Anne Geggis
Palm Beach County Commissioner Mack Bernard has made a running start — raising more than $150,000 — in his first 117 days campaigning for a promotion to a Senate seat.
Between his personal campaign and his political committee, Friends of Mack Bernard, the West Palm Beach Democrat and lawyer raised nearly $90,000 in the last quarter, adding to the amount he collected between starting June 5 and the start of the third quarter.
Sen. Bobby Powell’s term representing Senate District 24 is not technically over until 2026, but he intends to resign sometime around the qualifying period for County Commission in May to run for the seat Bernard is vacating.
Bernard, currently filed to run in the 2026 SD 24 race, doesn’t yet have a rival to represent the district that stretches roughly from Hypoluxo Road north to Palm Beach Gardens and from the Florida’s Turnpike to east to cover the coastal areas. But it looks like he’s drawing plenty of support to answer any challenge.
Bernard collected $18,500 in two checks from Firefighter FACTPAC, during this quarter. That makes the Tallahassee committee Bernard’s biggest donor this quarter. Checks of $10,000 came from Justice PC, a Tallahassee lawyer-funded committee; Latino Alliance, a Tallahassee committee; and Heartwood 3, a Fort Lauderdale real estate company. NextEra, which represents Florida Power & Light, gave his committee $5,000.
Law firms and lawyers accounted for the largest sector donating to Bernard during the third quarter. The legal community accounted for $33,750 that Mack received during the quarter that ended Sept. 30.
His biggest expense for the third quarter was $12,000, going to ENH Industries in Tallahassee for consulting services. He also paid about $4,200 to Messer Caparello, PA, in Tallahassee for legal services.
After expenses, Bernard ended the third quarter with about $140,000 to spend on his campaign.
Bernard has served on the Delray Beach City Commission and was elected to the House in 2009, where he served one term.
Campaigns were facing a deadline last week to report all third quarter financial transactions.
