Published On: Tue, Nov 27th, 2018

Robert Weinroth Sworn in as County Commissioner

By: Michael Demyan

Robert Weinroth was officially sworn in the District 4 seat on the Palm Beach County Commission.

The Democrat won the race by 8.5 percent against Republican challenger William Vale, who recently switched over from the Independent Party of Florida after it was dissolved. Vale was set to take on former Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie in the primaries, however, her suspension led her to withdraw from the race.

Weinroth took over for incumbent Steven Abrams, a Republican, however, the differences in parties did not change Abrams’ opinion on Weinroth and endorsed him for the seat. Republicans have held the District 4 seat since 1990, but Weinroth is not interested in handling his new position by looking at political parties.

“Much has been written about the fact that this seat has shifted from red to blue after 30 years,” he said. “However, I am hoping this will be the only time we ever allude to party affiliation during my term of office. This was a partisan race for what is in practicality a non-partisan body.”

In 2012, Weinroth’s first campaign fell short when he lost a race for Palm Beach County property appraiser. He was first elected to political office in 2014 during a special election for the Boca Raton City Council and the next year he was elected to a full three-year term. He decided not to run for re-election and instead opted to run for the District 4 seat. He explained that his work on the Palm Beach County Commission will be similar, but on a much larger scale.

“Like the city council on which I served in Boca Raton, the seven of us will work in a collaborative fashion to address the many issues involved in running the largest county east of the Mississippi,” he said. “It will require us to listen to each other and at times challenge one another to find solutions and strategies so that Palm Beach County continues to be the best place to live, work, learn and play.”

During his speech, Weinroth said that an issue he hopes they can address quickly is assisting the supervisor of elections, Susan Bucher, in preparation for the 2020 presidential elections.

“As a Constitutional officer of our county, she has a great deal of autonomy in the operations of her department,” he said. “However, it is clear we need to help support her efforts to update election equipment and procedures to eliminate much of the pain we endured during multiple recounts.”

 

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