A race for Boca Raton Mayor is likely heading to a recount after the top two candidates finished with just 5 votes — and just 0.03 percentage points — apart.
With all precincts reporting and ballots still being counted, City Council member Andy Thomson led the three-way Mayor’s race with 39.64% of the vote, accounting for 7,560 ballots cast in his favor. Political newcomer Mike Liebelson trailed him with 7,555 votes (39.61%).
A machine recount is required any time the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5% of the total votes. If the machine recount still shows a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less, a manual recount is required.
Whoever comes out on top will win the right to succeed outgoing Mayor Scott Singer outright; like contests for City Council seats, of which there were three at stake Tuesday, candidates in Boca Raton — Palm Beach County’s second-most populous city — need only to take the most votes, not a majority of ballots cast. There are no runoffs.
(L-R) Andy Thomson and Mike Liebelson. Images via the candidates.
For third-place candidate Fran Nachlas, who served alongside Thomson on the Council but must now leave office, it is the end of the road. She took 20.75% of the vote.
Voters also weighed in on a pair of ballot questions on the future of a pair of big local development projects.
The first centered on whether Boca Raton should issue up to $175 million in bonds to build and equip a new police headquarters and related public safety facilities.
Fifty-three percent of voters rejectedthe measure.
A second measure asked whether the city should approve a 99-year lease of 7.8 acres of city-owned land near the Brightline station to Terra Group-associated Boca Raton City Center LLC, which has sought a mixed-use development there with residential, retail, office and hotel space.
Voters rejected that too, 73% to 27%.
To pass, a measure needed a simple majority of 50% plus 1.
This year’s election came amid sharp disagreements over the city’s development future, with candidates split between those arguing that proposed projects and related initiatives would generate revenue and modernize the city and critics who warned it would amount to a giveaway of public land, worsen traffic and accelerate overdevelopment.
Thomson, a Democratic lawyer, electrical engineer and adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University, ran on a promise to continue pushing tax restraint, oppose redevelopment of public land by private developers, pursue responsible growth, and improved traffic management and affordability measures to protect residents’ quality of life.
He opposed a government campus redevelopment plan and voted against agreements to advance it, the Post reported. He said public land should not be turned over to private developers without stronger public input.
In terms of fundraising, he was a powerhouse, stacking more than $619,000 between his campaign account and political committee, Running with Andy Thomson, with ample support from political and business interests.
Liebelson, a Republican real estate and finance executive, ran on an outsider platform, arguing his private-sector experience increasing value while lowering costs equipped him best to reform City Hall.
He said he would curb development-driven growth, cut taxes, eliminate wasteful spending and “clean up” what he describes as a city government influenced by developers and special interests.
He opposed the redevelopment plan, calling it a “giveaway” to developers and pledging to scrap the project, if elected.
He reported raising more than $203,000 and spending close to $184,500 through Feb. 27. Much of his gains were self-given. An eponymous political committee reported no contributions as of Dec. 31.
Internal polling in the leadup to Election Day showed Liebelson atop the field, with Thomson slightly behind him and Nachlas trailing in a distant third place.
Nachlas, a Republican surgical nurse and longtime Boca Raton community leader, vowed to continue emphasizing public safety, fiscal responsibility, neighborhood preservation and carefully managed growth if elected Mayor.
She supported an initiative to redevelop the city’s downtown area, according to the Palm Beach Post, arguing that lease revenues could help diversify city funding, particularly if state property tax cuts reduce municipal revenue.
She raised $236,000 and spent $127,000 by late February through her campaign account, while also taking in another $254,000 through her political committee, Fran for BocA, which reported spending $46,000 through New Year’s Eve.
