Palm Beach County candidates for county commissioner election

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Six candidates are vying for three seats on the Palm Beach County Commission in the Nov. 5 election.

To give people a chance to hear from the candidates in this race, the Ark Florida candidates vying for the position appeared live.

To help make this decision, CBS12 News investigators met with each ARC Florida candidate to discuss their perspective on the job and what they hope to achieve.

Below we have collected their interviews. In addition to watching the interviews, you can find more information about them by clicking on their titles:

Palm Beach County Commission District 3 candidates

Republican Michael Barnett was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 and has served in District 3 since then.

Democrat Joel Flores most recently served as mayor of Greenacres.

Palm Beach County Commission District 5 Candidates

Republican John Fischer is trying to oust Democrat Maria Sachs and join the Commission.

Fisher’s website says he is running to “drain the swamp.” He is a retired first responder. He talked about the need for an outside audit of the county’s budget, what he’d like to accomplish if elected and whether Republicans can make any headway in typically blue Palm Beach County.

See also: Bulletin 101.

Palm Beach County Commission District 7 candidates

Bobby Powell

Former State Senator Bobby Powell (D) is running to be the next District 7 Commissioner.

While in the state capital, Powell was a leader of the Black Caucus and often fought against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ legislative agenda.

This is Powell’s first foray into local politics, but what’s notable is that there is something of a history of county commissioners with experience in state politics: Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs was a longtime state representative and then a state senator before she was elected to the district commission.

Powell made some predictions for the upcoming election and spoke about the needs of District 7 and the district as a whole.

Leonard Serratore

Leonard Serratore is running for Palm Beach County Commission, District 7.

Serratore is a Republican in the race.

There has not been a new commissioner in this position for 8 years, as Mac Bernard was a permanent member of the commission, but he was fired.

Mr. Serratore answered questions about his ideas for the county commission; he talked about his background and qualifications.

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