Two years after winning the right to represent a swath of inland Palm Beach County in House District 93, Democratic Rep. Katherine Waldron faces a challenge from a well-known and well-funded Republican foe.

Anne GerwigThe immediate past mayor of Wellington, where Waldron lives, has been competitive on messaging, fundraising and organizational security. endorsements.

She is still in an uphill battle. for him Last count from the Elections Division37% of voters in HD 93 are registered Democrats, while 31% are Republicans, and 32% are third-party or no-party voters.

Waldron, 64, has raised $311,000 this cycle, with about $72,000 in cash on hand heading into the final stretch of the race.

Gerwig, 61, raised $163,000 and had $75,000 left. He also received about $44,000 in in-kind aid from the Florida Republican Party for personnel, polling and research costs.

Waldron reported that there was no such help from the Florida Democratic Party.

According to his accounts, Waldron passed the most bills of any freshman Democrat in the House of Representatives since the 2022 elections and, at the same time, will bring home millions in earmarks.

In a second term, he hopes to reverse the legislation that One-Way Attorney Fees Locked in the state so homeowners can better combat poor insurance practices.

She told the Palm Beach Post that she plans to revive a measure she and Boynton Beach Democratic Sen. Lori Berman held the last session that would qualify shoot a bullet at someone else’s property without permission as invasion. It is a topic on which residents across he state They have complained for years.

He also hopes to approve measures to help localities prepare for and mitigate the effects of climate change, expand access to mental health and addiction services, and extend the deadline for condo owners to comply with Florida’s new post-Surfside safety law.

As was the case with local, state and federal policymakers on both sides of the aisle, Waldron was outraged by Plans to develop public parks. throughout the state. He intends to introduce a bill to block such plans in the future.

Gerwig, who served as mayor from 2016 to 2024 after a six-year stint on the Wellington Village Council, has an ambitious list of policy proposals of her own. He would like to create an insurance bill of rights in Florida, establish an insurance fraud task force to root out abuses and reduce rates and make holiday sales taxes permanent.

A self-described education advocate, she also plans to fight to increase teacher pay and classroom funding and require financial literacy to be part of Florida’s public education curriculum. His campaign website notes that during her tenure as mayor, nearly all of the town’s schools earned an “A” grade.

Waldron is for Amendment 4which would safeguard access to abortion until fetal viability or in cases where it is necessary to protect the health of the mother. Gerwig told the Post that she prefers a 15-week ban, which the state had in place (with no exceptions for rape and incest) before Republican lawmakers pushed for the current one. six week ban in 2023.

Waldron served two terms in the Port of Palm Beach Commission before winning his seat in the House. His campaign website has a huge number of sponsors, including the Palm Beach Police Benevolent Association, Ruth’s List Florida, SEIU Florida, Planned Parenthood, Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO, Florida Education Association and the International Association of Professional Firefighters Local 2928, among others groups. and more than 100 current and former elected officials.

Gerwig has been endorsed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Palm Beach County BizPac and Right to life in Floridainter alia.

Campaign ads in the race have gotten ugly. A 30-second ad that the House Republican Campaign Committee ran labeled Waldron as “crackpot,” citing his votes on bills expanding a Florida law limiting LGBTQ inclusion in public schools and another banning gender-affirming child care as a sign that he supports “sexually explicit books in elementary schools” and “taxpayer-funded sex changes for minors.”

Waldron’s camp led several digital ads describing Gerwig as an “absent mayor” for recusing herself from city council votes (a necessary step when potential conflicts of interest exist) and criticizing her for being negative in campaign ads after saying she would not do so.

HD 93 covers Wellington, parts of Greenacres and a western part of Boynton Beach. Waldron won in 2022 by 1 percentage point (864 votes) against the Republicans Saulis Banionisa doctor who raised and spent about 60% of what Waldron did, although Waldron previously faced three Democratic primary opponents.

The district swung heavily Democratic in 2018 and 2020, siding with Andres Gillum for Governor by 15 points and joe biden for President by 11 points, respectively, according to MCI Maps.

But in 2022 he turned Republican, and voters elected the governor. Ron De Santis by 3.7 points and the US senator. marcorubio by 0.2 points.

The general elections are on November 5.

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