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Two Republicans, Broward businessman Bill Reicherter and Palm Beach entrepreneur Maria Zack, face off Sept. 30 in a special GOP primary for House District 90. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board recommends Reicherter in this off-cycle election.
Florida House District 90.
Neither candidate has a built-in advantage because neither lives in the district, which is dominated by parts of Delray Beach and Boynton Beach and several smaller cities.
The winner of this primary faces Delray Beach City Commissioner Rob Long, a well-known Democrat, in a district dominated by Democratic and independent voters.
The seat is vacant following the death of Democratic Rep. Joe Casello, who died of a heart attack in July in his fourth term.
Bounded by Hypoluxo Road on the north and a canal bordering Delaire Country Club on the south, District 90 runs east from South Military Trail through barrier island towns. It’s a diverse region of wealthy island enclaves, city coastlines and a rare beachfront community of manufactured homes.
Reicherter, 56, owns a sign company and has deep roots in Broward (he graduated from Taravella High in Coral Springs). He lived in the district before moving to Lighthouse Point and said he will move to District 90 if he wins, as state law requires.
Zack, 62, who lives in Palm Beach, also plans to relocate if she wins.
Both candidates are conservative, but Reicherter is a reasonable Republican. Zack’s penchant for outlandish, far-right conspiracy theories make her too risky a choice, in our opinion.
On cutting property taxes, which will dominate the 2026 legislative session, Reicherter supports tax cuts that would leave local money for police, fire and other public services. Zack supports eliminating all property taxes, arguing that it will lower crime and teenage pregnancies, largely by bringing back stay-at-home moms.
This is Reicherter’s third run for office since 2022, when he lost a bid for the Senate District 30 seat to Tina Polsky. He lost to Casello last November, who won with 56% of the vote.
The owner of Boca SignWorks, Reicherter was born in Queens, N.Y., and has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Carson-Newman University in Tennessee. He recently launched the Reicherter Foundation to support community initiatives.
Reicherter opposes “Alligator Alcatraz,” calling it “a stunt.” He favors alternatives to mass deportations for immigrants with no criminal record who are legally working to obtain citizenship.
He opposes banning mandatory childhood vaccines, citing the decades-long safety record of shots, like those for polio and measles. Zack said she “applauds” Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s opposition to vaccines.
His opinions won’t be popular with the MAGA faithful, but they are in line with President Trump’s recent statements that certain vaccines “are amazing,” and his concern over economic fallout from ICE raids.
Reicherter is self-funding his campaign with $100,000 of his money. Zack’s war chest of $6,780 to date is funded mostly by her own money as well.
Zack graduated from Florida State with a political science degree. She was a staffer for the Brevard County legislative delegation in the 1980s before moving to Georgia and founding The Strollo Group lobbying firm. She returned to Florida in 2018.
Zack’s blueprint for better government and the need for “audits, affidavits and transparency” clash with her well-known embrace of conspiracy theories.
She made national news for spreading the discredited fiction that the CIA and an Italian defense contractor used satellites to rig the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favor. She described a “global shadow government” of mystery databanks and Vatican influence.
Florida faces many serious problems. Reicherter is much better suited to find practical solutions.
The winner will serve a partial term until the 2026 general election. House members serve two-year terms at a salary of $29,697 a year.
All registered Republicans in District 90 are eligible to vote. Early voting runs from Sept. 20 through Sept. 28. The deadline to return a vote-by-mail ballot is Election Day, Sept. 30.
In the Republican primary in House District 90, the Sun Sentinel recommends Bill Reicherter.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.
