Anne Geggis
In his bid for a sixth term, Palm Beach County’s longest-serving Sheriff, Ric Bradshaw, has raised more than $1 million for his campaign.
Bradshaw, who could be facing off against his former No. 2 in the General Election, has raised $589,151 for his personal account and $441,700 that went to his political committee, Friends of Ric Bradshaw, since this election cycle began, fourth-quarter finance reports show.
Between his political committee and his personal account, Bradshaw, running as a Democrat, has $1.1 million total cash on hand after subtracting his expenses. He collected more than $580,000 in the fourth quarter.
That amount dwarfs what his rivals have been able to raise.
“I’m incredibly thankful for the support we have received in this campaign,” Bradshaw said in a prepared statement. “We are building incredible momentum as we are crisscrossing the county, talking to voters, and sharing my vision for a safe Palm Beach County. Our campaign success is a testament to the faith people have in my leadership, experience, and capacity to lead the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office.”
His closest contender, Republican Michael Gauger, has raised $132,293 and has about $104,200 to spend after expenses.
Gauger was Bradshaw’s second-in-command for 16 years at the Sheriff’s Office and now wants to take his former boss’ job.
Gauger invoked Republican Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter’s 2022 victory over a Democrat who raised many times the sum she had to spend after winning the costliest Primary Election in Palm Beach County history.
“It’s not a concern,” Gauger said of Bradshaw’s fundraising prowess.
Bradshaw’s largest checks during the fourth quarter were for $25,000, and he collected three of them — including one from Maurice “Mo” Vaughn, a legendary Red Sox baseball player who became known as the “Hit Dog.” He played for the Boston team starting in 1991 and retired in 2003. He now runs a Vaughn Sports Academy in Boca Raton.
Others who wrote checks for that amount were David MacNeil of Hinsdale, Illinois, founder of the automotive accessories company WeatherTech, and Michael Cancelliere of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the owner of MC Sports Cards LLC, which lays claim to be one of the largest sports collectible dealers in the world.
Those large donations skewed what sectors accounted for the largest donators to Bradshaw’s campaign, but real estate interests rose to the top when counting contributions to his personal account. Real estate accounted for more than a fifth of the 489 donations that came into his personal account, with all but a handful giving the maximum $1,000. Those real estate donations totaled $69,000 of the $375,000 to his personal account. Agricultural interests also accounted for a sizable portion.
Bradshaw also drew donations from police unions in Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County and state-level law enforcement unions.
Other contenders in the race for Palm Beach County Sheriff are:
— Democrat Alexander Freeman, who has raised $32,650 for his campaign and now has about $20,000 to spend after expenses.
— Republican Lauro Diaz, who has raised $21,040 for his bid and now has $15,521 cash on hand after expenses.
Freeman, a former major with the Riviera Beach police, and Diaz, who spent 27 years with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, rising to captain, faced Bradshaw in the 2020 election. Bradshaw defeated Freeman in the Primary and Diaz in the General Election.
Their campaigns faced a deadline last week to report all campaign activity in the final quarter of 2023.
