With 14 months to go before the mayoral election in West Palm Beach, candidate Christina Lambert has raised $1 million, an amount her campaign manager called historic.
While previous mayoral candidates have raised as much, Lambert made the haul in roughly 12 months, said Rick Asnani, a veteran of Palm Beach County elections who represents the city’s mayor and its five commissioners while also involved in campaigns statewide.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss, who is challenging Lambert for the post that is open because Mayor Keith James is term-limited, has raised about $269,000, according to reports filed this month. But, he said, he isn’t worried.
He voiced skepticism that Lambert’s war chest will translate into votes and sharply questioned whether such a staggering amount of money is justified for the March 2027 election that will likely attract about 12,000 voters in the city that is home to about 127,000 people.
“If you can’t get your message out to 12,000 voters for less than $1 million then maybe something is wrong with your message,” said Weiss, who will leave the County Commission in November due to term limits.
Both candidates accuse the other of inflating their numbers.
Each is collecting money in traditional campaign accounts where contributions are capped at $1,000 a person and through political action committees where donors can give as much as they want and money flows from one PAC to another.
Asnani, who ran Weiss’ 2022 County Commission race, pointed out that $131,000 in his former client’s PAC is money left over from that race.
“Those shouldn’t be counted as part of his fundraising efforts as a candidate for mayor,” said Asnani, owner of Cornerstone Solutions.
“Those are old funds from years ago.”Weiss countered that at least he raised the money. “I worked hard and raised those individual donations in the last campaign,” he said of his WPB Leadership Fund, which he is using to finance his mayoral race.
PAC money hard to track
Lambert got $527,000 from Citizens for Law Order and Ethics, a political action committee controlled by Asnani, state records show. She pocketed another $25,000 from one run by state Sen. Mack Bernard, a former county commissioner who works for Asnani.
Since Lambert’s political committee, Friends of Christina Lambert, was formed in December 2024, the Seminole Tribe of Florida has sent $750,000 to Asnani’s Law Order and Ethics PAC, according to state records.
But the mixture of contributions transferred among numerous political committees makes the money hard to track.
“Do we really think the Seminoles are interested in a mayor’s race in West Palm Beach?” Weiss asked.
They’re not, Asnani said. Lambert didn’t get $527,000 from the tribe; she raised it, he said. He merely held it for her in his PAC until hers was created, he said.
But, even excluding the PAC money, Lambert is leading the race for cash.
She has raised $172,116, according to her January campaign finance report filed with the city clerk’s office. In a press release, Lambert said her campaign money came from 382 individual donations with an average contribution of $456.
Buoyed by $1,000 checks written by nearly three dozen builders and developers, she had sewn up nearly $103,000 in contributions by March 30. Weiss has raised $56,275 overall.
Weiss said he only began serious fundraising in the fall. Reports show his campaign coffers have nearly doubled since Sept. 30.
Asnani scoffed at the notion that Lambert is the so-called real estate candidate. He said about 10% to 12% of her campaign cash has come from those in the development industry. Lambert has gotten support from across the city, he said.
“He’s raising county money,” Asnani said. “She’s raising West Palm Beach money.”
Weiss said he has no intention of raising $1 million. He said he has a fundraising goal but declined to share it. “I’ll let you know when I reach it,” he said.
Instead, he said, he hopes the campaign becomes a contest that focuses on experience, goals and plans instead of money.
West Palm’s mayor runs the city
It is a powerful post. Unlike all of the other cities in the county and most in the state, the mayor in West Palm Beach is the city’s chief executive. The city administrator, hired by the mayor from the ranks of professionals with experience running cities, answers to the mayor.
Weiss, 68, is a retired California technology executive who has served two terms on the County Commission. His campaign consultant is Public Concepts, a local firm with statewide ties.
Lambert, 46, is chief administrative officer at the West Palm Beach law firm of Gordon & Partners and has served on the City Commission since 2018. She formerly was executive director of Leadership Palm Beach County and was CEO of the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County.
Lambert says she will focus on building a diverse business community that benefits both small and large companies and encourages entrepreneurship. Safety, she said, is a top priority along with solving traffic problems, supporting education, protecting parks and increasing government transparency.
The city has recently approved a series of huge downtown investments by a single investor, Stephen Ross of Related Ross, who has not made any direct contributions to the candidates.
Weiss touts many of the same goals as his opponent. He said he wants to invest in the city, including finding innovative solutions to traffic congestion and restoring the city’s aging water and sewer systems. He said he also wants to increase government transparency by keeping residents informed.
Lambert has already picked up some powerful endorsements, including the city’s Fraternal Order of Police, the West Palm Beach Firefighters Association, Service Employees International Union, the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches and the Democratic Black Caucus. She has the backing of James, who called her “the best choice” for mayor.
But, Weiss said, much can change. The election is a long way off. With city elections in March and midterm elections in November, few people are paying attention to the mayoral contest, he said.
“People are focused on other things right now,” he said.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
