Jesse Scheckner
Democrat Alexcia Cox will be Palm Beach County’s next State Attorney after a close race in which she defeated two other lawyers for the job.
With early votes fully counted, mail-in ballots partially tallied, and all 798 precincts reporting, Cox held a 0.9-percentage-point lead Wednesday morning over Republican Sam Stern, outside the threshold that would trigger a machine recount.
Cox’s lead grew overnight to 5,709 votes by 9 a.m., up from 4,258 votes after 10:30 p.m.
Shortly after, she released a statement declaring victory.
“With immense gratitude, I accept the tremendous responsibility of serving as your next State Attorney for Palm Beach County. Tonight’s victory represents a triumph for justice and safety — principles I have upheld daily for the past 18 years. From my early days to becoming a lead prosecutor, I’ve been committed to protecting our community and serving my hometown with everything I have,” she said.
“As I step into this role, I am more determined than ever to continue my life’s work: delivering justice for victims, holding criminals accountable, and leading with transparency, integrity, and a commitment to putting our community first. This campaign was never about politics. It was about bringing people together across our community who share a vision for a fair, balanced justice system that protects every resident and family.”
Stern conceded defeat Wednesday. He texted the Palm Beach Post: “I am proud of this campaign and appreciate all of the voters. It appears that Ms. Cox has won, and I wish her success in leading the office.”
Cox, Stern and no-party candidate Adam Farkas ran to replace longtime State Attorney Dave Aronberg, who is leaving office after 12 years. The winner will earn $219,000 annually while commanding an office of 300 lawyers and support personnel tasked with delivering justice for Florida’s fourth-most populous county.
Her win makes her the first woman and Black person elected as Palm Beach State Attorney.
“There’s no better person I could ask for to succeed me,” Aronberg said at a press conference Wednesday. “Alexcia has been a prosecutor for 19 years. She’s been an important part of my management team. And you know, it’s not a coincidence that we live in a safe community. It’s because of our strong working relationship with law enforcement. We are tough on crime in this office, but we’re also fair to defendants (and) there’s a great feeling in the office that Alexcia, as the next State Attorney, will carry on the progress we’ve made and continue moving us in the right direction.”
Cox, 45, is the Deputy Chief Assistant State Attorney, a position she rose to over 18 years with the Office. If elected, she vowed to do more to address violent and career criminals while establishing a dedicated unit to focus on hate crimes. She also spoke of plans to create an elder crimes unit with dedicated prosecutors focused on cybercriminals.
To improve prosecutor retention, a persistent problem for SAOs across the state, she said she intended to establish housing incentives and health and wellness initiatives and seek higher wages from the state.
Stern, 43, is a partner at Stern Kilcullen & Rufolo LLC. He previously worked as a federal and Palm Beach County prosecutor under Democratic and Republican administrations.
Stern said he wanted to establish a task force to prosecute felons caught committing gun crimes and protect seniors from fraud and financial crimes. He also spoke of hiring more attorneys.
Stern’s penchant for law may be hereditary; his father, Herbert, is a broadly respected former New Jersey prosecutor and federal Judge who later succeeded in private practice as a white-collar criminal defense lawyer.
Farkas, 40, is a partner at Farkas & Crowley, a law firm specializing in criminal defense, personal injury and family law. He previously worked as a Palm Beach County prosecutor for less than a year.
Farkas promised to look into and address racial disparities in sentencing and reduce incarcerations by ending the jailing of minors with probation violations and expanding treatment and pretrial diversion programs.
Through Oct. 31, Farkas raised over $100,000 and spent about $84,000 through his campaign account and political committee, Impartial Justice. That includes $26,000 worth of self-loans.
Cox raised $814,000 and spent $698,000 through her campaign account and political committee, Friends of Alexcia Cox. About a fifth of her gains came from fellow lawyers.
Her largest donation, a $200,000 check, came from Jonathan Pollock, co-CEO of Elliott Management, a hedge fund that relocated its headquarters from New York to West Palm Beach in 2020.
Stern raised more than his opponents combined, stacking over $1.59 million between his campaign account and political committee, Stern PC. He also spent $1.42 million and loaned $175,000 to his campaign.
Like Cox, Stern enjoyed ample support from members of the legal profession. His largest contribution was a $250,000 check from Palm Beach billionaire Thomas Peterffy, founder and Chair of Connecticut-headquartered Interactive Brokers.
Peterffy’s contribution and those of fellow Donald Trump allies John Paulson and Steve Wynn helped fund attack ads against Cox and Farkas. Stern denied any affiliation with Trump, who pardoned his client in 2021.
Cox carried over 75 endorsements from current and former elected officials, including Aronberg, four Democratic members of Congress, Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Palm Beach Clerk Joseph Abruzzo, Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor and more than a dozen advocacy organizations.
In the Aug. 20 Primary, Cox defeated fellow Democrats Gregg Lerman and Craig Williams — the latter a Chief Assistant State Attorney who outranked her — with 64% of the vote. Both subsequently endorsed Stern, who defeated a lone Primary opponent named Forrest Freedman.
He won endorsements from Republican Reps. Mike Caruso, Peggy Gossett-Seidman and Rick Roth, and Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel also endorsed Stern. The Palm Beach Post is backing Cox.
Last week, Florida Politics reported that Stern incorrectly asserted that, unlike Cox, he had not “accepted contributions from convicted criminals.”
Stern was referring to a $1,000 donation Cox accepted from Broward Sheriff’s Advisory Council Vice Chair Lewis Stahl, who in 2019 was sentenced to 30 months in prison, fined $75,000, and ordered to pay $6 million in restitution after being convicted of tax evasion in 2019.
But Stern took $100,000 from a company called Wynnefield Brothers International, whose principals, Don and Stefan Brodie, were found guilty in the early 2000s of violating a trade embargo with Cuba. The brothers gave millions to Republicans across the U.S. this cycle, including Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
