Alexcia Cox raises $52K in first 2 weeks running for Palm Beach County State Attorney

Alexcia Cox is running to succeed Dave Aronberg as State Attorney in Palm Beach County.

Democratic prosecutor Alexcia Cox collected more than $52,000 in her first two weeks running for Palm Beach County State Attorney.

An overwhelming share of her gains came through personal checks of mostly three-figure sums.

Cox, who currently serves as Deputy Chief Assistant to Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg, announced her candidacy June 15, two days after Aronberg confirmed he would not seek a fourth term.

Between then and June 30, more than 140 people gave to her campaign. Her early donors include Jim Jankowski, the owner of Boca Raton-based tree trimming service Cutting Edge Industries, who after being released from prison in 2001 reformed himself and, as the South Florida Sun-Sentinel detailed in 2015, has since employed and helped rehabilitate others hoping to course-correct their lives. He gave $1,000. So did Kirill Vesselov, CEO of Palm Springs-based Haven Health Management.

Brian Johnson, President and CEO of the South Florida nonprofit Minority Builders Coalition, contributed $250.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the early support my campaign has received,” Cox said in a statement. “I’m focused on building a bipartisan, countywide coalition that shares my commitment of keeping Palm Beach County safe, seeking justice, and strengthening our partnerships with law enforcement and community partners.”

An array of businesses and organizations helped jump-start Cox’s campaign last month through maxed-out $1,000 donations to her personal account. Among them: Riviera Beach-based Articulate Consulting, Miami Gardens-headquartered transportation and freight company In Touch Logistics, West Palm Beach-based Pentecostal Church of God in Christ and Royal Palm Beach credit counseling company Birdie Mae Ruben Inc., whose proprietors also have Cox as their surname.

Juan J. Williams State Farm Insurance Agency and its namesake, insurance agent Juan Williams, gave a combined $2,000.

Cox also accepted $250 from the Cynthia A. Guillory Foundation, a Houston nonprofit that assists families and spreads awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or its ALS initialism.

She spent just over $900, all of it on bank and donation-processing fees.

Cox will face at least one opponent in the Democratic Primary. Gregg Lerman, a 38-year defense lawyer, filed to run May 3, more than a month before Aronberg announced his plan to leave office after next year’s election.

To date, Lerman has raised nearly $21,000. That includes about $16,600 last month.

Like Cox, most of Lehrman’s June haul consisted of personal checks. Thirty-four people donated to his campaign last month. One gave just $5. Roughly a third gave $1,000.

Lawyer Varisa Lall Dass, whom the Port of Palm Beach selected in January to serve the remaining term of former Port Commissioner and current state Rep. Katherine Waldron, gave $500.

Several law firms, including Marathon-based Hal Schumacher P.A. and West Palm Beach firms Gonzalez & Henley P.A., Michael Rabideau P.A. and the Law Office of Ian Goldstein, chipped in between $400 and $1,000 apiece.

Lerman, who carries an endorsement from the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, also received $1,000 from Palm Beach Gardens-based substance abuse rehab center Northlake Recovery, $1,000 from Fort Lauderdale-based River Oak Corp., $250 from Boynton Beach-based sprinkler company Bob Irsay Irrigation Design and $150 from the Subculture Group, a restaurant business in West Palm Beach.

He spent close to $7,000, more than two-thirds of it to pay his Campaign Manager, Jody Young, who previously worked on the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Chelsea Reed and former Palm Beach Gardens City Council members Rachelle Litt and Mark Marciano.

Lerman’s other expenditures include payments of $500 to West Palm Beach-based eFlow Media for “media services,” $350 to Lake Worth-based Dan Barnett Photography for campaign pictures and $275 for media consulting from Palm Beach Gardens-based CS Media Works.

The rest covered donation transaction fees.

Candidates faced a Monday deadline to report all campaign finance activity through June 30.