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The Port of Palm Beach will have three races on the ballot in the General Election, but there's only one Democrat primary. That's for the seat in Group 2.
Incumbent Port Commissioner Varissa Dass was appointed to fill a vacated seat in December of 2022.
"At that time I served on two Port committees, I attended all the meetings. So the other commissioners were confident that I knew the issues, I knew where we were going and that they could appoint me to fill that spot and hit the ground running."
Now she's hoping to be elected to a full term and takes credit for the Port commencing its groundbreaking for the Port Infrastructure Development Program, which removed 29,000 truck trips annually from our roadways. Dass says that resulted in reduced Port emissions.
One of two Democrats challenging Dass is Kelly Fleury.
While Dass says she is the only attorney in the race, Fleury has courtroom experience, working as a mediator. He wants to bring more businesses to the Port and increase jobs in surrounding neighborhoods.
"The Port cannot compete with other ports now because they do not have the technology. The Port is not deep enough so we're going to work on that. And we have so much money in there and the people are living like nobody. You go to Lake Park, people are living in poverty and we have $19 million a year. So we need to bring some changes in people's lives.'
The third candidate in this primary, Jeffery Jackson, did not respond to my requests for an interview.
The winner of this race will face a Republican and write-in candidate in November.