Ric Bradshaw’s re-election campaign claims $100K raised in first 30 days

lauren Book is saying supporters of Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told her to 'back off' from looking into the Jeffery Epstein plea deal.

The longest-serving Sheriff in Palm Beach County history raised more than $100,000 in the first 30 days of his bid to keep serving in the role even longer, his campaign said.

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw hauled $71,595 into his personal campaign account, his campaign said. An additional $31,000 was collected through his political committee, Friends of Ric Bradshaw.

No other county-level political campaign in Palm Beach County raised more during the month of May, his campaign says.

“The support received so far is a testament to the trust leaders from across the county and state have in the experience and professionalism I have instilled at the Sheriff’s office,” Bradshaw said in a prepared statement.

The donations made through his personal account were not yet posted on the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website and couldn’t be verified, however.

Bradshaw, running as a Democrat, is facing a challenge from two candidates he already defeated and also Michael Gauger, who was Bradshaw’s second in command for 16 years and now wants to take his boss’ job, running as a Republican. Bradshaw already has a Primary rival, Alex Freeman, a former major with the Riviera Beach police, who Bradshaw defeated in 2020.

Bradshaw has received endorsements for his re-election bid from some of Palm Beach County’s heavyweights. And his political committee received $10,000 checks from both Palm Beach Aggregates LLC, a Loxahatchee Construction business, and Palm Beach Legal, a Boca Raton law firm. A West Palm Beach medical group, Columna, gave his committee $5,000 and the Cooper City law firm Shrouder, Karns & Mager gave it $1,000.

Bradshaw’s political committee has nearly $306,000 cash on hand to spend on his campaign.

In March, Bradshaw officially outlasted the previous longest-serving Palm Beach County Sheriff, Richard Wille, who served 18 years and retired midway through his fifth term in 1995, according to  Palm Beach Post.

Bradshaw’s Democratic Primary rival, Freeman, reports $23,631 cash on hand, with $125 raised in May.

For the Republican Primary, Gauger has raised $16,150 in May, for his first report, including a loan he gave his campaign. He received the $1,000 maximum donation from Michael Smith, a lawyer, Elizabeth Smith, a homemaker, and Greg Barnhart, a lawyer, all of Palm Beach.

Lauro  Diaz, a former PBSO captain and Republican candidate for Sheriff that Bradshaw defeated in 2020, raised $1,598 in May, including a $1,000 donation from Nelson Tiburcio, a Boynton Beach restaurant owner. Those May collections brought his total cash on hand to $2,553.

The campaigns were facing a deadline this week to report all campaign donations and expenditures.