Speculation intensifies about a possible Mark Foley run for Mayor of West Palm Beach
With less than a month before candidate qualifying ends, speculation is intensifying regarding a possible run by former Congressman and my good friend Mark Foley for Mayor of West Palm Beach.
The signs are abound, whether it be the cryptic message from Proverbs on Foley’s Facebook page — “Many are the Plans in a man’s heart,but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” –or the spread written in today’s Palm Beach Post:
Mayor Lois Frankel is term-limited and stepping down. City Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell, long considered a front-runner should she run, has announced she will remain on the sidelines.
Area names such as former West Palm Mayor Nancy Graham and longtime City and County Commissioner Jeff Koons – before his conviction for extortion – were floated in local polls, but neither wanted to run.
Then there’s former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, who has shown interest but has said he probably will wait until the Dec. 27 deadline to decide. He said he’s still unsure whether he wants to give up his private life and face public scrutiny that could pain family and friends.
Foley’s scandalous past – he resigned from Congress in 2006 when it was revealed he sent sexually charged Internet messages to male pages – might not make him a favorite. But he would lend the race national attention and the big name it lacks so far.
“I do have the luxury that I can be the last man to file if I choose to, and still have the name ID,” Foley said last week.
It’s important to note that Foley still has $1 million left in a congressional campaign account he can use for the campaign, although Foley says, if he were to run, he would raise new money for a mayoral run.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on any developments out of West Palm Beach because if Congressman Foley runs, the race for West Palm Beach Mayor would take on all sorts of national cache.
