Snarly texts show Willhite-McKinlay county feud simmered before and after election

Internal bickering within parties isn't restricted to national politics.

The feud between two of the county’s top Democrats, State Rep. Matt Willhite and County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay,  simmered all the way up to and after Election Day.

Willhite has never gotten over McKinlay’s support for his opponent, Michelle McGovern, in the August primary for the District 6 county commission seat. McGovern, with McKinlay’s help, easily defeated Willhite but McGovern went on to lose in the recent general election to Republican Sara Baxter by 6 percentage points.

McKinlay and Willhite exchanged snarly texts after the election results were released, and Willhite chided McKinlay for her support of McGovern, a top aide to former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. McKinlay, who represented the district for the past eight years, could not seek reelection as she was term-limited. She recruited McGovern to be her replacement and campaigned for her.

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In the August primary, both McGovern and McKinlay questioned whether Willhite could function effectively as a county commissioner after receiving more than half of his campaign contributions from what they called a special interest group, the firefighters union.

They raised the issue of whether Willhite, a Palm Beach County firefighter/paramedic since 1996, would be beholden to the union as he would be approving contracts for Fire Rescue.

Text messages take jabs at both Willhite, McGovern losses

When it became clear that McGovern had lost to Baxter on the evening of Nov. 8, Willhite sent a text to McGovern saying:

“I guess those special interest firefighters got the last laugh.”

McKinlay’s response:

“And this is why I’m glad at least it isn’t you. Best wishes in your retirement.”

Willhite’s comment:

“And in your unemployment as well.”

McKinlay’s response:

“Ha. Now there’s your last laugh. Please do not contact me again.”

The Post obtained the texts after filing a public records request.

Willhite, a lifelong firefighter, felt that he was unfairly attacked in the August primary by both McGovern and McKinlay. So, too, did the firefighters union. He refused to support McGovern in the general election.

Jeffrey Newsome, president of Professional Firefighters/Paramedics of Palm Beach County, Local 2928, said the union chose not to endorse in the general election. “We let (Michelle) McGovern know we were going to sit it out,” he noted.

Asked to react to the text from Willhite, McKinlay told The Post:

“I would like to say this petty text surprised me, but it didn’t. Matt lost and he’s still angry about it. Moving on.”

Willhite said McKinlay is “is still trying to claim the victim card. She loves to attack others but when someone calls her out, she can’t accept criticism. As an elected official, you are accountable to the public.”

Willhite said that McKinlay was “very nasty during the primary campaign and then said not very nice things about Sara Baxter. I’m happy Baxter won,” noting that he did not actively support Baxter but provided her advice about campaign strategy. Baxter won the traditionally Democratic district by 5 percentage points.

“This was all about McKinlay trying to pick her heir apparent,” said Willhite. “It didn’t turn out that way.”

Did the McKinlay-Willhite rift hurt McGovern in the election?

But Willhite said many of his supporters backed Baxter because of what he called “a dirty campaign” that was run against him, adding: “I would have been a much more formidable candidate as I’m much more moderate, but the party chose to go with someone more liberal and we all saw what the results were.”

So how much did the rift with Willhite hurt McGovern?

“It didn’t help but it was not the reason McGovern lost,” said Rick Asnani, a political consultant who helped run the campaigns of McGovern and County Mayor Robert Weinroth, another Democrat who lost to Republican Marci Woodward.

“This was a red wave that impacted everyone. It didn’t matter how well you campaigned or how much money you spent. All that mattered was whether you had a D or R next to your name,” said Asnani.

Democratic County Chair Terrie Rizzo agreed, dismissing claims that the party underestimated the coming red wave and could have done more to contest the election. “We did everything we could have done,” she noted. “We were not in any way complacent.”

McGovern raised nearly $450,000, four times what Baxter raised. Weinroth raised $417,000, nearly 10 times as much as Woodward raised. Asnani said that when the final campaign finance reports are filed, they will show that both McGovern and Weinroth spent about everything they raised.

The only incumbent county commissioner to win reelection was Gregg Weiss, a Democrat whose district includes heavily Democratic West Palm Beach. Weiss won by 12 percentage points. He raised $249,237; his opponent, Jeffrey Skene, $13,695.

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: Matt Willhite and Melissa McKinlay exchange snarly post-election texts