Aaron Moreno Enters West Palm Beach Mayor's Race

West Palm Beach’s 2027 mayoral race added a third candidate Thursday when Aaron Moreno, a construction industry professional and 20-year area resident, formally announced his bid to succeed term-limited Mayor Keith James.

Moreno, 40, launched his campaign at Howard Park, framing his run around public safety, government accountability, and what he describes as a growing divide between City Hall and the people it serves. He is registered without party affiliation, entering a race that already includes two Democrats: Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss, 68, and West Palm Beach City Commissioner Christina Lambert, 46.

Lambert has built a substantial fundraising lead, reporting $1 million through December 31. Weiss has raised $269,000 over the same period. Moreno is entering the race more than a year after both competitors began their campaigns.

His platform centers on public safety, and his campaign cites data it says places West Palm Beach below many Florida communities in safety rankings. Moreno is calling for increased police staffing, more visible street patrols, and tighter coordination between law enforcement and the judicial system to address repeat offenders. He connects enforcement with social services, describing his approach as both firm and compassionate.

“If our residents don’t feel safe, nothing else matters,” Moreno said in a statement. “We must act on crime and on homelessness with urgency, and compassion.”

He says a personal experience sharpened his focus on those issues. According to his campaign, Moreno shielded his wife and son during a violent altercation near City Hall involving multiple individuals experiencing homelessness. The incident, he says, made abstract policy concerns immediate.

Beyond public safety, Moreno is proposing a three-phase traffic congestion plan, lower property taxes, free two-hour downtown parking for residents, and streamlined permitting he says would reduce utility costs. He is also pushing for clearer water quality reporting and a direct communication channel between residents and the Mayor’s Office.

He frames some of that agenda as a corrective to what he sees as developer favoritism at the city level.

“We’re seeing shiny new development, but our police station is still dealing with mold,” Moreno said. “That’s unacceptable.”

Moreno’s background spans more than one industry. He grew up in Orlando, where his parents operate a casting agency. He worked in film and television before transitioning to building and construction in 2012. He also owned a reclaimed woodworking business for a period. His campaign website lists 20 years in West Palm Beach, though his voter registration showed an Orlando address as his primary residence until 2019. His campaign told reporters he split time between both cities before establishing his primary base in West Palm seven years ago.

For waterfront and coastal business interests in the area, a mayoral race that centers on permitting timelines, downtown infrastructure, and development priorities carries real weight. West Palm Beach’s waterfront along the Intracoastal has seen steady redevelopment pressure, and streamlined permitting, if it materializes, would affect marine-adjacent projects alongside residential and commercial ones. Property tax proposals, too, draw close attention from the investment and development community active along the Palm Beach waterfront corridor.

The March 2027 election is still nearly a year out, and Moreno faces a steep climb. Lambert’s seven-figure war chest and Weiss’s institutional base as a sitting county commissioner give both candidates structural advantages that a later-entering challenger will need to close through earned attention and grassroots organizing.

Moreno’s campaign is betting that a message built around resident frustration, safety, and transparency can cut through. Whether his construction and community background translates into the kind of donor network and ground operation necessary to compete with Lambert and Weiss will become clearer over the coming months as the first major fundraising deadlines arrive.

The Howard Park launch event Thursday afternoon was open to the public.