While Florida Republicans across the state voted for Donald Trump — nearly 80% in Palm Beach County — as their party's preferred presidential candidate, multiple local seats were up for grabs on Election Day.
Palm Beach County saw a slew of new faces in local positions of power. As 23 municipalities of Palm Beach County’s 39 municipalities hosted elections, many looked to fill open positions from mayor to city commissioner from small towns to major cities.
Voters decided on ballot items, including whether to pass a $100 million bond referendum to improve public facilities in Riviera Beach.
They also selected mayors from eight municipalities: Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Delray Beach, Greenacres, Hypoluxo, Lantana and Juno Beach.
READ MORE: Mayoral races, ballot questions for Palm Beach County’s municipal elections
As of the early hours of Wednesday, about 22% of the more than 500,000 eligible Palm Beach County voters cast ballots — a majority of whom voted by mail. That’s according to data from the Supervisor of Elections office.
Here is a glance at some key results from mayoral races and ballot items for Palm Beach County’s municipal elections.
West Palm Beach
In West Palm Beach, the largest city in the county, voters decided to increase residency restrictions for people running for office from six months to twelve months and approved job limitations for candidates who run for mayor, "prohibiting Mayor's outside employment and limiting business relationships."
One seat was up for election. In District 5, incumbent Christina Lambert won her election bid, napping her fourth two-year term. She defeated first-time candidate Matthew A. Luciano, an associate director at an asset management firm.
Palm Beach Gardens
Voters who live in the five geographical areas that the city of Palm Beach Gardens wants to annex — which combined have a total population of around 8,600 people — decided against joining the city and to remain unincorporated.
All five of the annexation ordinances were overwhelmingly voted down, each by more than 90%. And no council seats for Palm Beach Gardens were up for municipal election this year.
Riviera Beach ballot question
In Riviera Beach, the county’s majority-Black city of 40,000 residents, voters passed three referendum questions in this year’s local election to use more than $100 million dollars to improve public facilities. The referendum was part of the long-term Reimagine Riviera Beach campaign.
At stake were three separate bonds totaling $115 million dollars to finance and renovate crumbling municipal facilities.
Village of Wellington
Vice Mayor Michael Napoleone defeated newcomer Bart Novack in a bid to replace village mayor Anne Gerwig, who is termed out and is running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
The race for Seat 1 heading to a runoff – Amanda Silvestri leads by a slight margin over Bob Margolis.
The race for Seat 4 is heading to a run-off. The top vote getters, Shelly Lariz Albright and Maria Antuña, did not win the majority of the vote in the 5-person Village Council race.
Royal Palm Beach
Frederick Pinto won his his fifth term in the village of nearly 40,000 residents, defeating political newcomer Steve Avia.
Two of the five seats on the Royal Palm Beach Village Council went untested: incumbent council members Selena Samios and Jeff Hmara will serve two-year terms.
City of Greenacres
Three of the five council seats were available for this year’s ballot.
Charles "Chuck" Shaw won the mayoral race, nabbing more than 60% of the vote.
Incumbent John Tharp won a second term in office for his District 1 Seat, defeating a challenge from first-time candidate Edward Ayala.
And incumbent Paula Bousquet won a third term for her Distinct 3 Seat, defeating a challenge from first-time candidate Fule Dogic. Bousquet grabbed 80% of the vote.
Lake Worth Beach
Three of the five staggered three-year term seats were up for grabs, including mayor.
Mayor Betty Resch won the most votes, but winning by less than 50% of the election vote automatically triggers a runoff. She and former City Commissioner Andy Amoroso are heading to a runoff election on April 2nd.
Incumbent Sarah Malega won her reelection bid, defeating a challenge from pastor and civil rights activist Melvin Pinkney for District 1 Seat.
And Mimi May, a teacher at the school district of Palm Beach County, defeated incumbent Kim Stokes for the District 3 Seat.
Delray Beach
Three seats for three-year terms were up.
Former mayor and commissioner Tom Carney won the mayoral race for Delray Beach by large margins, outlasting Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston, whose term had expired, and candidate Shirley Johnson.
Carney replaces outgoing mayor Shelley Petrolia who served the city since 2018. Thomas Markert edged out candidates Tennille DeCoste and James R. Chard for Seat 1. And Juli Casale defeated Anneze Barthelemy and Nick Coppola for Seat 3.
Boca Raton
For new three-year terms, incumbent Yvette Drucker won Seat C by a landslide, and former commissioner Andy Thomson won Seat D, nabbing 60% of the vote.
Hypoluxo
A landslide win. Michael C. Brown defeated challenger Brad Doyle for the mayoral race in Hypoluxo, a small town of 2,700 near Boynton Beach.
The Town of Lantana
Mayor Karen Lythgoe won her reelection, defeating challenger George Velazquez by a large margin.
Juno Beach
Alexander R. Cooke edged out Peggy Wheeler for the small town's mayoral race. And Diana Davis defeated Dean Anthon for a Town Council seat.
