'Very joyful': In close race, Bridget Moran wins Town Council seat in Palm Beach

A longtime Palm Beach resident with more than two decades of volunteer experience has won a seat on the Town Council.

Bridget Moran defeated retired preservationist John David Corey to win the Group 3 seat, claiming 51.3% of the vote to Corey's 48.7%, according to unofficial results posted Tuesday by the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections.

Moran won with 1,725 votes to Corey's 1,637 — a slim margin but not enough to trigger an automatic recount. In Florida, a machine recount occurs when the margin between candidates is less than or equal to 0.5% of total votes for office.

Turnout was 44% of the town's 7,661 registered voters.

"I am very joyful, very grateful and very happy," said Moran, who greeted voters throughout Election Day at the town's three polling locations.

Approximately one-third of the town's voters cast their ballots by mail in Tuesday's election, totaling just over 1,200.

In-person voting was even more robust, with slightly more than 2,000 voters casting ballots at three polling locations. Former President Donald Trump was one of them, stopping by the Mandel Recreation Center late Tuesday afternoon to vote alongside his wife, Melania.

Overall turnout was significantly higher than the 33.2% that voted in 2021, which was the last time the town held a municipal election. Ted Cooney defeated Candice Rojas for the Group 1 seat that year.

Moran, 57, who has worked with numerous nonprofit organizations during her more than two decades on the island, serves as a voting member on the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

She will have to relinquish that seat now that she has been elected to the town council, but not until after she participated in Wednesday's monthly meeting.

"I do have a Landmarks meeting tomorrow morning, which is all good," Moran told the Daily News Tuesday night. "I've already done the homework, so we're good."

Moran will join Cooney, Julie Araskog, Lew Crampton and Bobbie Lindsay on the council. Crampton and Lindsay ran unopposed in Tuesday's election and will retain their Group 1 and Group 2 seats, respectively.

Moran will fill the Group 3 seat previously occupied by Maggie Zeidman, who announced in October that she would not seek a fifth term.

During her campaign, Moran ran on her knowledge of the town as well as her leadership skills and collaborative efforts.

She cited as her main priorities addressing traffic and parking issues, stopping overdevelopment that threatens the town's character, ensuring fiscal responsibility, selecting a suitable water supplier and strengthening the town's comprehensive plan.

She said decided to enter the race because she wanted to be part of the decision-making as the town progresses into the future.

"Palm Beach is truly unique and special," she said before the election. "We are different from anywhere else. There is an expression that goes something like, ‘If you know, you know,’ and I know.'"

Moran, who will be sworn in at the next Town Council meeting on April 9, thanked her supporters and her opponent following her victory Tuesday.

"I want to thank everybody who helped me on my campaign, and I want to thank John for stepping up," she said. "It was a long campaign, but it's over. I'm looking forward to getting to work."

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: In close race, Bridget Moran wins Town Council seat in Palm Beach