Todd Drosky wins race for Deerfield Beach Mayor as voters pick two new Commissioners

Todd Drosky will continue serving in the Deerfield Beach government under a new title: Mayor.

On Tuesday, the District 4 Commissioner took 56% of the vote to defeat real estate investor Dan Herz, a fellow Republican, and secure the right to succeed term-limited Bill Ganz as the city’s top official.

Drosky will serve Deerfield Beach’s 87,000 residents at City Hall alongside new Commissioners Daniel Shanetzky and Thomas Plaut.

Shanetzky won the City Commission’s District 3 seat, taking 50.7% of the vote to defeat Philip Bradley and Karen Shelly, who respectively received vote shares of 28.4% and 20.9%.

Meanwhile, Plaut beat Chauncey Chapman, with 84% of the ballots in his favor, to take the District 4 seat Drosky is vacating.

Chapman had self-inflicted disadvantage. He errantly checked a box on his paperwork to make himself a write-in candidate, meaning his name did not appear on Tuesday’s ballot.

The city’s election rules provide that the candidate with the most votes in each race wins outright, with no runoff.

The winners Tuesday secured four-year terms. Because municipal elections are technically nonpartisan, none of the candidates’ political affiliations were denoted on the ballot.

Drosky, 53, raised more than $69,500 through March 6. He carried endorsements from the Broward Teachers Union, Broward Young Republicans, Metro-Broward Professional Firefighters and a deputies’ union from the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

He ran on a promise to keep taxes level, add more green spaces, promote “smart and responsible” development and promote public safety.

Herz, 63, amassed over $58,000. His campaign priorities included permanently lowering property taxes by 10%, moving the city’s elections to November, spurring local economic development and improving fiscal responsibility in government.

Things between the two candidates grew heated in the lead-up to the election. Drosky told NBC 6 Herz had made “very disparaging comments” about him, his family, and his supporters. Herz said that Drosky and others at City Hall had spent and developed irresponsibly.

Two other candidates for Mayor have dropped out of the race but did not do so soon enough for their names to be removed from the ballot.

Chaz Stevens exited the race and endorsed Drosky after taking Herz, the city, and the Broward Supervisor of Elections to court to remove Herz from the ballot. Stevens alleged that Herz lives in Plantation, not Deerfield Beach. A Judge decided last Wednesday that the matter would have to be settled after the election.

Caryl Berner also filed to run for Mayor but later withdrew.

For the Commission’s District 3 seat, which represents the center-west portion of the city, Bradley, Shanetzky, and Shelly ran to succeed Commissioner Bernie Parness.

Bradley, a 74-year-old Republican retiree with a background in biomedical engineering, added $17,000 from his bank account to his campaign coffers and spent all but $7,000 of it by last week.

Shanetzky, a 62-year-old lawyer, raised about $38,000 and spent $30,500. Shelly, a 70-year-old condo manager, raised about $11,000 and spent $7,700. Both are Democrats.

Bradley ran to reduce property taxes, “embrace innovative technology,” and advocate for “smart development.”

Shanetzky, meanwhile, leaned on his community involvement over the past four years, including service as Vice Chair of the Deerfield Beach Cultural Affairs Committee. He prioritized public safety, a preservation-conscious development plan and addressing traffic issues.

Shelly, who has worked in several posts in state government, wanted to help small businesses in the community, reestablish the Deerfield Beach Chamber of Commerce and ensure residents have a say in government decisions.

Twenty-eight years ago, in 1996, she unsuccessfully ran for Broward Supervisor of Elections.

Two Republicans, Chapman, 75, and Plaut, 73, competed in the race for the District 4 seat, which represents the city’s northwest corner.

Chapman raised more than $21,000 through March 6. Almost all of it came from his bank account. A retired engineering pro in the scuba diving industry, he promised to roll back property taxes by 10%, provide residents with more exclusive amenities, move the city’s elections to November, and stop “stupid spending of our tax dollars.”

Plaut, who previously managed office operations for a home inspection company, headed into Election Day as the city’s sitting Planning and Zoning Board Chair. He raised about $28,000 and spent almost $16,000.

His campaign platform prioritized using federal funds on sewage and drainage projects, renovating Deerfield Beach’s downtown area, improving the city’s local transportation provisions, backing law enforcement and ensuring the efficiency of municipal services.