Palm Beach County voters elect Ric Bradshaw to his sixth term as sheriff

The Democratic Sheriff of Palm Beach Rick Bradshaw secured a sixth consecutive term on Tuesday, defeating fellow Republican-turned-foe Michael Gauger in a contentious race for the county’s top cop job.

With early and mail-in ballots counted and 491 of 798 precincts reported, Bradshaw had 58 percent of the vote, edging out his longtime second-in-command to keep his job overseeing a six-department, 4,300-employee office and about 1,500 volunteers.

Both men are 76 years old and boast more than 50 years of law enforcement experience.

Bradshaw was first elected sheriff in 2004 and has held the position longer than anyone else. He worked largely on his service record, which included creating the agency’s Targeted Violence Unit, which reviews and handles potential terrorism and targeted violence cases, and task forces to “take down gangs, take down illegal pill factories, hunt down cyber predators, and shut down human traffickers.”

He also introduced the use of body cameras and invested $13 million in forfeited funds to support local community programs.

Gauger launched a challenge against Bradshaw after serving 16 years as chief deputy. He ran on a promise to reform the sheriff’s budget by cutting “blanket spending” for office space and eliminating “million dollar bonuses” and “$100,000 luxury vehicles for executives.”

He also pledged to restore a multitude of sheriff’s office departments — including the Graffiti Unit, Aggressive Driving Unit and Animal Cruelty Prevention Unit — and revive the agency’s Eagle Academy and Drug Farm, which respectively , provided boot camps for at-risk youth and recovery services for nonviolent drug offenders.

Gauger blamed Bradshaw for removing the units despite the sheriff’s orders budget of almost 1 billion dollars and the purchase of four new helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft.

Bradshaw received endorsements this cycle from both Gauger’s primary opponent, retired police Capt. Laura Diazand his own primary challenger, Democratic Riviera Beach Police Maj. Alex Freeman.

Other Democrats supporting Bradshaw included Sen. Boynton Beach. Lori Berman and Reps. Kelly Skidmore of Boca Raton and David Silvers by Lake Clarke Shores.

Gauger earned a endorsement of the Palm Beach County Fraternal Order of Police — a notable nod, his campaign said, given the rarity of a sitting sheriff not getting the support of his deputies.

The Palm Beach Post and South Florida Sun-Sentinel he also supported him.

Bradshaw dominated financially, raising $1.78 million through it campaign account and the state-level political committee, Friends of Ric Bradshawuntil October 31. Including funds carried over from previous campaigns, he has more than $1 million left with less than a week before Election Day.

Gauger reported raising nearly $246,000 through it campaign accountwhich had about $20,000 left as of November.

Both candidates received money from convicted felons. Bradshaw accepted a donation from Lewis Stahlwhich was sentenced to 30 months in prison to avoid federal income taxes. Gauger originally received a donation from Lewis Kasmana former New York mobster associate John Gottibut returned the money.

The candidates engaged in a political mudslinging. Gauger blamed Bradshaw for lax security afterward the second assassination attempt of Donald Trump near the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Bradshaw responded that the criticism is evidence that Gauger has no idea about the sheriff’s responsibilities.

During the Mayor, a political committee that has donated to Bradshaw for the past two decades accused Gauger of lying about his service in the US Army during the Vietnam War.

Gauger called it “sisterhood.”

___

Jesse Scheckner and Michael Costains contributed to this report.

Post Views: 0