CIVICS SCORECARD

Home › Candidates › Port of Palm Beach — Group 5 › Deandre Poole

DEM Survey: Pending

Deandre Poole

Port of Palm Beach — Group 5
Countywide
D Nominee
★★★★☆
118 / 165 points
Integrity & Legal Record
Professional & Business Transparency
Policy & Platform Consistency
Community Engagement & Character
Campaign Transparency
Issue-Based Positions

Incumbent — elected 11/8/2022, sworn in 1/3/2023; senior instructor in Communication & Multimedia Studies at Florida Atlantic University; born and raised in West Palm Beach's Pleasant City neighborhood; president of the FAU faculty union (United Faculty of Florida — FAU Chapter); Vice Chair, Palm Beach County Democratic Party

Last updated: 2026-08-21

Every candidate is researched identically across six categories using only public records and candidate-submitted information. No candidate is endorsed. Read the full methodology.

Integrity & Legal Record 23 / 25

Criminal History

`[NOT FOUND — searched: PBC Clerk of Courts eCaseView (blocked, incomplete), nationwide Google/news search "Deandre Poole" arrested OR convicted OR indicted — 2026-07-31]`. No adverse nationwide news coverage found for this individual specifically (a same-surname, different-spelling match in Ohio was investigated and ruled out — see Identity note above).

Sources:
  • PBC Clerk of Courts eCaseView — attempted 2026-07-31, blocked by bot-detection before results could be obtained
  • Nationwide Google/news search: "Deandre Poole" arrested OR convicted OR lawsuit OR indicted OR sued OR ethics complaint — 2026-07-31 — no matches for this individual; "Deondrae Poole" (Ohio murder case) investigated and ruled out as unrelated
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — PBC Clerk of Courts check incomplete due to tooling block; recommend manual follow-up before scorecard finalization.

Civil Court History

Same tooling limitation as above; a full PBC Clerk of Courts civil case check could not be completed. No adverse civil litigation found via nationwide news search.

Sources:
  • PBC Clerk of Courts eCaseView — attempted 2026-07-31, blocked by bot-detection before results could be obtained
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-07-31 — no adverse matches found
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Same as above; PBC Clerk of Courts check incomplete.

Ethics Violations

No PBC Commission on Ethics complaints or Florida ethics violations found. Separately, this research surfaced a well-documented 2013 national news controversy unrelated to any adjudicated ethics or legal violation: as an FAU communications instructor, Poole assigned a widely-used intercultural-communication-textbook exercise (from a Pearson textbook, used at many universities) in which students were asked to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper and were told they could choose to step on it as a discussion exercise about the power of symbols; a student complained, and the story received extensive national news coverage. FAU placed Poole on leave and briefly disciplined him internally at the time (2013), then reviewed the matter and ultimately retained him — no criminal charges, ethics complaint, or civil litigation resulted, and the exercise was traced to an established published textbook rather than an act of personal misconduct. This predates his Port Commission service (elected 2022) by nearly a decade. Because it is not a legal, criminal, ethics, or campaign-finance matter, it is documented here for completeness but is outside the scope of Category 1 as defined for this project (Criminal/Civil/Ethics/Campaign Finance/Residency); it may be more appropriately assessed under a future Category 3 (policy) or Category 4 (community) pass, similar to how the Roth immigration-policy news story was flagged for a later category rather than scored here.

Sources:
  • Broward-Palm Beach New Times — "FAU 'Jesus Stomp' Instructor Deandre Poole Placed on Leave for 'Personal Safety'" — 2026-07-31
  • HuffPost — "Deandre Poole Keeps FAU Job After 'Stomp On Jesus' Controversy" — 2026-07-31
  • Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics — https://palmbeachcountyethics.com/complaints.htm — 2026-07-31 — no complaint found
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG (informational, not scored here) — The 2013 "Jesus Stomp" controversy is a matter of public record and received significant national coverage; it did not result in any criminal charge, ethics complaint, or civil judgment against Poole, and FAU retained him following its internal review. Flagged for operator awareness and for a possible Category 3/4 research pass, not scored as an integrity/legal violation in this category.

Campaign Finance Violations

No Florida Elections Commission violation records found.

Sources:
  • Florida Elections Commission — https://www.fec.state.fl.us/FECWebFi.nsf/pages/Violations — 2026-07-31 (no name-search capability from landing page)

Residency Confirmed

(Resolved 2026-08-15 — prior PAPA rendering issue fixed.) PBC Property Appraiser (PAPA) records show two Palm Beach County property records under "Poole Deandre": (1) a homesteaded property at 2825 Foxhall Dr W, West Palm Beach 33417 (Parcel #74424311030000050, held individually and also listed under "Poole Deandre TR" as trustee), and (2) a non-homesteaded property at 3411 Avenue T, Riviera Beach 33404 (Parcel #56434229290170130). The homesteaded property (indicating primary residence, per Florida homestead-exemption rules) is in West Palm Beach, consistent with his biography describing him as a lifelong West Palm Beach resident and within Port of Palm Beach district requirements.

Sources:
  • FAU faculty biography and news coverage — 2026-07-31 — describes him as raised in and residing in West Palm Beach's Pleasant City neighborhood
  • PBC Property Appraiser (PAPA) — owner "Poole Deandre" — full record retrieved 2026-08-15 — homesteaded property confirmed at 2825 Foxhall Dr W, West Palm Beach 33417; non-homesteaded second property noted at 3411 Avenue T, Riviera Beach
None — fully resolved. The second, non-homesteaded Riviera Beach property is noted factually and not treated as adverse (owning a non-primary property is not a residency or integrity issue).
  • ⚠️ REVIEW FLAG (remaining): PBC Clerk of Courts check remains blocked by a persistent tooling issue (reCAPTCHA/bot-detection) documented throughout this session. Recommend manual follow-up before scorecard finalization. (PAPA residency check resolved 2026-08-15 — two properties found, homesteaded WPB property confirms district residency.)
  • ⚠️ REVIEW FLAG (informational): The 2013 "Jesus Stomp" national news controversy is documented above for completeness and operator awareness. It was not scored in this category since it is not a criminal, civil, ethics, or campaign-finance matter; recommend the operator decide whether it warrants inclusion under a future Category 3 (policy) or Category 4 (community) pass.
  • Investigated and ruled out: a "Deondrae Poole" convicted of murder in Springfield, Ohio (arrested Dec. 2024) — a different, unrelated individual (see Identity note above).
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate per the roster, and the CIVICS Disclosure Survey PDF answers have not yet been extracted/indexed per-candidate in general.

Professional & Business Transparency 22 / 25

Business Ownership

No personal business entity was identified. Poole's career is documented as academic employment: senior instructor in Communication & Multimedia Studies at Florida Atlantic University. `[Sunbiz primary-source confirmation NOT COMPLETED — search.sunbiz.org unresponsive this session]`. His second, non-homesteaded Riviera Beach property (documented in Category 1 Residency Confirmed) is consistent with his hometown roots (a Suncoast Community High School, Riviera Beach graduate) rather than a confirmed rental/investment business; no LLC or rental-management entity was identified tied to that property.

Sources:
  • FAU faculty biography (fau.edu) — 2026-08-21
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Sunbiz confirmation not completed; recommend a manual recheck for any personal LLC, particularly tied to the second Riviera Beach property. Nothing concerning found regardless.

Financial Conflicts of Interest

No government-contract overlap identified. His FAU employment and faculty-union presidency (United Faculty of Florida — FAU Chapter) show no apparent nexus to Port of Palm Beach contracting.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search: "Deandre Poole" Port of Palm Beach conflict of interest — 2026-08-21 — no matches

Bankruptcy History

`[NOT FOUND]`. No personal or business bankruptcy filings located.

Sources:
  • CourtListener (courtlistener.com) — search "Deandre Poole" — 2026-08-21 — 0 results

Tax Liens

`[NOT FOUND]`. No federal or state tax lien records located. Per this project's standing methodology, tax liens are inconsistently indexed online, so this absence of results is not presented as a confirmed clean record.

Sources:
  • CourtListener (courtlistener.com) — same search as above — 2026-08-21 — 0 results

Board Memberships

Poole is President of the United Faculty of Florida — FAU Chapter (a labor union, already noted in Category 1) and Vice Chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party — both leadership/advocacy roles already documented in his candidate profile. No adverse findings connected to either.

Sources:
  • FAU University Press — coverage of his union/political roles — 2026-08-21
  • ⚠️ TOOLING BLOCK: Sunbiz unresponsive this session (2 attempts); recommend a manual recheck, particularly for any LLC tied to his second (Riviera Beach) property.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Policy & Platform Consistency 18 / 20

Voting Record

Poole is an incumbent (elected 11/8/2022, sworn in 1/3/2023), currently Vice Chairman of the Port Commission, also appointed Chair of the Palm Beach MPO's Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board. During his term, the Port completed a $36 million infrastructure project redesigning the main gates (expanding truck lanes, reducing wait times) and secured $13 million in state funding over the last three-and-a-half years. His 2026 campaign platform emphasizes adding cruise ships, rebuilding the passenger terminal, and expanding the landlocked port.

Sources:
  • Port of Palm Beach — "Port of Palm Beach Congratulates Board Vice Chairman Deandre Poole on MPO Leadership Appointment" — 2026-08-21
  • Town-Crier Newspaper — "Voters Will Weigh-In On Two Port Races During Primary Election" — 2026-08-21

Position Consistency

`[No documented position shifts were identified across his tenure — searched: nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-21]`. His stated priorities (cruise/terminal expansion) are consistent with his term's documented infrastructure accomplishments.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-21 — no adverse matches

Flip-Flops

`[NOT FOUND — searched: nationwide Google/news search "Deandre Poole" flip-flop reversed position controversy — 2026-08-21]`. No documented policy reversal was identified. At a League of Women Voters forum, Poole framed his primary race against Taniel "T.K." Koushakjian around "Who do you trust?" — a rhetorical framing he himself described as metaphorical, not a substantive policy claim.

Sources:
  • Stet News — "'Who do you trust behind closed doors?' Port of Palm Beach candidates go head to head" — 2026-08-21

Endorsements

Received: The Palm Beach County Democratic Black Caucus. `[A comprehensive endorsements-received list beyond this was NOT FOUND; Endorsements given — NOT FOUND — 2026-08-21]`. He won the Democratic primary against Taniel Koushakjian and faces Republican Ted Sarandis in November.

Sources:
  • BocaNewsNow.com — "Palm Beach County Democratic Black Caucus Finalizes 2026 Endorsements" — 2026-08-21
  • None new this pass. See Category 1 for the 2013 "Jesus Stomp" controversy, appropriately deferred to a future Category 4 pass rather than addressed here.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Community Engagement & Character 14 / 25

Community Involvement

⚠️ CROSS-REFERENCE: as documented in Category 2, Poole is President of the FAU chapter of the United Faculty of Florida (faculty union) and Vice Chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party. He was born and raised in West Palm Beach's Pleasant City neighborhood, a hometown-roots connection independently corroborated across multiple sources.

Sources:
  • Cross-referenced from Category 1/2 — 2026-08-24

Veteran / First Responder Service

`[NOT FOUND]`. No veteran or first-responder service identified.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-24 — no matches

Faith-Based Involvement (scored on character consistency)

Coverage of the 2013 controversy (see Category 1) directly describes Poole as "a devout Christian" himself. The underlying classroom exercise — asking students to write "Jesus" on paper as part of a discussion of the emotional power of symbols — was drawn from an established, widely-used published intercultural-communication textbook by a scholar at a Catholic liberal arts college, not an exercise Poole personally authored or a statement of his own religious views. After a student complaint, the story drew national right-wing criticism, a community march led by Rev. Mark Boykin of The Church of All Nations (~200 participants), and FAU placed Poole on leave for stated personal-safety reasons; FAU's internal review ultimately retained him, with no criminal, ethics, or civil finding against him (per Category 1). No public apology from Poole was located. Assessed for character consistency: the record shows a personally devout Christian using a mainstream, previously-published academic exercise as part of his teaching duties, not an act reflecting anti-religious intent or personal hypocrisy — but the episode reflects a genuine lapse in judgment about foreseeable reaction to the specific exercise given the current political climate, which is why this metric is not scored at the top tier.

Sources:
  • Broward-Palm Beach New Times — "In Defense of FAU Instructor Deandre Poole, of 'Stomp on Jesus' Controversy" — 2026-08-24
  • Broward-Palm Beach New Times — "FAU 'Jesus Stomp' Instructor Deandre Poole Placed on Leave for 'Personal Safety'" — 2026-08-24 (cross-referenced from Category 1)
  • FAU University Press — "FAU protesters fight for academic freedom in support of Dr. Poole" — 2026-08-24
⚠️ PRIORITY CROSS-REFERENCE — this is the deferred Category 1/3 "Jesus Stomp" finding, addressed here per those sections' explicit deferral notes; not re-litigated as an integrity or policy matter.

Debates / Town Halls

⚠️ CROSS-REFERENCE: as documented in Category 3, Poole participated in a League of Women Voters candidate forum against Taniel Koushakjian, where he used a "who do you trust?" framing he himself characterized as metaphorical rather than substantive. No instance of declining or avoiding a debate was found.

Sources:
  • Cross-referenced from Category 3 (Stet News) — 2026-08-24

Social Media Presence & Consistency

`[NOT FOUND — no dedicated personal or campaign social media account independently located this session — searched: nationwide Google/news search "Deandre Poole" Facebook Twitter Instagram Port Palm Beach — 2026-08-24]`. His FAU faculty page and Port Commissioner bio are his primary public-facing presence.

Sources:
  • fau.edu faculty biography; portofpalmbeach.com — 2026-08-24
  • 🔴 PRIORITY CROSS-REFERENCE: The 2013 "Jesus Stomp" controversy, deferred from Category 1/3, is addressed here under Faith-Based Involvement — documented factually with full context (textbook origin, Poole's own Christian identity, community reaction, FAU's retention decision).
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Campaign Transparency 17 / 25

Top Donors / Donor Composition

`[Specific total-raised figures and donor composition NOT FOUND this session — Transparency USA confirmed data exists through 3/31/26 but figures were not returned in search results — searched: Transparency USA, VoterFocus — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Transparency USA — Deandre Poole Campaign (Port of Palm Beach Commission G5) — 2026-08-26
None — data gap, not adverse.

PAC / LLC / Funneling Structures

`[NOT FOUND — searched: VoterFocus, Palm Beach County campaign finance records — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • VoterFocus campaign finance database — 2026-08-26

Advertising Spend

`[NOT FOUND — searched: Palm Beach County campaign finance records — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Grassroots Engagement

⚠️ CROSS-REFERENCE: as documented in Category 4, Poole participated in a League of Women Voters candidate forum against Taniel Koushakjian — confirmed debate/forum engagement.

Sources:
  • Cross-referenced from Category 3/4 — 2026-08-26

Donations to Political Figures

`[NOT FOUND — searched: VoterFocus, nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches
  • No campaign-finance dollar figures were locatable this session; recommend a direct VoterFocus/Transparency USA follow-up.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Issue-Based Positions 24 / 40

2A through Environment/Everglades (all 8 metrics)

`[NO STATED POSITION FOUND for any of the 8 Category 6 metrics — his documented platform centers on port economic development (attracting business, trade expansion, maritime jobs) and workforce/education partnerships tied to maritime careers, not the national-issue framework — scored 3 per protocol for each — sources searched: pooleforport.com, portofpalmbeach.com, nationwide news search — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • pooleforport.com — 2026-08-26
  • All eight metrics scored neutral (3) per protocol; this office's jurisdiction does not intersect with any Category 6 metric.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Other candidates in this race — Port of Palm Beach — Group 5

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