Palm Beach County is welcoming a slew of new faces to local positions of power. Nineteen county municipalities hosted elections on Tuesday, many of them for top jobs like mayor and city commissioner.
There was a lot at stake during the county's municipal elections, from the special election in Florida House District 88 to local referendums. And now, election results are in for some of the standout races.
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In the special election, Jervonte Edmonds defeated Republican Guarina Torres to snatch House District 88, filling the seat that was vacated by former state representative Omari Hardy. Hardy left his post to run for U.S House District 20 — the late Alcee Hastings seat — but was unsuccessful..
Edmonds grabbed 80 percent of the vote. District 88 includes areas such as West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Lake Worth Beach.
Boynton Beach City Commissioner Ty Penserga won that city's mayoral race, nabbing just over 56 percent of the vote.
Pahokee Mayor Keith Babb won his reelection bid. This will be Babb's third term in office. He defeated challenger Regina Bohlen, Pahokee's Vice Mayor.
Mayoral races in Jupiter and Riviera Beach are headed to runoffs. In Jupiter, two town council members, Ilan Kaufer and Jim Kuretski, will face each other again. And Riviera Beach incumbent Ronnie Felder will face Billie Brooks, a former councilwoman. The Jupiter and Riviera Beach runoff elections are scheduled for March 22.
In West Palm Beach, the county's largest city, Attorney Kathleen Ward won the District 1 seat. And Reinaldo Diaz won the race to fill the District 4 seat in Lake Worth Beach.
