With all due respect to Palm Beach County’s seven-term incumbent congresswoman, it’s time for change.

Support for congressional Democrats is sinking nationally ― from Democrats. It’s an ominous sign when our own voters are turning away from us just as we’re on the verge of winning back the House.

Add to that Palm Beach County, which includes the 22nd congressional district, is perilously close to flipping red, after decades of being a safe Democratic county. Just 10 years ago in December, Democrats had a 35% voter registration advantage; last December that had fallen to 4.9%. And that’s before Gov. DeSantis’ impending mid-decade redistricting effort starts in April, carving up the state to advantage Republicans even more.

To keep this district blue, we need an inspiring candidate. One who is willing to confront the affordability crisis head on, and to confront the Trump administration boldly. Rep. Lois Frankel is not that candidate. She represents a status quo that has been failing us for years.

What is that status quo? Democrats who rely heavily on big donors and corporate-aligned strategists, which makes them less likely to challenge long-time institutions, Democrats who are only open to incremental reforms, but are not willing to disrupt powerful interests by enacting, for example, Medicare for All, wealth taxes, Supreme Court expansion and term limits for justices, or aggressive climate measures; and Democrats who are focused on restoring what was, instead of focusing on the reality of politics today, and transforming what can be.

Lois Frankel is all of the above.

First and foremost, she is deeply compromised by corporate, lobbyist, and billionaire money. In 2024, 94% of her campaign contributions came from large individual donors and PACs. Over the years, her donors have included billionaires; real estate developers; finance companies, including the Blacktone Group, the parent company of the largest private equity residential landlord in America; the pro-Israel lobby; trial lawyers; Big Sugar; and the biggest liquor distributor in the U.S., Southern Glazer’s, which is currently being sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for unlawful price discrimination that hurts small businesses, competition and consumers.

Also, Frankel is an incrementalist. She does not support Medicare for All, for example. She supports expanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), even though it is no longer affordable. Our for-profit greed-fueled healthcare system is broken. It’s time for single-payer.

Finally, and perhaps most damning in these times, Frankel is hopeful for the good old days, which is laughable to those of us who’ve watched Trump run roughshod over every cherished norm and institution. At an event after Charlie Kirk’s murder, she was asked about political violence and gun violence. Her rote response? “Use words, not guns.” No, Lois. We need to get serious about gun regulations that keep guns accounted for and out of the hands of dangerous individuals, not nostalgia.

Change is in the air. The midterms are going to be a reckoning. Americans are fed up with Congress. Democrats are fed up with their lackluster congressional leadership, with a seniority system that encourages senior members to hold on for too long, with unaccountable campaign finance abuse, and with the majority of Americans being left behind in favor of Big Donors. Lois Frankel represents more of the same. If she is our nominee again in 2026, for an 8th time, in a district with new lines, I fear a MAGA Republican may win this district.

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