Staff Reports
Palm Beach County voters are set to decide whether to keep their longtime Sheriff, Democrat Ric Bradshaw, or replace him with Republican Michael Gauger, who previously served as Bradshaw’s second-in-command.
Both are 76 and boast more than 50 years of law enforcement experience.
Bradshaw has served five terms as Sheriff. He was first elected to the post in 2004 and is the county’s longest-serving Sheriff ever, overseeing six departments, 4,300 employees and roughly 1,500 volunteers.
Working previously with the West Palm Beach Police Department, Bradshaw began as a road patrol officer and worked his way up to Police Chief in 1996.
He has served on the Executive Board of the FBI’s Joint Task Force and is a United States Marine Corps veteran.
In 2014, Bradshaw launched the Department’s Behavioral Division’s Targeted Violence Unit, which reviews and manages potential terrorism or targeted violence cases.
He organized task forces to “bring down gangs, eliminate illegal pill mills, hunt down cyber predators, and lock up human traffickers” and introduced the use of body cameras to the agency.
Bradshaw also invested $13 million in confiscated funds from criminals to bolster local community programs for kids, seniors and underserved communities.
He has been endorsed by Riviera Beach Police Maj. Alex Freeman, whom he defeated in the Democratic Primary, and retired police Capt. Lauro Diaz, who lost in the Republican Primary to Gauger.
Democratic Boynton Beach Sen. Lori Berman has also endorsed Bradshaw, as have Democratic Reps. Kelly Skidmore of Boca Raton and David Silvers of Lake Clarke Shores.
Gauger challenges Bradshaw after serving for 16 years as Chief Deputy of the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO).
Like Bradshaw, he worked in a variety of law enforcement roles during his decadeslong career before his retirement in 2021, when he received Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Legion of Merit Award.
Gauger has promised to reform the Sheriff’s budget by cutting “lavish spending” on office space and ending “million-dollar bonuses” and “$100,000 luxury vehicles for executives.”
He pledged to restore a multitude of agency departments, including its Graffiti Unit, Aggressive Driving Unit and Animal Cruelty Prevention Unit. He also advocated for bringing back the Eagle Academy, a boot camp program for at-risk youth, and Drug Farm, a therapeutic recovery program for nonviolent, drug-dependent offenders.
Gauger blamed Bradshaw for eliminating the units despite the Sheriff’s nearly $1 billion budget. He went on to criticize his former boss for purchasing four new helicopters and two fixed-wing planes.
Gauger was endorsed by the Palm Beach County Fraternal Order of Police — a notable nod, his campaign said, considering the rarity of an incumbent Sheriff not receiving the backing of his deputies.
He also carries endorsements from the Palm Beach Post and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Bradshaw has dominated Gauger financially. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website shows he raised nearly $871,000 through mid-October compared to Gauger’s $234,000.
Notably, both candidates received money from convicted felons. Bradshaw accepted a donation from Lewis Stahl, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for evading federal income taxes. Gauger initially received a donation from Lewis Kasman, a former associate of New York mobster John Gotti, but refunded the money.
Bradshaw spent three times more than Gauger, about $600,000 total.
Once work associates, Bradshaw and Gauger engaged in political mudslinging ahead of the General Election. Gauger blamed Bradshaw for lax security following the second assassination attempt of Donald Trump near the former President’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Bradshaw fired back that the criticism was proof Gauger is “clueless” about the Sheriff’s responsibilities.
During the Primary for Sheriff, a political committee that has donated to Bradshaw for the past two decades accused Gauger of lying about his service in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Gauger called it a “smear.”
The General Election is on Nov. 5.
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Michael Costeines reporting.
