Once colleagues Ric Bradshaw, Michael Gauger in heated race for sheriff

(This story will be updated to add new information.)

Polls close at 7 p.m. in Palm Beach County as the more than two-month push for the Palm Beach County Sheriff race ends.

Rick Bradshawa Democrat and the county’s longest serving sheriff, is seeking a sixth term in one of the most powerful offices in the county. His former principal deputy, Michael Gaugera Republican, is seeking to replace him, which has added significance and a lot of spice to this year’s election.

Before becoming Bradshaw’s top adviser, Gauger served as a colonel, major and captain at PBSO, all the while working with and under Bradshaw, who has been in law enforcement for 49 years. The men worked side by side for 16 years.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is the largest law enforcement agency in the county. It operates the prison system and provides police protection for unincorporated areas of the county, as well as for several municipalities that have contracted with it. With a budget of 952 million dollars, it has more than 4,000 employees.

➤ 2024 Florida General Election Results

For the sheriff’s race, all voters within the county limits were eligible to vote. The winner will serve a four-year term. There are no term limits.

In the run-up to the election, there was finger-pointing from both sides.

Foreman blame Bradshaw and his political consultantRick Asnani of Cornerstone Solutions, because Gauger’s opponent did as well as he did in the Republican primary.

Both candidates have something in common: Convicted criminals contributed to their respective campaigns. Bradshaw received a donation from Lewis Stahl, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2019 for evading federal income taxes. Meanwhile, Lewis Kasman, once an integral part of New York mobster John Gotti’s operationdonated money to Gauger’s campaign, but Gauger returned the money after a Palm Beach Post reporter asked him about the donation.

Gauger said he retired after a 50-year career in law enforcement because he was concerned about the way Bradshaw was running the agency.

Gauger was criticized for walking away with a $743,000 payout. He admitted it was wrong, and when he was told the amount, he thought it was a mistake. He said he didn’t want to accept it, but was told he had to. The attack ads criticized him for accepting the payment without explaining that he had no choice, he told The Post.

Bradshaw, 76, a Democrat, lists several accomplishments on his campaign page, which include launching mental health teams to provide services to those who need them and creating organized task forces to take down gangs, take out factories illegal pills, hunt down cyber predators and lock them up. human traffickers. Bradshaw also noted that he used new technology such as cameras to improve efficiency and accountability.

He began his local police career in West Palm Beach. He eventually became the chief of police there. He was first elected county sheriff in 2004.

Gauger, 76, a Republican, is a paralegal and investigator for the Searcy Denney law firm in West Palm Beach.

He lists his priorities as reducing lavish spending on “opulent” office space, eliminating “million dollar” bonuses and $100,000 luxury vehicles for executives, restoring successful programs that were eliminated and “ending the collusion between PBSO and union which resulted in the PBA being able to dictate and control its own discipline”.

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Postpart of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and issues affecting homeowners associations. You can contact him at [email protected]. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on the Palm Beach Post: 2024 election results: Bradshaw, Gauger for Palm Beach County Sheriff