Boca councilman to run for Palm Beach County Commission seat

Boca Raton Councilman Robert Weinroth won’t seek re-election this year. Instead, he decided to run for a seat on the Palm Beach County Commission.

Weinroth, a Democrat, and Boca Mayor Susan Haynie, a Republican, are running for the same District 4 seat that represents Boca Raton through Manalapan.

“It has become apparent our mayor’s campaign to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited County Commissioner Steven Abrams has faltered,” Weinroth said in an email to inform Boca Raton executive staff and Abrams.

His decision was based on ethics complaints filed against Haynie with the county and state, Weinroth said in the email.

“As I approached the moment when I needed to qualify to run for re-election to my seat on the City Council, I was approached by a number of community members to consider redirecting my efforts toward running for County Commission,” Weinroth wrote in the email.

Qualifying for the city election on March 13 ends Wednesday. The county’s primary election is Aug. 28. The general election will be Nov. 6.

Weinroth told the South Florida Sun Sentinel his next steps are to identify donors and seek endorsements.

“No has offered me money at this point,” Weinroth said in a call from Tallahassee. “People were concerned about what’s happening in Boca Raton.”

Haynie’s relationship with Investments Limited and failure to recuse herself from votes involving the real estate company were cleared in advance by the county ethics commission. Complaints about her behavior were since filed against her.

Haynie said earlier she intended to put the incident behind her.

“I’m not looking to do anything to disparage the mayor, and it’s my hope she can address the issues in front of her,” Weinroth said. “We have pledged to keep this friendly, not negative and hoping this can continue throughout the campaign.”

mshatzman@sun-sentinel .com