Joel EngelhardtRemoved from the ballot in 2023, restaurateur Rodney Mayo files to replace Keith James as mayor of West Palm Beach.
Restaurateur and counterculture icon Rodney Mayo, denied a shot at running for mayor four years ago by a judge’s order, has filed to run again, joining the crowded field for West Palm Beach mayor.
Mayo, 63, a lifelong resident and political neophyte who owns Subculture restaurants and coffee shops, would be taking on well-financed former City Commissioner Christina Lambert and her most prominent opponent, County Commissioner Gregg Weiss, to pursue the four-year term as the city’s strong mayor in the March 9 election.
His candidacy is likely to siphon off votes from Weiss, as Lambert, who served on the City Commission for eight years, is viewed as the candidate backed by the city power structure, and Mayo, like Weiss, is more likely to draw disaffected voters.
When Circuit Court Judge G. Joseph Curley ruled in January 2023 that Mayo didn’t qualify to run, it removed the only challenger to incumbent Keith James, granting him a second and final term without opposition.
Curley found Mayo hadn’t met the city’s six-month residency requirement to run because his voter registration and driver’s license were for a home in the Lantana area.
But Mayo changed his address on those documents in late 2022, too late to meet the city’s six-month requirement but in plenty of time for the 2027 election.
In 2024, James went to city voters to change the city’s charter to increase the residency requirement to one year and block anyone assuming the role of mayor from engaging in outside employment, a move that appeared aimed at Mayo.
But in recent months, Mayo has announced plans to step back from his business empire to open a sanctuary for dogs.
The qualifying period for mayor and two City Commission seats closes Tuesday.
Mayo, who qualified Friday listing his Clematis Street address, couldn’t be reached for comment to discuss his reasons for running. We’ll update the story if we hear from him.
Mayo is known for his eclectic restaurants, such as Dada in Delray Beach and Hullabaloo on Clematis Street, and coffee shops that draw younger customers. He has none of the typical traits of a politician. For instance, he doesn’t like posing for photos and photos of him are scarce online.
Even his newly minted campaign website has no photos of him.
When asked to pose in September for a story about his newest Clematis Street offering, The Hacienda food hall, he climbed a tree that he planted more than 40 years ago next door, behind his first Clematis Street endeavor, Respectable Street nightclub.
But he’s seen firsthand the power of City Hall.
After his aborted run in 2023, the city ended street closures on the 500 block of Clematis, where Mayo owns several businesses, withdrew its permission for Mayo to use an alley next to his downtown coffee shop and challenged his lease with the city to continue Subculture Coffee’s presence downtown. City commissioners pressed successfully for the city to renew Mayo’s lease.
Lambert has more than $1 million
Mayo has a long way to go if he’s going to compete financially with Lambert.
Lambert, the chief administrative officer at Gordon & Partners law firm, has reported raising $252,211 in her city campaign account through Sept. 30, next to $150,819 for Weiss.
One other candidate, Aaron Moreno, has raised $8,915 and another, Cory Kennedy, showed no campaign contributions through Sept. 30.
But Lambert has a huge campaign war chest through a political committee, Friends of Christina Lambert. It has collected $1.12 million, including $50,000 in November 2025 from Howard Cox, the namesake of the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach.
The committee’s largest contribution, $577,000, comes from Citizens for Law Order and Ethics, a political committee run by Lambert’s campaign manager Rick Asnani.
Law Order and Ethics has gotten $1 million over the past three years from the Seminole Tribe of Florida and $245,000 from another Asnani PAC, Floridians for Economic Leadership. While Lambert received the most money from the PAC in recent years, the PAC also has backed other campaigns.
For instance, Boca Raton Mayor Andy Thomson got $122,500, School Board candidate John McGovern got $90,000, state Senate candidate David Silvers got $40,000 and County Commissioner-elect Erica Whitfield got $25,000.
Many contributors engaged in West Palm Beach politics have given to Floridians for Economic Leadership, including sugarcane conglomerate Florida Crystals; Waterview Towers owner Leisure Resorts; Wexford Real Estate Investors, which is partnering with Related Ross on a downtown condo project; and developer David Frisbie.
Lambert’s committee has no contributions, however, from the city’s largest developer, Stephen Ross. Ross made a single $5,000 contribution in February 2024 to the Economic Leadership PAC.
Weiss, who leaves the County Commission Tuesday after eight years because of term limits, has raised $344,900 through his WPB Leadership Fund PAC. That includes $131,000 from Floridians for Economic Leadership, the same Asnani-run PAC that contributed to Lambert.
The money moved into Weiss’ account in two contributions. The most recent, April 2025, came three months after Weiss announced his run for mayor. Asnani is representing Lambert in this campaign but represented Weiss in his County Commission campaigns.
Weiss’ PAC also received $10,000 from Save West Palm Beach co-founder Catherine Adler.
