Former Palm Beach County Commissioner Robert Weinroth Changes Party, Files to Run for School Board

Today, former Democratic Palm Beach County Commissioner Robert Weinroth filed to run for the school board seat in District 5, currently held by long-term member Frank Barbieri. 

Frank Barbieri has been discussing retirement for quite some time, and the time has finally come. Barbieri was a long-time Democrat known for being moderate and working well with others. When he voted in a way his party didn’t like, they turned on him; he felt betrayed and changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent. He is well-respected and well-liked. That’s the note he’ll go out on. 

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Weinroth ran for reelection in 2022 for county commissioner but lost to newcomer Marci Woodward. Weinroth was a registered Democrat who claimed to be a Republican. Palm Beach County was extremely blue, and for many years it was difficult for a Republican to win most seats in the area. But when voters were faced with the choice during a DeSantis red wave of voting for a Democrat claiming to be a Republican or an actual, registered Republican, the voters chose the Republican. 

Fast forward to January 2023. Weinroth quietly changed his party to Republican. Friends have mentioned that a few days ago, Weinroth and his wife started letting people know about his party affiliation change. 

Weinroth has remained active in the community by attending many charitable events and community activities. It’s been evident to those watching that he’s been planning his next political move. Now we know what it is: school board. 

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Weinroth let us know about his decision, and we asked if he would like to interview. He said he didn’t want to officially announce his candidacy yet and would like to wait until April. As we told him, the problem is that the news of your candidacy is a matter of public record once you file.

Official Filing Document

If Weinroth wants to be the next Palm Beach County School board member, he must answer some challenging questions. Currently, school board races are nonpartisan, but current times have made these seats ultra-partisan, like it or not. People are paying attention to school board races now, and groups such as Moms for Liberty ensure that school boards are accountable to parents. Here are the questions that people on both sides of the aisle will want answers to:

1. Why are you running for school board?
2. Is Frank Barbieri endorsing you?
3. Are any other School Board members endorsing you? 
4. Where do you stand on the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed by its critics as the “don’t say gay” bill, that passed in the legislature last year?
5. Currently, the parental rights bill applies to students up to the third grade. What do you think of legislative proposals to expand the bill’s coverage up to the eighth grade?
6. Are you in favor of the bill to change school board races to partisan elections?
7. You recently changed parties. Why?
8. What can you bring to the school board? Why should people vote for you?
9. Do you think minors should be allowed to “transition? Surgery, hormone replacement, name change, pronoun change, bathroom change?
10. If a minor does want to transition, do educators have a responsibility to tell their parents?
11. If another COVID strain or pandemic comes, will you vote to keep schools open or closed?
12. Are you for or against mandatory vaccines for school children? Should school employees be required to be vaccinated as a condition of employment?

These questions aren’t easy, but anyone running for school board must answer them. All eyes in Palm Beach County will indeed be watching this race. 

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Tracy Caruso

Tracy Caruso is the President/Owner of Delray Beach Executive Suites. In December of 2022, she was appointed by Governor DeSantis as a commissioner to the Health Care District of Palm Beach County. She is Vice Chair of the Housing & Finance Authority of Palm Beach County.She is also a certified rape crisis counselor and trained literacy advocate. She currently serves on many boards including The Hispanic Vote and Propel. Tracy is married to State Representative Mike Caruso. She’s a stepmother of 7 and a mother of 2 toy poodles.

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