Baer to receive help from Democratic committee
Gardens lawyer running for District 18 seat held by Mast.
Palm Beach Gardens attorney Lauren Baer is among the candidates singled out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to receive extra campaign support for meeting organizational and fundraising goals in the run up to this fall’s pivotal midterm elections.
Baer is taking on U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, the Palm City Republican who represents Florida District 18, which encompasses Martin, St. Lucie and northern Palm Beach counties.
The DCCC has included Baer in its “Red to Blue” program, which gives Democratic candidates who meet grassroots engagement goals additional organizational support and access to party donors. Inclusion in the program is not an official endorsement.
“Lauren will be a fighter for the community that raised her and where her family’s roots have run deep for generations,” DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Lujan said in a statement touting the program.
The District 18 race is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country. With members of both parties holding the seat in recent years.
Both parties are expected to pour resources into the race, which could be critical to Republican and Democratic hopes of winning a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. And that majority could determine the fate of Donald Trump’s presidency, as Democrats will face pressure from portions of their base to begin impeachment proceedings against him if they wrest control from the president’s fellow Republicans.
Mast, a U.S. Army veteran who lost both legs during an explosion in Afghanistan, has been a staunch supporter of the president, joining the unsuccessful effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the successful push for tax cut legislation.
Attorney Pam Keith is com- peting with Baer for the Democratic Party’s nomination in the District 18 race. The two recently sparred over a video shot for the Keith campaign. The two-minute video was shot at a Stuart progressive pep rally where both candidates spoke and includes a clip of Baer in a crowd for about 1 second. Baer’s cam- paign complained that Keith didn’t seek permission to
include her image.