Boca Raton’s 2026 municipal election ballot is taking shape, and it’s a long one.
The issue discussed below ties into Boca Raton’s Downtown Campus Redevelopment Project, which is subject to a citywide referendum and multiple zoning actions. For a complete breakdown of what’s proposed and what happens next, visit our project hub.
BOCA RATON, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2025) — City officials have released the final list of 12 qualified candidates for the March 10, 2026 municipal election, which will decide the next mayor and three City Council seats. Candidates still have until December 5, 2025 to notify the City Clerk if they want to withdraw before the ballot is locked in.
Voters will also be asked to sign off on a bond issue to build a new Boca Raton Police Services headquarters next to the Boca Raton Public Library on Spanish River Boulevard, and weigh in on the City Council’s plan to redevelop the downtown municipal campus.
Those land-use questions arrive as the grassroots group “Save Boca” pushes two citizens’ initiatives headed for a special election on January 13. The group says city leaders had “fast tracked one of the biggest public land giveaways in the history of Boca Raton” by advancing a plan to turn 31 acres of public land — including Memorial Park, ball fields, tennis courts, a skate park and other facilities — over to private developers for high-rise condos, office space and a hotel.
Mayor (3 year term)
- Andy Thomson
- Mike Liebelson
- Fran Nachlas
Seat A (3 year term)
- Bernard Korn
- Michelle L. Grau (SAVE BOCA endorsed)
- Christen Ritchey
Seat B (3 year term)
- Jon Pearlman (SAVE BOCA founder)
- Meredith Madsen
- Marc Wigder [Incumbent]
Seat D (Special Election - 1 Year Term)
- Robert S Weinroth
- Larry Cellon
- Stacy Sipple (SAVE BOCA endorsed)
According to Save Boca, the plan would have removed the World War II memorial park, cut down two banyan trees at the City Hall entrance and cleared a city tree garden, all without a direct public vote. The group says more than 13,000 residents signed a petition that forced two proposed laws onto the January ballot: one charter amendment and one ordinance that would require voter approval before public land larger than half an acre can be sold or leased. Supporters are urging residents to “Vote YES and YES on January 13th to the Save Boca ordinance and charter laws.”
On the March 10 ballot, the mayor’s race will top the ticket with three names drawn by lot under Boca Raton Code Section 6-10(2). Council Member and Community Redevelopment Agency vice chair Andy Thomson is running after winning re-election to the council in 2024. Thomson, a Georgia Tech engineering graduate and University of Miami law school alum, works at Baritz & Colman LLP and teaches local and state government as an adjunct at Florida Atlantic University. He’s also known for his “RunTheCity” initiative, where he and volunteers have run every street in Boca Raton while picking up trash and logging safety issues, with progress tracked at RunTheCityBoca.com.
Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas, a longtime Boca resident, surgical nurse and nonprofit founder, is also in the race. Nachlas, who helped launch the SafeSun™ skin-cancer prevention nonprofit and has served on multiple city and county advisory boards, currently holds Seat A on the council.
Rounding out the mayor’s field is Mike Liebelson, whose campaign materials highlight four core promises: no more public land to private developers, delivering overdue tax cuts, improving quality of life and public safety, and refusing campaign contributions from developers. His mailer lists a campaign contact number, 561-884-4952, and email, [email protected], and notes it is “Paid by Mike Liebelson for Boca Raton Mayor.”
Three candidates are running for Seat A. Bernard Korn, who previously filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Florida, is campaigning on sharp criticism of what he calls a “political machine” at City Hall and has called for strict term limits for the mayor and council.
Michelle L. Grau, a CPA and 34-year Boca resident endorsed by Save Boca for Seat A, cites more than three decades in governmental and nonprofit auditing as her pitch to restore public trust. She describes herself as an ethics-bound watchdog for how public money is managed.
Attorney Christen Ritchey, a lifelong Boca resident and family law practitioner, is also seeking Seat A. Ritchey serves on the city’s Planning & Zoning Board and Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, leads the Women’s Executive Club of Boca Raton and sits on the board of the Peter Blum Family YMCA. She says she wants to bring her mediation and consensus-building skills from family court to the council dais.
In Seat B, three more names will appear. Jon Pearlman, founder of Save Boca, entered local politics after organizing the petition drive against the government campus plan. The Harvard economics graduate and former collegiate tennis player now works in investment management and says he wants to “protect our parks, public land, and secure the brightest future for our city.”
Business owner Meredith Madsen, an FAU Executive MBA graduate and local PTSA leader, is also running. She points to her experience as a project manager, small-business employer and active public-school parent as the lens she would bring to issues affecting families and seniors.
Incumbent Council Member and CRA chair Marc Wigder is seeking another term as well. A former real-estate attorney and investor with a sustainability-focused MBA from Yale, Wigder now runs a Boca-based real-estate firm and co-owns a sustainable building company. His biography highlights work on affordable housing, redevelopment and regional planning boards, as well as his cancer-survivor advocacy.
The Seat D special election, for a one-year term, has three candidates. Robert S. Weinroth, a former Boca councilman and Palm Beach County commissioner who served as county mayor in 2022, is running with a résumé that includes roles on the Boca Raton Airport Authority, Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency and several Jewish community and regional planning boards.
Larry Cellon, who recently resigned after nine years as vice chair of the city’s Planning & Zoning Board, is also in the race. Cellon studied construction management at the University of Florida and has been closely involved in development reviews at City Hall.
Rounding out Seat D is Stacy Sipple, a fourth-generation Boca resident and clinical pharmacist. Sipple emphasizes her family’s deep roots in the city, decades of work in local health care, and advocacy on animal-rescue issues. She argues Boca is “at a crossroads” and says she wants to push back against congestion and large-scale projects that, in her view, are changing the city’s character.
Voters who want to cast ballots by mail in the 2026 municipal election must submit a new request; previous requests do not carry over. Vote-by-mail ballots can be requested through the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections’ Voting Services, and broader voter-registration and voting information is available at votepalmbeach.gov.
Boca Post is working to confirm details on a City Council candidate forum reportedly planned by the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations on the evening of January 29, 2026 at the 6500 Building auditorium, where the City Council typically meets. Organizers say all candidates have been invited and the event is expected to be televised. More information will be reported as it becomes available.
