A “yes” vote would approve spending up to $3.5 million to pay for two public safety projects, one to rehabilitate an old fire station and its apparatus bays, the other to build a marine facility for boat docking and water rescue services.

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Politics

Supreme Court rejects Republican-led effort to halt climate change lawsuits in Democratic-led states

Published

16 minutes ago

March 10, 2025

May Greene

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in 19 states aimed at blocking climate change suits against the oil and gas industry from Democratic-led states.

The justices acted on an unusual Republican effort to file suit in the Supreme Court over the Democratic states’ use of their own state courts to sue fossil fuel companies for deceiving the public about the risks of their products contributing to climate change.

The Supreme Court typically hears only appeals, but the Constitution gives the court authority to hear original lawsuits states file against each other.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have allowed the lawsuit to proceed for now. The justices don’t have the discretion to reject the complaint at this stage, Thomas wrote in a dissent that did not deal with the merits of the claim.

The Republicans’ complaint, led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, asserts that the Democratic states are trying to dictate national energy policy and will drive up the cost of energy across the country.

The Supreme Court also has so far turned away appeals by the energy companies seeking to get the justices involved in the issue.

The lawsuits filed by dozens of state and local governments allege that fossil fuel companies misled the public about how their products could contribute to the climate crisis. The lawsuits claim billions of dollars of damage from such things as severe storms, wildfires and rising sea levels.

The Republican action specifically sought to stop lawsuits brought by California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Only the federal government can regulate interstate gas emissions, and states have no power to apply their own laws to a global atmosphere that reaches well beyond their borders.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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Politics

Florida sees jobless claims drop for third week in a row

Published

48 minutes ago

March 10, 2025

May Greene

Florida’s drop in first-time unemployment claims cuts against the national trend.

If there is a recession coming, it isn’t being felt in Florida just yet.

New unemployment claims in Florida have now fallen for three weeks straight. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports there were 5,393 initial jobless claims for the week ending March 1 in Florida. That’s down by 520 filings from the 5,913 reported for the week ending Feb. 22.

It’s been nearly a month since Florida has seen first-time unemployment claims increase. And even that movement, during the week ending Feb. 8, was only a slight uptick. The new year has mostly seen unemployment claims decrease so far.

Florida’s new unemployment claims figures went against the trend on the national level. There were 224,689 first-time claims before seasonal adjustments across the country for the week ending March 1. That’s an increase of 3,833 claims, or a jump of 1.7%.

While that figure is a slight uptick, it’s a smaller surge than what DOL analysts had expected. DOL economists had projected a weekly increase of 25,158 claims.

The latest first-time jobless filings report also represents an increase of more than 10,000 claims nationwide in the year-over-year comparison. This time in 2024, there were 214,424 jobless filings.

Florida has maintained relatively upbeat jobless reports for much of the past year. There were few weeks that saw significant increases in unemployment claims in 2024 outside of the temporary surges following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The general monthly unemployment figure has remained relatively solid as well. The unemployment rate in Florida has sat at 3.4% since the Fall. In the Spring and Summer, the jobless figure was 3.3%, according to FloridaCommerce. The state agency has not released the rate for January yet. Florida has had a lower unemployment rate than the national figure for 50 months straight.

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Politics

Ron DeSantis says Idaho isn’t a ‘mature economy’

Published

1 hour ago

March 10, 2025

May Greene

Gov. Ron DeSantis is throwing rocks at the Gem State of Idaho, diminishing the state’s recent economic growth due to its lower population than Florida.

As he has at previous press conferences, the Governor was discussing Florida having the second-best performance in the “economy,” which has grown by more than 30% since he has been in office. He said Florida led “sizable states,” but less-populated “Idaho may be a little bit more than us.”

But DeSantis dissed the comparison between the states.

“Idaho has less people than Polk County does, so it’s a little bit different comparison when you’re talking, and I love Idaho, but it’s just not the same as comparing to a mature economy,” he said at Winter Haven’s Central Florida Intermodal Logistics Center.

Idaho’s lack of a “mature economy” aside, the Governor has reached into the Rocky Mountains to name Boise State Professor Scott Yenor to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees. The pick has caused some legislators, including the Jewish Legislative Caucus, consternation stemming from Yenor’s alleged “history of antisemitic and misogynistic rhetoric.”

The former fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, per The Associated Press, said “independent women” were “medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome” and said colleges and universities were “the citadels of our gynecocracy.”

After his selection, past comments about whether women should pick motherhood over higher education immediately generated headlines. More controversy in recent months followed when Yenor, in since-deleted social media posts, questioned whether women or Jews should be considered for leadership posts in the U.S. Senate.

DeSantis has defended naming Yenor to the position when confronted with Yenor’s remarks on women.

“I’m not familiar with that. I mean, obviously, I think if you look at the state of Florida, we probably have a higher percentage of women enrolled in our state universities than we do men, and that’s probably grown under my tenure,” DeSantis said during the Jacksonville press conference in January. “But what I don’t do, what I don’t like is cherry-picking somebody saying this, and then trying to smear them.”

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