The Palm Beach County Commission’s decision to make Clerk of Courts Joe Abruzzo the next county administrator creates a political opportunity for Gov. Ron DeSantis and the county’s Republicans.
The Republican governor gets to pick the replacement clerk of the circuit court and comptroller — a job that has been filled for decades by Democrats.
Multiple political insiders believe the job will go to state Rep. Mike Caruso, a Republican who is one of DeSantis’ staunchest allies in the Florida Legislature. Earlier this year, Caruso was subject of speculation about whether DeSantis would pick him to fill the vacant office of lieutenant governor.
Caruso didn’t provide a direct answer about a potential gubernatorial appointment in a recent phone interview.
“Can’t speculate on what the governor’s going to do. But I’d be honored to serve wherever the governor wants me to in any capacity,” he said.
Caruso did know the dates of Abruzzo’s last day as circuit court clerk and comptroller (Aug. 18) and first day as county administrator (Aug. 19). Both dates were confirmed by spokespeople for the clerk’s office and the county government.
Caruso has credentials for the position. Besides maintaining a vast array of court records and other government documents, the clerk and comptroller serves as the county’s chief financial officer, treasurer and auditor.
He is a certified public accountant with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from George Washington University. He’s worked for big international accounting firms and founded his own firm and has done work as a forensic accountant.
Like Caruso, who has been a state representative since 2018, Abruzzo is a former state senator and former state representative.
A Caruso appointment would put a Republican in the countywide job, with a chance of retaining it next year in a special election. And it provides an avenue for Caruso, 66, to continue in public office. Term limits prevent him from running for reelection to the state House next year.
An appointed clerk who wishes to remain in the job would have to run in the 2026 election for the final two years of Abruzzo’s four-year term.
The county’s chief judge appoints an interim clerk from the time a vacancy occurs until the governor appoints a replacement.
Caruso, DeSantis
Earlier this year, Caruso sided with DeSantis when the governor clashed with House Speaker Daniel Perez, who then punished Caruso by stripping him of his committee chairmanship and booting him out of his corner office into another space.
And DeSantis has praised Caruso, calling him “the legend” and said he was “strong for what the voters asked, even against the wishes and a lot of pressure coming down from politicians in Tallahassee. … Mike stood strong against what the leadership was doing and he embraced what we had proposed.”
Republican opportunity
Caruso could keep the clerk and comptrollers’ office in his party’s hands.
He has name recognition in different parts of the county. He used to represent a more southeastern district, but moved north following the redistricting that changed district boundaries to reflect population changes uncovered in the 2020 Census.
Palm Beach County has been trending increasingly Republican in recent years. Democrats currently have about 31,000 more registered voters than Republicans, out of a total of 913,000 in the county. A decade ago, the Democrats had a 129,000 voter advantage.
In 2022, the last midterm election, Democratic turnout lagged, Republican turnout surged — and DeSantis won the county.
In 2024, Republicans enjoyed a second consecutive election of strong results, with President Donald Trump losing by less than 1 percentage point.
Also last year, Republicans came close to winning the race for state attorney. Democrat Alexcia Cox won with 49.2% of the vote to 48.4% for Republican Sam Stern and 2.4% for Adam Farkas, running with no party affiliation.
Winning the clerk’s office would be a further step in the county’s transformation after decades of Democrats holding the position. (Dorothy Wilken, a former county commissioner and Boca Raton mayor, was elected to the first of three terms in 1992. Her successor, Sharon Bock, was elected to the first of four terms in 2004. Abruzzo was elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024.)
DeSantis has shown he is keenly aware of the political landscape in Palm Beach County, the state’s fourth largest.
He has regularly mentioned that it has become much more Republican in recent years. And he has bragged that the County Commission, temporarily, had a Republican majority — thanks to him.
In 2023, newly installed in his second term, he selected County Commissioner Dave Kerner as the executive director of the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which includes the state Highway Patrol.
Kerner was a Democratic county commissioner who broke ranks with his party and endorsed DeSantis for reelection.
DeSantis then appointed Michael Barnett, who was the chair of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, to Kerner’s former County Commission seat. That gave the seven-member commission a Republican 4-3 Republican majority until November of last year when Barnett lost his bid to retain the seat.
Ripple effect
There are related, in more ways than one, political dominoes.
Caruso would have to resign from the state House of Representatives to become clerk and comptroller. DeSantis would then call a special election to fill the remainder of his term.
House District 87, in the central part of the county along the Atlantic coast, leans Republican. The latest figures by the Supervisor of Elections Office show its registered voters are 40.4% Republican, 28.4% Democratic, 27.3% no party affiliation/independent and 3.9% minor party.
An all-but-certain candidate to fill a vacancy: Mike Caruso’s wife, Tracy Caruso, a member of the Palm Beach State College board of trustees and the board of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County.
She has already filed paperwork as a candidate to run in 2026 when her husband can’t run for reelection.
Two other Republicans have also filed as 2026 candidates for the House seat. They could advance their plans and set up a Republican primary for a special election to fill a Mike Caruso vacancy, if it happens.
Republican Jon Maples is a member of the Lake Clarke Shores Town Council. His website has pictures of him with several elected officials and describes him as “not a career politician or a Tallahassee insider. He’s a husband, a father, and a small-business leader who is ready to fight for the Florida we love.” Republican Gretchen Miller Feng describes herself on Facebook as “a working Mother, and someone who knows how hard Floridians work just to make ends meet.”
Democrat Emily Watson Gregory has also filed paperwork as a 2026 candidate.
Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.