Delray Beach voters, beware of last-minute lies in mayor’s race

We’re in the frantic final days of a very rough race for mayor of Delray Beach between Mayor Shelly Petrolia and challenger Tracy Caruso, so voters need to be especially skeptical of what they find in their mailboxes and see on social media.

The Delray Beach election is March 9, when voters also will elect two city commissioners to new four-year terms.

Considering Caruso’s well-established past ties to former President Donald J. Trump — the undisputed master of The Big Lie — her last-minute smears against Petrolia should probably not come as a surprise. But we’re here to point out the lies and smears anyway.

Case No. 1: On Caruso’s Facebook page, she flatly asserts that Petrolia is “under investigation” by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for using city resources to solicit “illegal, dark money” contributions to her campaign. It’s not true.

We reached FDLE. Spokeswoman

Gretl Plessinger sent an email statement: “We do not have an investigation into Shelly Petrolia.” Period. Caruso — not Petrolia — is the candidate with an out-of-town PAC with secret money paying for her direct-mail attacks. Asked to explain, Caruso emailed us that FDLE spoke to “Ari Whiteman,” a local gadfly. In response, FDLE said: “The allegations were unfounded.”

Case No. 2: This one’s more complicated, but it’s a smear that underscores why Caruso can’t be trusted with the responsibilities of running one of South Florida’s best communities. It’s a tale rich with irony, as Caruso tries to tarnish Petrolia by linking the mayor to Trump over a fleeting photo-op at The White House more than a year ago. If nothing else, Caruso’s tactic proves how toxic Trump, living up the road at Mar-a-Lago, can be in a city election.

Petrolia joined other mayors on a 2020 trip to Washington organized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Other participants included Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer and former Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky, now a Broward legislator. At a brief ceremony at the White House on Jan. 24, 2020, Trump signed an anti-terrorism law that boosted security at places of worship and at nonprofit organizations.

Petrolia posted a photo on Facebook showing six mayors standing behind Trump at the bill signing. (Despite Trump’s toxicity, it’s still a thrill to stand next to the president). Hunschofsky is standing right behind the president in the same photo. The mayors’ group issued a statement hailing passage of “bipartisan legislation that provides much needed support at the local level.”

Caruso claims to be a serious candidate for an important South Florida city. It’s ludicrous for her to suggest that Petrolia supports Trump, especially because Caruso herself was a “Trumpette,” a businesswoman and Trump supporter in 2016 (she told us she did not support him in 2020). The Caruso mail piece says: “Shelly Petrolia got a little too close to President Trump for comfort,” and it shows Petrolia wearing a photo-shopped red MAGA hat. The insinuation that Petrolia supports Trump is a flat-out lie. Petrolia was doing her job as mayor that day.

For the record, Petrolia is a Democrat in this supposedly nonpartisan race, and Caruso switched her affiliation from Republican to NPA or no party affiliation at the start of the race. As we noted in our Sun Sentinel editorial recommending

Petrolia, Caruso has been active in Republican Federated Women’s Club events, where she irresponsibly gave a platform last year to congressional candidate Laura Loomer, an extremist banned from social media for hate speech.

The mailer was paid for by Progress for Delray Beach, a dark-money political action committee that formed in January with a St. Petersburg address. The PAC’s registered agent, Mike Ridenour, refused to discuss the mail piece Monday. “I have no comment, but thank you,” Ridenour said, then hung up the phone. This is the group pushing Caruso’s candidacy.

Petrolia has a long record as a commissioner and mayor, and it’s not without controversy. There are enough legitimate issues to raise without resorting to lies and smears. We hope Delray Beach voters are astute enough to figure this out.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.