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Gray cruises in Delray Beach; Jacquet misses by a hair

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — There will be a second election in Delray Beach. By a hair.

Meanwhile incumbent Commissioner Angeleta Gray coasted to another term in office in the seat 4 race, while a proposed charter revision that would have increased the term in office for elected city officials burned and crashed.

City Commission candidate Al Jacquet pulled 49.26 percent of the vote  in Tuesday’s municipal election to lead the four-way  race for seat 2, just 30 votes short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off under city election rules. Former Commissioner Pat Archer received 29.13 percent to take second place in her bid to return to Delray’s political scene. Realtor Christina Morrison, a member of the city’s Financial Review Board received 18.22 percent of the vote, while David Armstrong, an advocate of clothing optional beaches, received 3.4 percent.

That sets up a run-off election on March 27 between Jacquet, a 32-year-old lawyer and chief of staff to state Rep. Mac Bernard, and Archer, who received the endorsement of Mayor Woodie McDuffie.

Gray, a business owner in Delray Beach, was appointed to the commission as a replacement for Bernard. She won the remainder of his term running unopposed a year ago. Gray received 62.25 percent of the vote against Victor Kirson, a dentist from Pennsylvania who had the backing of several employee unions.

The charter change would have increased the length of the term in office for mayor and city commissioners to three year from the present two, and would have allowed them to serve three three-year terms, or a total of nine years, instead of three two-year terms.

The change would have allowed the to avoid one election every three years, saving about $40,000. About 37 percent voted in favor of the change, while nearly 63 percent voted against.