Broward elections: Incumbents hold in Coconut Creek. Miramar commission has new faces

In Broward County's municipal elections longtime Deerfield Beach commissioner Todd Drosky defeated Dan Herz — who pledged to “Make Deerfield Beach Great Again” — in the race to be the city's next mayor. Another notable result came in Coconut Creek’s District B, where Jacqueline Railey comfortably defeated Philippa Sklaar in a commission seat election marred by social media vitriol and defamation lawsuits.

Tuesday's vote was marked with low turnout. Votes were cast on Tuesday by fewer than 10% of 271,845 eligible voters in Coconut Creek, Deerfield Beach, Miramar, Pembroke Pines and Sea Ranch Lakes.

Broward’s Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott said that the low turnout was expected, largely due to a state law that requires voters to redo their vote-by-mail requests after every even-numbered year. “ There's a lot of people out there who probably have no idea there was an election. They got a vote by mail ballot back in November, and they would assume that they would get a vote by mail ballot today for this election, but they did not because they had to sign up all over again,” said Scott.

Scott said his staff did education and outreach on renewing vote-by-mail requests in the cities who voted in the 2025 municipal election, and plan to expand those efforts countywide this summer.

Voters across the city voted for new commissioners. Each race was won comfortably by the incumbent. District B’s race was by far the most contentious, with newcomer Philippa Sklaar frequently attacking Vice Mayor Jacqueline Railey on social media for more than a year. Eventually, Railey sued for defamation.

READ MORE: Coconut Creek election marked by feud and defamation lawsuits

Preliminary results for Coconut Creek:

• Commissioner, District B: Jacqueline Railey 78.34%; Philippa Sklaar- 21.66%

• Commissioner, District C: Sandra L. "Sandy" Welch 70.15%; Patricia Louise Duaybes 29.85%
  
• Commissioner, District E: Joshua David Rydell 85.16%; Felicia Shuman Newkirk- 14.84% 
  

The mayor's seat had been vacated by Bill Ganz after he was termed out. Candidate Dan Herz made waves with his promise of “making Deerfield Beach great again” and used social media, especially Facebook to spread his message.

In the end he was defeated by Todd Drosky, a longtime commissioner. Caryl Berner and Timothy "Chaz" Steven both dropped out of the race, but after the deadline that would have removed their names from the ballot.

Here are the preliminary results for Deerfield Beach:

•  Mayor: Todd Drosky 56.29 %; Dan Herz 39.96%; Caryl Berner 1.52%; Timothy "Chaz" Stevens 2.23%

• Commissioner District 3: Daniel Shanetzky 50.68%; Philip Edward Bradley 28.41%; Karen A. Shelly 20.91%

• Commissioner District 4: Thomas Plaut 84.36%; Write-in 15.64%

With Winston Barnes not seeking reelection for the commission's seat 3 in Miramar after serving for 22 years, and seat 4 opening up because its incumbent Alexandra Davis was voted into a seat on the Broward County Commission, Miramar was due for a commission shakeup.

The race for seat 3 received attention due to the candidacy of Keith “Papa Keith” Walcott, locally famous for his job as a DJ for 103.5 FM The Beat. He only took around 28% of the vote, with opponent Avril K. Cherasard taking the seat with over 50% of ballots. For seat 2, Yvette Colbourne won easily against a write-in campaign for Luis Pedraza, though "somebody else" and Miami Heat legend Glen Rice also received one vote each.

Here are the preliminary results for Miramar: 

• Commissioner, Seat 2: Yvette Colbourne 85.82%; Write-in 14.18%

• Commissioner, Seat 3: Avril K. Cherasard 53.59%; Keith "Papa Keith" Walcott 28.21%; Nari Tomlinson 18.21%

• Commissioner, Seat 4: Carson "Eddy" Edwards 41.46%; Kerri-Ann Nesbeth 33.23%; Kertch Joseph "KC" Conze 18.24%; Pamella "Pema" Reid 7.06%

Pembroke Pines did not have an elected official on the ballot, but voters did decide on eight ballot questions. Most consequentially, voters approved a general obligation bond of $230 million. That money will go towards, among other things, constructing and improving a new police station, a public safety complex, community and recreational facilities, and roadway and infrastructure projects.

You can follow the vote count across the county on the Broward Supervisor of Elections website.