Stet NewsWe’ve got winners but you’ve still got plenty of decisions to make; our record-breaking airport; and Hope Alswang’s cultural legacy.
🔥 Some election winners but hot contests await
The 2024 election is more than just Biden vs. Trump.
It is down-ballot races to decide everything from Florida’s U.S. senator to the Palm Beach County sheriff to county court judges.
As of noon Friday, the matches are set.
Both parties made it a point to field a candidate in most cases, even in races where the demographics favor their opponent. Still, seven local politicians and nine County Court judges escaped without a challenge and will take elected office without election.
You’ll be hearing nonstop about the presidential race. But we know you’ll want to know, too, about candidates who perform vital functions at the local level.
Without further ado, the candidates facing off in the Aug. 20 primary or the Nov. 5 general election (and the unopposed winners) are …
Winners without opposition
Palm Beach County Commissioner Maria Marino, a Republican in north county District 1, second and final four-year term.
Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks, a Democrat, elected to her third term.
Tax Collector Anne Gannon, a Democrat, elected to her fifth term.
Newcomer Virginia Savietto, elected to an open seat in the nonpartisan School Board District 2 race. She’s an aide to County Commissioner Gregg Weiss, a Democrat, and she replaces Alexandria Ayala, a one-term School Board member who also once served as a County Commission aide.
Incumbent Democrat Wayne Richards, Port of Palm Beach Group 1, where he has served since 2001.
State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Democrat, state House District 92 in south county, second two-year term.
Mack Bernard, a Democrat, to replace state Sen. Bobby Powell, a Democrat, in state Senate District 24, which is central Palm Beach County. Powell resigned with two years remaining on his term to run for Bernard’s County Commission seat. Bernard previously served in the state House.
Post publication addition: Incumbent Democrat Jevonte “Tae” Edmonds in state House District 88 in central Palm Beach County.
🗳️ Contested races
Palm Beach County Commission
District 7: In the Democratic primary, former state Sen. Powell will face former West Palm Beach City Commissioner Richard Ryles for the seat vacated by term-limited Bernard. Winner faces Republican Leonard Serratore.
District 3: Michael Barnett, a Republican appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Democrat Dave Kerner, will face Greenacres Mayor Joel Flores, a Democrat.
District 5: Incumbent Maria Sachs, a Democrat, will be on the November ballot against Republican John Fischer.
Sheriff
Incumbent Ric Bradshaw has a primary opponent, Alex “Chief” Freeman. The winner faces the top vote-getter in the Republican primary, Bradshaw’s former Chief Deputy Mike Gauger or former PBSO Capt. Lauro Diaz.
While Gauger has raised more than $150,000, Bradshaw is nearing $700,000.
School Board
District 1, north county: Former Palm Beach Gardens Council member Matt Lane faces Page Lewis and Francesca Wernisch.
District 5, south county: Five candidates will vie in August: Gloria Branch, Mindy Koch, Mike Letsky, Suzanne Page and Charman Postel.
Clerk and Comptroller
Incumbent Democrat Joe Abruzzo faces Republican Samuel Thompson.
Supervisor of Elections
Incumbent Democrat Wendy Sartory Link faces Republican Jeff Buongiorno.
Port of Palm Beach
Group 2: Democrat Varisa Dass, the appointed incumbent, drew opposition from Kelly Fleury and Jeffery Jackson. Winner faces Republican Ted Sarandis.
Group 3: Incumbent Democrat Jean Enright has a challenge from Republican Roderick Clarke.
State House
District 87: Incumbent Republican Mike Caruso vs. Democrat Sienna Osta.
District 88: Incumbent Democrat Jevonte “Tae” Edmonds vs. Republican Ramon Arte Barber.
Editor’s post-publication correction: Barber did not qualify, awarding the seat to Edmonds.
District 89: Democrats Destinie Baker Sutton and Debra Tendrich face off in the primary to run against Republican Daniel Zapata for the seat held by term-limited David Silvers.
District 90: Incumbent Democrat Joe Casello vs. Republican Bill Reicherter and no-party candidate Jesse Arthur David Bradshaw.
District 91: Incumbent Republican Peggy Gossett-Seidman vs. Democrat Jay Shooster.
District 93: Republican Anne Gerwig, a former Wellington mayor, faces Christian Rios for the right to run against incumbent Democrat Katherine Waldron.
District 94: One Democrat, former Palm Beach Gardens Council member Rachelle Litt, will face the winner of a five-way Republican primary to fill the seat of term-limited Republican Rick Roth. The five Republicans are: Christian Acosta, Anthony Aguirre, Jon Carter, Gabrielle Fox and Meg Weinberger.
County Court judge
Nine county court judges return without an election.
They are: April Bristow, Ashley Zuckerman, Sara Alijewicz, Edward Garrison, Danielle Sherriff, Ori Silver, Stephanie Tew, Sherri Collins and Frank Castor.
One race remains. Lourdes Casanova, Douglas Leifert and Jean Marie Middleton are vying for the open Group 2 seat.
More election coverage: Qualifying for federal offices and some state offices closed in April. See Stet’s coverage here.
Find your precinct and the office holders who represent you here.
🛄 Air traffic milestone
Passenger traffic at Palm Beach International Airport has hit record levels.
For the first time, the 12-month passenger count (May 2023 to April 2024) has topped 7.9 million. That’s a 12 percent rise over the previous one-year period.
Why it’s important: It indicates traffic has rebounded from the pandemic shutdown. The growth is behind the airport’s decision to move forward with the controversial 10-year effort to create a second parallel runway capable of supporting commercial jets, as Stet reported April 23.
Total traffic, which includes departing and arriving passengers, hit a high of 7.04 million for the 12 months ending in February 2020, the month before the shutdown. It dipped to 2.2 million in February 2021.
The only time it topped 7 million before that came in 2005, before the Great Recession.
It has never topped 8 million. It stood at 7,977,288 at the end of April.
While fewer travelers are expected over the summer, the 8 million milestone likely will be surpassed in the fall, Airports Director Laura Beebe said.
PBIA is in a competitive market. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport counts about 35 million passengers a year while Miami International is even busier, with 52 million.
The figures, released last week to the Aviation and Airports Advisory Board, came with news of more commercial flights for PBIA:
JetBlue announced four flights a week starting Oct. 24 to Islip on Long Island in New York. It also will increase flights to New York-JFK, Boston, Washington-Reagan and Providence, R.I., and resume nonstop flights to Los Angeles Oct. 27 (through April).
Allegiant will fly more often to Asheville, N.C., and Pittsburgh and will resume flights to Cincinnati starting Nov. 21.
Breeze will offer flights twice a week to Raleigh-Durham, N.C., starting June 21.
American extended its direct flights to Chicago through Sept. 3 and will resume them Oct. 7.
🌔 The juice
🚔 Sheriff Ric Bradshaw is handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars from a forfeiture fund to charities in which his wife, Dorothy, serves on the board. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
👨🏼⚖️ In a federal courtroom in West Palm Beach, Chiquita Brands International was ordered to pay $38 million to the families of men killed decades ago by Colombian terrorists. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
👋 More than two dozen elected officials in Palm Beach County quit rather than meet the more intense Form 6 financial disclosure requirements imposed by the Florida Legislature. Three weeks before the forms were due, U.S. District Court Judge Melissa Damian in Fort Lauderdale granted a reprieve, saying the state had failed to demonstrate “a relationship between the interest of protecting against the abuse of the public trust and (Form 6’s) fulsome financial disclosure requirements …” (Florida Politics)
💵 The longest-serving city manager in Palm Beach County — Ron Ferris of Palm Beach Gardens — got glowing reviews and an 8 percent raise June 6 from the City Council. The raise would be worth at least $20,000, based on Ferris’ 2019 contract amount of $253,000. Ferris, who turns 78 in July and whose contract does not have a termination date, began as interim manager in October 2000.
❤️ Hope Alswang: The new Norton’s visionary
The public experience at the Norton Museum of Art and what the institution strives to be are shaped by the vision and drive of Director Emeritus Hope Alswang.
Alswang’s eight-year tenure transformed the regional art center in West Palm Beach into a more accessible and glamorous destination.
She retired in 2019 after the Norton threw open new doors on Dixie Highway.
Her death last week at 77 in Providence, R.I., is a moment to take the measure of her legacy here.
The most obvious is the gleaming home of the 83-year-old Norton, which grew from a relatively modest $20 million refresh to a robust $100 million transformation.
“Hope was the one who bought into a larger vision than the museum had ever had,” board member and former Hearst executive Gilbert Maurer told the Palm Beach Daily News in 2018.
There’s more: Here is some of it in her own words.
“I thought I’d take a somewhat sleepy museum and shake it up.”
— Hope Alswang interview with Jan Sjostrom of the Palm Beach Daily News in 2018.
Aspirations to be central in public life: “I grew up in New York City, and museums were kind of a ubiquitous part of most people’s lives.
“If you talk to most New Yorkers, they think the Metropolitan Museum is their museum. ‘Yeah, that’s my museum. I grew up there.’ I want people to feel the same way about the Norton.” — Florida Weekly interview with Scott Simmons, December 2018.
About technology and museums: “You can look at slides or see something online. But there is nothing to match the object. It is my obsession. I don’t care about anything else.” — Director emeritus conversation at the Norton, March 2019
About the New Norton: “I think people are hungry for a public experience. It’s why they will pay too much for a cup of coffee. People just love the chance to be with other people. There is a richness to that experience.” — Director emeritus conversation
After the Norton, Alswang and her husband and arts collaborator, Henry Joyce, retired to their 1850 Greek Revival home in Providence. Their social media updates reflect their recent years filled with family, art, nature and their dogs and cats.
Keep reading: Her 2018 Florida Weekly interview
