Two Republicans vie to challenge Democrat in PBC HD 93

Freshman Democratic Rep. Katherine Waldron has drawn two Republican opponents, both businessmen and first-time candidates, in her bid for re-election in a district that nearly went red in 2022.

Brandon Cabrera, who owns a real estate development company, and Chris Mitchell, whose LinkedIn profile shows is a vice president and Norcom Mortgage branch manager, will be competing for the Republican nomination for House District 93. The inland district includes the village of Wellington, portions of Greenacres and western parts of Boynton Beach.

Waldron’s district was considered a solidly blue one, but she won her seat by less than 1 percentage point, even though she raised more than twice what her unsuccessful rival did. Mitchell’s news release announcing his candidacy did not mention his Republican rival, but took aim at Waldron. He evoked the 2022 momentum that flipped other Palm Beach County Democratic strongholds into the Republican column.

“Gov. (Ron) DeSantis’ leadership has helped make Florida prosperous and free,” Mitchell said in a prepared statement that pointed out that Waldron has consistently voted with the Democratic minority in the Legislature.

Palm Beach County broke for Republican Gov. DeSantis by nearly 3 percentage points even though Palm Beach Democrats outnumbered Republicans by about 106,000 registered voters in the county at the time of the election. That gap has narrowed even more in the last six months.

Mitchell, a graduate of Cornell University and Hult International Business School, is a licensed banking executive, according to his news release.

Cabrera, who was born in Wellington and graduated from Palm Beach Central High School, said he’s running now because his real estate development business, BrandX Company in Lake Worth, is at a point where he can afford to perform community service.

“I felt this need to give back beyond my business,” he said.

Waldron, who had a seat on the Port of Palm Beach Board of Commissioners, beat a crowded field of Democrats in the Primary Election, to win the seat Rep. Matt Willhite occupied the previous term.

Election Day in November proved a difficult one for Democrats in blue Palm Beach County, however. Two first-time Republican candidates defeated Democrats for seats on the Palm Beach County Commission. Waldron narrowly defeated a doctor, Saul Banionis, who ran for House District 93 as a Republican.