Rob Long, a Delray Beach city commissioner, said Wednesday he is running to succeed the late state Rep. Joe Casello.
“I’m proud to carry forward Joe Casello’s legacy of principled leadership, compassion for working families, and relentless advocacy for the people of this district,” Long said in a statement. “We need steady, experienced leadership in Tallahassee, and that’s exactly what I’ll bring to the table.”
The Delray Beach-Boynton Beach 90th state House district is the most Democratic-leaning district in Palm Beach County, and the party’s nominee is virtually certain to become the next state representative.
So far the only candidate is Long, and he may not have any competition for the nomination.
He said he already has endorsements of all the Democratic senators and representatives from Palm Beach County. He’s also been endorsed by a range of political organizations: the Service Employees International Union; the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, an LGBTQ+ rights organization; and the Palm Beach County Fraternal Order of Police, a law enforcement union.
Casello died last week. On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis set the dates for special primary and general elections to fill the vacancy. Wednesday’s announcement from Long wasn’t a surprise; he filed paperwork in February to run as a candidate in 2026, when Casello was ineligible to run again because of term limits.
In February, Casello endorsed Long as his successor.
The special primary election, if more than one candidate in each party qualifies to run, will be Sept. 30. The special general election is scheduled for Dec. 9.
That timing means the district won’t have representation during preliminary work for the 2026 legislative session when committees meet in Tallahassee. But it would have a representative for the full session next year.
Delray effect
There will be a spillover effect. Under the state’s resign to run law, which requires an elected official to resign their current offices to run for another, Long is required to submit an irrevocable resignation as city commissioner.
Andrew Dohlberg, a campaign representative, said Long would submit his resignation to the City Clerk by the end of the day Wednesday.
The resignation will be effective Dec. 8, the day before the special election. Virtually all candidates affected by the resign-to-run law handle it that day, resigning the day before Election Day for the new office.
The City Commission is charged with appointing a replacement to fill the vacancy, according to the City Charter. If that sometimes-fractious group of commissioners can’t agree on a replacement after two regular meetings, the charter says the commission “shall call a special election to fill the vacancy.”
The candidate
Long was elected to the Delray Beach City Commission in 2023, defeating incumbent Juli Casale. She ran in 2024 and was elected to a different seat, so they serve on the same commission.
Previously he was president of the Palm Beach County Young Democrats. In 2020, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention pledged to support Joe Biden. He is also a past elected member of the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District and a past member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board.
He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of Florida.
Long, 40, is co-author of a children’s book, “The Great Weather Diviner,” a re-imagining of the legend of Groundhog Day made famous by his hometown of Punxsutawney, Pa.
Campaign reports show that through June 30, Long had raised $69,000 for his House campaign and for a related political committee called Long Lasting Progress. Much of that money comes from real estate, legal, business and lobbying interests.
He spent $13,000 from the time of his announcement in February through June 30.
When he announced his candidacy in February, Long said he wanted to work on property insurance, abortion rights and environmental preservation.
The district
District 90 is essentially a Delray Beach-Boynton Beach district bordered by Hypoluxo Road in the north, Military Trail on the west (with a couple of pockets west of Military), the Delray Beach-Boca Raton border on the South and the Atlantic Ocean on the east.
It’s overwhelmingly Democratic.
The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office website shows the district currently has 109,190 registered voters. The breakdown is 39.6% Democratic, 29.5% Republican, 27.2% no party affiliation/independent, and 3.7% registered in various minor parties.
In the 2024 presidential election, Democrat Kamala Harris won 54.6% of the vote in District 90 and Republican Donald Trump received 44.2% according to an analysis posted by Democratic data analyst Matthew Isbell. In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell received 54.8% of the vote in District 90, and Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott received 43.9%.
Casello received 56.1% in his final re-election victory. Republican challenger Bill Reicherter received 43.9%.
Unusual speed
The timing of the special election is noteworthy because DeSantis set the special election dates just a few days after Casello’s death.
The governor has complete control of the timing. Unlike previous Republican governors, DeSantis has often delayed setting special elections in districts likely to be won by Democrats, leaving vacancies open far longer than in Republican districts.
But he had another vacancy to deal with, after state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican, resigned because DeSantis appointed him the new state chief financial officer.
DeSantis wanted Ingoglia’s Republican Senate seat in Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties filled, and set the special primary and elections in that district on Tuesday for the same days in December.
Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
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