Kerner gets state post; DeSantis names GOP chair to replace him on county commission

Palm Beach County Commissioner Dave Kerner is leaving his post for a state job and his replacement will change the face of the commission not seen in 17 years.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday evening that he has named Kerner, one of the county's top Democrats, to a top post at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

To fill the vacancy on the county commission, DeSantis has appointed Michael Barnett, a Boca Raton attorney who last month won re-election as chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party.

The statement from DeSantis' office said Kerner, 39, will serve as interim executive director of the department, which is based in Tallahassee, until his nomination is brought before the Florida Cabinet for final approval at the body's scheduled Jan. 17 meeting.

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Palm Beach County voters have elected Kerner to office four times since 2012. He served two terms in the Florida House of Representatives before his 2016 election to the county commission, where he represents a district stretching from West Palm Beach to Lantana, sandwiched between Interstate 95 and Florida's Turnpike. He is a former police officer and special prosecutor in Palm Beach County.

Barnett is an attorney for Shiner Law Group. In 2018, Barnett announced he would seek election to the county commission District 4 seat, but ultimately chose not to run.

The addition of Barnett to the county commission changes the dynamic of the board, which already saw changes after the November midterm election.

In formerly traditionally blue Palm Beach County, two Republicans, Marci Woodward and Sara Baxter, won seats on the commission in November. Those victories changed the commission from a 6-1 Democratic majority to a 4-3 one.

With Barnett, the commission would now be majority Republican: Maria Marino, who represents northern Palm Beach County, is the other Republican on the seven-member board. The three Democrats are Gregg Weiss, Maria Sachs and Mack Bernard.

After November's election, Barnett said he couldn’t remember the last time the Republican Party had three representatives on the County Commission.

It was 2006, when the commission was made up of Republicans Tony Masilotti, Mary McCarty, Karen Marcus, Warren Newell and Democrats Addie L. Greene, Burt Aaronson and Jeff Koons.

Marcus, District 3 Warren H. Newell

It is not the first time DeSantis has nominated a member of the rival party to a major post in Florida's government. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat who in November was elected to Congress from a seat partially covering southern Palm Beach County, served as director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management early in the governor's first term.

Kerner took heat when he backed DeSantis in his re-election bid last year

But Palm Beach County Democratic Party leaders resented that Kerner backed DeSantis' re-election bid last year.

When asked what future Kerner would have in his political party following his endorsement, Terrie Rizzo, the former county Democratic chair at the time, told The Palm Beach Post: "He will have a very difficult time seeking office again as a Democrat in Palm Beach County."

Rizza also said at the time: “I was beyond disappointed in his (Kerner's) endorsement of DeSantis in light of all the support he has received over the years from Democrats. Kerner, as mayor of the county, was imposing mask mandates at a time when DeSantis was pushing back against them.”

After the endorsement, Kerner refused to answer when asked by a Post reporter if there had been any discussion with DeSantis — with whom Kerner dealt often during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic during his two years as county mayor — about an appointment in his administration.

His break with his party over the governor's race occurred in late September during a Police Benevolent Association rally in Palm Beach County. Kerner said then that DeSantis deserves credit for what he called “a state on the rise” and praised him for having the backs of law enforcement.

The decision to endorse a Republican gubernatorial candidate was not “a difficult choice,” Kerner said when he announced his decision at the PBA rally, adding that DeSantis’ record is such that he deserves to be reelected.

Kerner doubled down on the endorsement by campaigning for DeSantis at political events. He told the TV show “Fox and Friends” that he did not see his support of a Republican as going against his party, as he is a Floridian and an American before being a party member.

DeSantis went on to defeat his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, by 19 percentage points in Florida and by 3 points in Palm Beach County, a rarity for a Republican in one of the bluest parts of Florida. DeSantis' coattails also helped Woodward and Baxter obtain seats on the county commission.

On Thursday evening, new county party chief Mindy Koch said she was not "surprised" Kerner got a plum assignment and called on his replacement to serve all the county's constituents.

"It is our hope that Mr. Barnett is taking the job to work for all of the people in Palm Beach County," Koch wrote in a statement. "As for Dave Kerner, we're not surprised. I guess Dave got his 30 pieces of silver."

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

Mike Diamond is a journalist at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers county government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: DeSantis names ally Dave Kerner to head state motor vehicle department