Republican Sara Baxter is forgoing a re-election bid for the Palm Beach County Commission, where she currently serves as Mayor, in favor of a loftier aim: Florida’s 22nd Congressional District.
Baxter just announced that she has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run in the redrawn CD 22, which now spans parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties and extends across the state deep into Hendry and Collier counties.
She joins a slew of other GOP candidates in the race, including Deborah Adeimy, Casey Askar, David Burck, Michael Carbonara, Terri Hasdorff, Belinda Keiser, Anna Medvedeva, and Herbert Wertheim.
“Washington needs more fighters who are focused on delivering for their district,” Baxter said in a statement Monday.
“The creation of the new congressional district blesses me with the opportunity to work with President Trump to stop illegal migrant crime, protect our elections, cut taxes, slash red tape and bloated bureaucracy, protect hard-working farmers, our food supply chain, support our great military and veterans, and defend our Second Amendment rights.”
Baxter won election to the County Commission in 2022, flipping the panel’s District 6 seat in a red wave spurred by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ re-election campaign. She currently represents part of western Palm Beach County, including Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee Groves, the Acreage, Belle Glade, and the Glades agricultural region.
Prior to winning public office, she worked in healthcare, taught middle school science and worked as a real estate agent.
She departs the District 6 race, which includes one other Republican and four Democrats, after raising nearly $146,000 through her campaign account — the most of any candidate in the contest.
President Donald Trump endorsed Baxter for re-election, calling her a “true MAGA Warrior.” It remains to be seen whether he picks winners in the CD 22 contest until after the Aug. 18 Primary.
Baxter’s campaign said that as a County Commissioner, she “has been relentless in fighting for core government services like road improvements, delivering tax cuts for Palm Beach County residents, and working to make government more efficient and slash bureaucracy and government red tape.”
According to her campaign website, she has also been a vocal opponent of what she views as overdevelopment in western Palm Beach County, arguing for a balance between growth and preserving community character, while supporting workforce development, agriculture, tourism and transportation safety.
Her congressional run comes about a year and a half after the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Baxter violated the county ethics code by failing to report gifts, including travel on a private jet partially owned by lobbyist Ron Book to DeSantis’ 2023 inauguration and attendance at expensive VIP events.
The Commission ultimately dismissed the complaint, concluding the violation appeared inadvertent.
Baxter is entering a crowded Republican primary. CD 22, as redrawn under mid-decade redistricting, stretches from western Palm Beach and Broward counties through rural Hendry and Collier counties to Marco Island on the Gulf Coast. About 54.6% of voters there supported Donald Trump in 2024, though more than 51% voted for Joe Biden in 2020.
Former high school principal, White House fellow and current Apple strategy manager Pia Dandiya is running for CD 22 on the Democratic side, while Ukraine-born businessman and former Trump supporter Lev Parnas is running as an independent.
The General Election is on Nov. 3.
