PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — One of the races in Palm Beach County the WPTV News team is closely monitoring on Election Day is the open seat for state attorney.
The winner will replace Dave Aronberg, who's stepping down after three terms.
Democrat Alexcia Cox, a deputy chief assistant state attorney, won a three-way primary convincingly in August.
Now Cox is facing Republican Samuel Stern, a Palm Beach Gardens attorney and former federal prosecutor in New York, who has raised a ton of money and raised the hopes of Palm Beach County’s GOP leadership that he can actually win in a Democratic county.
Stern campaigned Tuesday at a West Palm Beach polling location and told WPTV News journalist Dave Bohman that he's optimistic because Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis carried Palm Beach County two years ago. And Stern believes, like DeSantis, that he could pick up the votes of a few dissatisfied Democrats, as well as those who are not affiliated with a major party.
Stern also has the support of the two Democrats who ran against Cox in the August primary.
Cox is also optimistic, despite raising just $550,000 to Stern’s $1.4 million. She believes Palm Beach County Democrats are bouncing back this election cycle. County records show more Democrats voted early or voted by mail than Republican voters.
Cox has the support of Aronberg, as well as most leading Democrats.
At a candidates' forum in September, Stern told WPTV News anchor Michael Williams he would take a "tough on crime" approach if elected, and ensure transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Cox, meanwhile, told Williams that, if elected, she'd focus on building up a hate crimes task force and an elder crimes task force.
There is also an independent candidate in the race, Adam Farkas. But Cox and Stern are expected to be the top vote getters after a campaign where both attacked each other through television ads and online posts.
