An ugly election cycle got uglier in The Acreage on Thursday, Oct. 24 when a man allegedly drove his van repeatedly through a polling place parking lot with “hate music” blaring in a way that left candidates, campaign workers and voters feeling concerned and threatened.
At midweek, the driver, Nicholas Farley, 30, remained in the Palm Beach County Jail, accused of shouting racial slurs and driving recklessly near early voters and campaign workers outside the polling station at The Acreage branch library on Orange Blvd. He is being held on $100,000 bond per count.
“It was very disconcerting,” said Indian Trail Improvement District Supervisor Betty Argue, who witnessed the incident. “The fellow continued to drive through, blaring hate music. I was very concerned about some of my team.”
Argue is running for re-election to Seat 4 on the ITID board.
ITID Supervisor Keith Jordano, who was present and is running to retain Seat 2 on the board, said Farley’s actions included going inside the library and looking around, “like he was casing place. I think some people were afraid he was going to come back and shoot it up.”
Most of Farley’s alleged actions and antisemitic vulgarities seemed directed at Elizabeth “Lily” Loudon, 25, a campaign worker for Meg Weinberger, a candidate for House District 94, which includes The Acreage.
While the incident is the first locally to draw law enforcement attention, Argue and Jordano said they have been the victims of a very aggressive, misleading and well-funded effort by developers and their political allies to unseat them through a Tallahassee political action committee (PAC) known as Building Florida’s Future.
“I’m running a clean, fair campaign,” said Jordano, who finished second to candidate Richard Vassalotti II in a six-way August primary. “A vote for me is a vote against the big developers.”
Vassalotti said he has no connection to the PAC. “I’m running a clean campaign… [and] I see the work I’m putting in resonating with the people. I can’t control what other people do,” he said.
Argue is seeking her third four-year term. “I’m feeling confident,” she said. “People are seeing the agenda behind the smear campaign that has been run against me and Keith.”
Even Argue’s opponent, candidate Natalia Melian-Torres said, “I don’t think [the ads] are appropriate. I wish they’d stop.”
Melian said she believes the ads are harming her campaign because some voters believe she is behind them, an accusation she denies.
“It’s not fair,” she said. “I have no association with them.”
Building Florida’s Future’s chair and treasurer is longtime political insider William Stafford Jones, who operates numerous PACs. From Jan. 1, 2024, the PAC raised $945,000, according to the Florida Department of State web site. Much of the money raised comes from other PACs listed at the same 115 East Park Avenue, Suite 1, address in Tallahassee.
The PAC spent $927,805 during that same period — including $180,599 with Digital Targeting Inc. — a Gainesville firm that, according to a 2019 in-depth article in the Gainesville Sun newspaper, “Provides voter turnout projections, voter demographics, polling, opposition research, dossiers, digital ads, robocalls and mailers, among other services.”
How much of that money has gone into the ITID race? Impossible to know. But Argue suggests it’s close to $200,000.
“It’s unprecedented the amount of money being spent on an improvement district race,” she said, adding that she believes the major funders are developers eager to change the character of the unincorporated, semi-rural district.
“A lot of people seem receptive… [and] I’m fighting this as best I can,” said Jordano, “but I don’t have the kind of money big developers are pouring into this campaign.”
Meanwhile, Jones is associated with several other politicians connected to the area. He chairs the Friends of Megan Weinberger PAC, which has raised some $418,000 for the candidate.
Building Florida’s Future donated $1,000 to the 2021 campaign of Stuart resident State Sen. Gayle Harrell, who is running to retain the District 31 seat, which includes much of Palm Beach County north of Southern Blvd.
The PAC also donated $1,000 to the 2022 campaign of Acreage resident Sara Baxter in her race for the Palm Beach County Commission. Baxter won the District 6 seat and now represents most of the county’s western areas.
Attempts to contact Jones at the telephone number listed in the PAC’s state-required documentation were unsuccessful.
Through her Tallahassee-based PAC, Friends of Sara Baxter, the commissioner has donated $1,000 to Melian’s campaign.
“Our own county commissioner is trying to put her thumb on the scales of the ITID race,” said Argue, suggesting that Baxter is working “hand in hand” with developers.
Baxter said Wednesday that she is not involved with the attack ads that have flooded the district. She added that she does not know Jones, is not familiar with Building Florida’s Future and has no specific recollection of a contribution from the PAC.
However, she said returning Argue to office would be “a detriment to our community” and represent a “really negative path forward.”
“When she first ran for the board, I think she did it for the right reasons,” Baxter continued. “But since then, she has taken on a number of unnecessary personal crusades. Ultimately, she should put the needs of the residents first and not her own.”
Early voting in the election is underway and continues until Sunday, Nov. 3. Locations in the western communities include the branch libraries in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach and The Acreage. The last opportunity to vote is on Election Day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 5, when all polling places will be open. If you are in line at 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote. Check your polling location, as some polling places have changed.
For more information, visit www.votepalmbeach.gov.
