Jane MusgraveCounty Mayor Sara Baxter can’t get the president’s endorsement for Congress, jumps back into District 6 race.
When Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter late Thursday announced she had reversed a 4-day-old decision to run for Congress and would instead revive her County Commission reelection campaign, she said she was following the wishes of President Donald Trump.
At about 8:30 pm, Trump posted a glowing endorsement of Baxter on his Truth Social platform, asking her to remain on the County Commission.
“On a somewhat selfish basis, I would rather have her stay on the Palm Beach County Commission (where so many important things are happening!) than run for Congress,” Trump wrote.
However, Trump’s post merely gave Baxter a way to save face, three political insiders independently told Stet News.
Earlier in the day, White House officials told Baxter they wouldn’t endorse her in the congressional race and wouldn’t promise not to endorse one of the seven Republican candidates vying for the newly drawn District 22 U.S. House seat, they said.
Without Trump’s endorsement, it would have been difficult — if not impossible — for her to win in the sprawling Republican-leaning district that extends from western Palm Beach and Broward counties to Marco Island south of Naples on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
But, Trump’s post wasn’t completely disingenuous. Powerful people in the county had appealed to the president to take steps to ensure Baxter remained on the commission to help them push through projects they want, said the political insiders, who requested anonymity because they feared retribution.
Given that Trump had refused to endorse Baxter’s congressional bid, they said they expected her to instead revive her County Commission campaign.
Throughout the day on Thursday word spread that Baxter would reenter the commission race even as a surprise Republican candidate, builder Allen Gast, filed papers at the county election office to run for Baxter’s District 6 commission seat.
When qualifying ended at noon Friday, Gast failed to take the necessary steps to run in the Aug. 18 GOP primary. Gast couldn’t be reached for comment about his quick about-face.
That leaves Baxter with one Republican opponent, Elizabeth Accomando. Three Democrats also qualified: Mario Guzman, Rudolph Tinker and Katherine Waldron.
Measuring Trump’s local impact
Accomando said she isn’t worried about Trump’s endorsement.
A small faction of people in the massive western-county district that includes Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves and the Glades, may be swayed by it, said Accomando, president of the Indian Trail Improvement District.
But, she said, district residents are more concerned about unchecked development, traffic problems, the high cost of living and other local issues.
“Why do you need a presidential endorsement to run a County Commission race?” Accomando said many residents will ask.
Bob Guzzardi, deputy director of the northern region for the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, agreed.
“Trump’s appeal is on national issues — Iran, cutting the size of government, energy independence,” said Guzzardi. “It has nothing to do with what happens in the county. I don’t think (the endorsement) will have any impact at all.”
Besides, both said, Baxter’s decision to abandon the commission race to seek higher office isn’t a good look.
“Baxter looks like an idiot,” said Guzzardi, who is supporting Accomando. “She’s flipped and flopped. You don’t flip and flop.”
Accomando used the same words, adding: “If she truly cared about residents of the district, she wouldn’t have jumped ship to the congressional race.”
Baxter didn’t respond to Stet’s request for comment. However, in a statement to local TV news stations, she said she wanted to continue to help district residents as she has since she was elected in 2022.
“There’s more work ahead, and I’m ready to keep serving the people of Palm Beach County,” she said in the statement. “Let’s get to it.”
Longtime political kingmaker Andre Fladdell said the criticism about Baxter switching seats and then switching back again shows people have short memories when it comes to election maneuvering.
“It is not atypical in our business for people to switch races,” the Delray Beach powerbroker said, ticking off a long list of candidates who have done exactly what Baxter did. “Because Trump’s name is in it, it becomes a big issue. It’s not. It’s normal.”
Baxter has raised $500,000
There is no question Baxter is leading the battle for money.
Baxter has $147,000 in her reelection war chest, according to the county supervisor of elections. Accomando, by comparison, has raised $44,000.
Baxter also has a political action committee where donations aren’t limited to $1,000 per election cycle. Her committee, Friends of Sara Baxter, has amassed $355,230, state records show.
Hefty donations have come from agricultural interests, along with companies controlled by billionaire Larry Ellison, who owns Lion Country African Safari in Baxter’s district. Palm Beach billionaire Stephen Ross, who is seeking County Commission approval to build a $310 million convention center hotel as he reshapes the county through his Related Ross development company, has also chipped in.
Backlash over Westlake traffic, Project Tango
But some Acreage residents have become disenchanted with Baxter.
Bob Morgan, president of the Acreage Landowners Association, said residents lost confidence in her when she backed a request by Minto Homes that would have allowed residents of its 4,500-home Westlake suburban city to use private roads in the rural community.
Fearing the impact of 10,000 cars a day on privately maintained roads that weren’t built for heavy traffic, residents fought the plan.
Baxter also angered residents by not pushing harder against a proposal to build a massive data center, called Project Tango, in the area. She ultimately said she would vote against it. The county attorney said her pledge means that she needs to recuse herself from voting on it.
Morgan said residents are confused about the events of the past week. “They think it looks like a circus, to be honest,” he said. But, he acknowledged, many welcomed the news that she is back in the commission race.
The boundaries of the District 22 congressional seat divide the community and not all can vote in that race, Morgan said.
“They’re glad she’s back because they want to vote against her and assure she doesn’t return,” he said. “Now they have the ability to control her destiny.”
