West Palm Beach voters to decide between keeping, ousting 2 City Commission members

Voters in West Palm Beach will decide Tuesday whether to re-elect two members of the City Commission or replace them with a lone opponent each.

For the seat representing District 1 — which spans the city’s northeast portion encompassing the Northboro Park Historic District, Northshore, Northwood Hills and Pleasant City neighborhoods — incumbent Commissioner Cathleen Ward hopes to repel a challenge from Martina Tate Walker.

Over in District 3, which covers a center-east part of Boca Raton that surrounds Clear Lake and includes downtown and Roosevelt Estates, Commissioner Christy Fox faces Roger Lee Jackson.

West Palm Beach is the most populous of 19 Palm Beach County municipalities holding elections March 10, with more than 132,800 residents, according to World Population Review.

District 1

Ward, a 36-year-old lawyer who switched from Republican to Democrat in 2020, is seeking a third term in the seat she won in 2022 after previously serving on the city’s Planning Board and several local nonprofit Boards.

If re-elected, she said, she’ll work to further strengthen West Palm Beach through safer streets, more affordable housing and support for local businesses while using her legal background and community leadership experience to guide policy.

Through Feb. 10, City Clerk records show Ward reported raising about $30,500 and spending $4,000. A sizable chunk of her gains came from legal, real estate and finance interests. She also received maxed-out contributions from a political committee associated with the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce and ACEs Action Florida, a PC primarily funded by business executive-turned-philanthropist Samuel Meshberg.

Tate Walker, a 77-year-old Democrat and former government worker, is mounting her sixth run at the City Commission and her third competing against Ward. She lost to Ward by 8 percentage points in 2022. Two years later, she ran again but dropped out of the race to take a job with a anti-homelessness nonprofit that conditioned her employment on her not running for office.

An ordained minister, Tate Walker told Stet News that, if elected, she will focus on helping homeless residents, expand community service and improve access to city services while urging the City Commission to engage residents more directly by meeting with them in their neighborhoods.

She raised a comparatively paltry $3,500, spending most of it on city election fees. Her donations came through mostly personal checks of small sums.

District 2

Fox, a 52-year-old marketing pro and public relations executive, is running for her fourth consecutive term in the seat she won in 2020. In 2022, her peers elected her Commission President.

She helped launch the city’s “Adopt-A-Block” initiative to improve safety and neighborhood pride in the Historic Northwest District and received the Grow Lit Project’s “Champion of Change” award in 2023.

If re-elected, she said she aims to guide smart, inclusive growth that expands opportunity for residents.

Through Feb. 10, she raised about $30,000, a major share of it from real estate interests, while spending less than $3,600.

Jackson, a fellow Democrat, is an Army veteran, auto shop owner and grant manager who also leads the Night Runners WPB nonprofit that hosts free weekly runs and walks in the community.

He’s running on a platform to make residents feel “safe, seen and supported” and said that as a Commissioner, he would expand residents’ access to legal services, support local businesses and veterans, protect neighborhoods and advance LGBTQIA+ visibility in the city.

Jackson raised $7,500 and spent close to $5,000 by the last campaign finance reporting period. More than half his gains came from his bank account, with the remainder coming from small personal checks.