'You should take a stand': Palm Beach voters cast their ballots for one Town Council seat

Jodie Wagner, Palm Beach Daily News
·4 min read

Voters headed to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots during the first Palm Beach election in three years.

Longtime town resident and volunteer Bridget Moran faces retired preservationist John David Corey in the race for the Group 3 Town Council seat that will be vacated by Maggie Zeidman next month.

Zeidman, who serves as council president, announced in October that she would not seek a fifth term in the seat.

Council members are elected at large and on a non-partisan basis. They serve two-year terms.

Polls are open until 7 p.m.

Moran and Corey greeted voters throughout the day at the town's three polling locations but not before casting their own ballots soon after polls opened.

John David Corey campaigned outside the Morton & Barbara Mandel Recreation Center Tuesday. Corey and Bridget Moran are vying for the Group 3 Town Council seat in Palm Beach.
John David Corey campaigned outside the Morton & Barbara Mandel Recreation Center Tuesday. Corey and Bridget Moran are vying for the Group 3 Town Council seat in Palm Beach.

Corey, who served eight years as a member of the town's Architectural Commission, said he was the fourth person to vote at the Mandel Recreation Center, which hosts two precincts.

"I was not the first, not the second and not the third, although I knew all three of them ahead of me," he told the Daily News while greeting supporters outside the South Fire-Rescue Station. "So that was good."

Moran, who currently serves as a voting member on the Landmarks Preservation Commission, said her day started at St. Edward Parish Center. She cast her ballot there and greeted voters before moving to the town's two other polling locations.

Town Council candidate Bridget Moran campaigned outside St. Edward Parish Center Tuesday. The church is one of three polling locations in Palm Beach.
Town Council candidate Bridget Moran campaigned outside St. Edward Parish Center Tuesday. The church is one of three polling locations in Palm Beach.

"Nobody is more excited than me for today to be here," she told the Daily News outside St. Edward Parish Center, which hosts two precincts. "Just going around and saying hi to everybody is fun."

Polls were quiet throughout the morning Tuesday, as voters trickled in and out of polling locations.

Many Palm Beach residents already had cast their ballots by Election Day, with nearly 1,400 of the town's 7,661 registered voters opting to vote by mail or at early voting sites, according to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office.

Ann Jackson and her daughter, Win Lewis, were not among them.

Volunteers, voters and poll workers chat outside St. Edward Parish Center Tuesday.
Volunteers, voters and poll workers chat outside St. Edward Parish Center Tuesday.

The longtime Palm Beach residents cast their ballots mid-morning at the Mandel Recreation Center, which drew supporters of both candidates as well as a handful of media outlets that were staking out an expected appearance by former President Donald Trump.

Both women said they voted Tuesday because they share concerns about the amount of development on the island.

"We're concerned about the people who live on this island," Lewis said. "It's not just one large resort, or a giant commercial center. That's a priority for us."

Volunteers and voters walk outside the Morton & Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on Tuesday.
Volunteers and voters walk outside the Morton & Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on Tuesday.

Voter Lulu Zezza agreed that overdevelopment is a problem in Palm Beach, and those who took issue with it or for any other reason should make their voices heard.

"People should vote in every election," she said. "You should take a stand no matter what. There are lots of things to vote on."

Both Moran and Corey said Tuesday that they were confident that voters will choose them to sit on the town council.

Corey, a community organizer and longtime advocate for open, walkable spaces within the town, said he is backed by a passionate group of supporters who believe in his vision for Palm Beach.

"They are fired up to have representation on that council, and they know that I'm going to swing the bat for them and they can feel it," he said. "They can feel the paradigm shift coming."

Likewise, Moran's backers, such as Citizens' Association of Palm Beach Co-Chair Skip Aldridge, said they have faith in her ability to lead the town into the future.

"I think she's the best choice because of her broad and deep experience across many different volunteer activities and in leadership roles," Aldridge told the Daily News outside the South Fire-Rescue Station.

No matter who wins Tuesday, Aldridge added, the town and its elected representatives need to work together as one group for the benefit of all.

"We're a small island," he said. "We all live here close together, and regardless of the outcome, we need to support whoever the winner is."

The Group 3 contest between Moran and Corey is the only municipal race on the ballot in Palm Beach, as council members Lew Crampton and Bobbie Lindsay were reelected unopposed to their Group 1 and 2 seats, respectively, in December.

Registered Republicans also had the opportunity to cast their ballots in the presidential preference primary.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 2,600 voters on the island had cast their ballots, according to the Supervisor of Elections.

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: Palm Beach voters cast ballots for lone Town Council race