Thousands of voters turned out in Boca Raton Tuesday, with hundreds casting ballots at Spanish River Library alone. Many said issues like overdevelopment, preserving green space, and AI data centers drove them to vote.
According to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office, the county had 876,150 registered voters. Of those, 202,739 ballots were cast, reflecting a voter turnout of 23.14%.
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Florida's 25th District race drew many voters to the polls. The race features Republican and former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer against Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz.
While some voters supported Singer's record in Boca Raton, others were critical. Nick Tucker, a voter, said he had concerns about development under Singer's tenure.
"What he did to Boca Raton just the past 8 years, just wasn't really what I thought was Boca Raton," Tucker said.
Tucker said he believes development in the city has gone too far. "Development is good to a certain extent but they're doing too much," Tucker said.
Laurie Betesh, who moved to Boca Raton four years ago, said overdevelopment was a key issue for her as well.
"I chose Boca because its the best place to live so I don't want it to be overly developed and really congested because its beautiful the way it is," Betesh said.
Preserving green space was also a concern mentioned by many voters throughout the day.
The governor's race was also on voters' minds. "Mainly I don't really like the direction that the state is going. I'm not a fan of the governor and I would like to see some change in Tallahassee," Betesh said.
Nick Gulotta, a longtime Boca Raton resident, said his concerns extended to AI data centers and privacy.
"I don't like the AI data centers coming to south Florida or anywhere in Florida and the Flock and the Flock cameras that are the U.S govt surveilling US citizens," Gulotta said.
Election results are being updated in real time at the Palm Beach County Elections Results page.
