Palm Beach County Commission, District 6
County commissioners set the county budget and property-tax (millage) rate, adopt land-use and zoning rules, and oversee county services such as roads, parks, libraries, fire/EMS and utilities. Term: 4 years.
Partly verified. Either the November opponent could not be confirmed from available sources, or only a few positions are documented. Confirm the full candidate list on your county sample ballot; unknown positions are shown as such.
How we verified who is on the ballot
Sara Baxter won the Republican primary (WPTV results snippet); November opponent not verified.
Debates and forums
- 2026-09-23 · Greater Wellington Chamber of Commerce; video posted by WFLX — Wellington (held)
sara_baxter, katherine_waldron (the chamber forum was held Sept. 23; the video was posted Sept. 28) - 2026-10-15 · Acreage Landowners' Association community candidate forum, The Dancing Crane, 6:30-8:30 p.m. UNCONFIRMED: no report, recording or write-up found as of Oct. 27 (checked the Town-Crier, whose next issue is due Oct. 30, The Acreage Advocate, and the Palm Beach Post's Oct. 23 race preview, which does not mention it). Whether it happened and who spoke cannot be confirmed.
District 6 candidates invited; before the event, only Sara Baxter was reported as expected to attend
Candidates
Report an error ↗Sara Baxter
Incumbent District 6 commissioner; won the Aug. 18 Republican primary.
Katherine Waldron
Qualified for the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot according to the Florida Division of Elections, 2026 general election candidate list (Qualified).
Side-by-side on the major issues
Each row is a statement. The chips show how each candidate's stated positions or record relate to that statement. Expand a row to read the evidence and sources. "No public position found" means we could not find a statement or record on the topic, not that the candidate has none.
| Issue | Sara Baxter Republican | Katherine Waldron Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans agree· stated position Lists lowering tax rates and fees and reducing wasteful spending as priorities. | No public position found |
| Property taxesFlorida should eliminate or sharply reduce homestead property taxes, even if local governments must cut services or find other revenue. | Strongly agrees· stated position At a Sept. 23, 2026 candidate forum in Wellington and in follow-up coverage, Baxter said she supports Amendment 3, the November state measure expanding homestead property-tax exemptions, and argued the county can absorb the revenue loss by cutting spending. She named Palm Tran's roughly $174 million budget as money she would redirect into a voucher-style transit system. | Mixed / neutral· stated position At the Sept. 23, 2026 Wellington forum Waldron said she would leave Amendment 3, the state homestead property-tax measure, to the voters, but warned that it could create more problems than solutions for county services. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | Leans agree· based on record Voted for CS/SB 102 (2023), the 2023 Live Local Act that put $711 million into state housing programs, required local governments to allow multifamily housing in commercial areas when at least 40 percent of units are affordable, and created property-tax exemptions for affordable developments; a vote for it is coded as leaning toward more government action on housing. |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position In the same interview she raised environmental concerns about large AI data centers as a reason to support the county moratorium, and questioned what happens if a facility is built and then fails. |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | Leans agree· based on record Baxter initiated a one-year moratorium on new hyperscale AI data centers in unincorporated Palm Beach County, which the commission gave final unanimous approval on Sept. 24, 2026. The measure adds a definition of large-scale data centers to the county land-development code and pauses new facilities with a peak electrical load of at least 50 megawatts. | Leans agree· stated position In a Sept. 28 election-spotlight interview she said she supports the county's moratorium on large-scale AI data centers, citing financial and environmental concerns, and said approvals should carry a performance bond to protect surrounding communities if a project fails. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | No public position found | No public position found |
| VeteransExpanding VA services and veterans' benefits should be a top priority. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Pledges to ensure seniors and veterans have access to the best health care and community services. |
Where they sit on the map
Each candidate is placed by the average of their documented stances. It is a summary of the table above, not an extra judgment.
How the axes are computed
Each axis is the average of a candidate's coded stances (+2 to −2) on a fixed set of statements, so it comes straight from the documented positions and nothing else. A candidate needs at least three documented statements on an axis to be placed.
Economic issues (toward "Smaller government (lower taxes, less spending)"): Taxes & spending (agree), Property taxes (agree), Health care (disagree), Housing affordability (disagree), Property insurance (disagree), Energy & utilities (disagree), Social Security & Medicare (disagree), Teacher and staff pay (disagree).
Social & legal issues (toward "Conservative side of the statements"): Immigration (agree), Abortion (disagree), Guns (disagree), Education & school choice (agree), Elections & voting (disagree), Crime & policing (agree), Gender identity laws (agree), Marijuana (disagree), Environment & water (disagree), Trump administration (agree), Library and classroom materials (agree), School safety approach (agree).
| Candidate | Economic issues | Social & legal issues |
|---|---|---|
| Sara Baxter | not enough data | not enough data |
| Katherine Waldron | -0.75 (4 statements) | -1.83 (6 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Sara Baxter
- Roads, traffic signals and the Okeechobee Boulevard extension — Baxter said the county has begun installing smart traffic signals and that she secured a fully funded five-year road program for the first time in 12 years. She said she would oppose extending Okeechobee Boulevard if it threatens the rural character of Loxahatchee. On hyperscale data centers, which she moved to put under a one-year moratorium, she said she would defer to residents: "I refuse to say, 'I know better than they do.'"
- Palm Tran and Amendment 3 — Reaffirmed full support for Amendment 3; proposes cutting about $100 million of the county's $175 million Palm Tran contribution and giving able-bodied riders ride-share vouchers.
- Fundraising — Stet News reported about $595,204 raised (vs. about $187,775 for Waldron).
- Poll — Stet News cited a September Beacon Insights poll showing Waldron 52%, Baxter 37% (margin of error 5.25 points).
Katherine Waldron
- Response to Baxter accusation — After Baxter suggested Waldron's campaign was behind the ethics complaint, Waldron said in a written statement: 'Neither I nor anyone on my team knew anything about the whistleblower complaint until we learned about it through the media.'
- Polling and campaign finance in the District 6 race — A Beacon Insights poll reported in mid-September showed Waldron leading Baxter 52 percent to 37 percent among registered voters, outside the poll's 5.25-point margin of error; with balanced biographical information read to respondents the numbers moved to 59-41. The Town-Crier reported in October that Baxter had raised more than $500,000 and Waldron about $150,000 with another $150,000 pledged.
- Transportation and the Okeechobee Boulevard extension — Waldron said she favors smart traffic signals that respond dynamically to traffic conditions, and, like Baxter, said she would oppose the Okeechobee Boulevard extension if it threatened the rural lifestyle of Loxahatchee residents.
- Palm Tran and Amendment 3 — Said ride-share vouchers are not the solution and the county should not do away with Palm Tran; calls Amendment 3 flawed, citing the property appraiser's estimate of a $324 million annual county revenue loss.
- Fundraising — Stet News reported about $187,775 raised, including $20,000 of her own money (vs. about $595,204 for Baxter).
- Poll — Stet News cited a September Beacon Insights poll showing Waldron 52%, Baxter 37% (margin of error 5.25 points).