Share
City of Fort Lauderdale
John Herbst
City Commissioner, District 1
Republican
RESOLUTE Citizen Score
100
/ 100
A
Raw: 6 of 6 dynamic max
· 3 of 30 answered
Local tier30 of 50 rubric questions apply at this office level — federal-only questions are marked N/A and excluded from the dynamic max. How tier grading works →
Last verified: · scorecard-level timestamp
✝ God First
4/ 70
🏛️ Local First
2/ 30
National Rank
#4,743 of 8,966 · bottom 47.1% among candidates with at least one scored answer
See the full rankings →Contact This Official
Reach out directly. Your voice matters. Proverbs 29:2 — When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.
Official Profile
Background: Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner District 1 (sworn Dec 2022). Previously Fort Lauderdale City Auditor (~2006-2022) — established and led the office for ~16 years until the Commission fired him Feb 2022 over an audit of Police Chief Larry Scirotto's off-duty NCAA referee hours; he then flipped the D1 seat in Nov 2022 against the body that fired him. Announced resignation May 1, 2026 effective Nov 2, 2026; withdrawing 2028 re-election candidacy; special election Nov 3, 2026 to fill the remainder of the term. Reelected to a new 4-year term Nov 2024.
[2026-06 RESOLUTE LOCAL refinement] Roster verified: D1 Commissioner sworn Dec 2022; reelected Nov 2024; ANNOUNCED RESIGNATION May 1, 2026 effective 11:59pm Nov 2, 2026 — special election Nov 3, 2026 (WLRN 2026-05-01; Florida Politics 2026). Status currently active; will become FORMER Nov 3, 2026. PROMPT/DATA CORRECTION: prior bio implying 'Broward County Clerk auditor' is incorrect — he was Fort Lauderdale City Auditor (Local10 2022-02-19). PARTY: nonpartisan office; existing party tag 'R' not directly confirmed in surfaced sources — preserved as recorded but flagged for verification. HARD evidence: sole 'no' vote on the City Hall Partners P3 deal; vocal critic of the Inter Miami / Lockhart Park stadium arrangement ('worst deal in the world, business plan deeply flawed') (economic TRUE — fiscal-dissenter posture); personally issued May 12, 2024 National Police Week proclamation to FOP Lodge 31, paying tribute to 13 fallen FLPD officers; police + fire union endorsements (public_justice TRUE — affirmative beyond routine budget). Aug 2025 voted with unanimous commission to administratively appeal FDOT Pride-crosswalk removal order (refuse_state_overreach TRUE — same DEVIATION DIRECTION flag as Trantalis). DEVIATION: Herbst also supported establishing an EMS taxing district ('It's either a millage rate increase or an EMS tax'), undercutting a pure tax-hawk read. NO EVIDENCE on life/marriage/family/christian_liberty/election/border/self_defense individually — null. The 4-1 vote on a separate legal-remedies motion (CBS Miami 2025-08-28) does not attribute the lone dissent to Herbst, so marriage q0 is null rather than soft-FALSE.
Category Breakdown
Candidate affirms life begins at conception and personhood from conception
Not yet verified
Candidate (if District Attorney) has committed to prosecuting illegal abortion procedures; (if mayor/council) has supported pro-life city resolutions or refused to declare 'sanctuary city for abortion'
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes embryonic stem-cell research, IVF embryo discard, and chimeric experimentation
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and quality-of-life rationing
N/A · out of tier
Candidate has never accepted Planned Parenthood, NARAL, EMILY's List, or abortion-industry PAC funding
N/A · out of tier
Candidate affirms marriage as exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman as instituted by God
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes all forms of same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in law
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes city/county trans-affirming policies (bathroom mandates on private businesses, Pride flag raisings at city hall, pronouns-required HR rules)
Not yet verified
Candidate supports no-fault divorce reform and policies that strengthen the marriage covenant
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes city/county Pride proclamations, Pride flags at city facilities, drag programming in libraries, and LGBT-affirming K-12 curriculum (school-board-relevant)
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) opts the district into school-choice transfers + protects homeschool freedom + opposes truancy-based criminal referrals
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) requires parental notification before any gender/sexuality counseling of minors; (mayor/council) opposes city programs facilitating minor medical procedures without parents
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) has voted to remove CRT/SOGI/comprehensive-sex-ed/gender-ideology materials from district curriculum and library shelves
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council/library board) supports local enforcement of age-verification + removes sexualized content from library children's sections
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports faith-based adoption/foster agencies and opposes placement of children with same-sex couples
N/A · out of tier
Candidate affirms the right to publicly profess Christ in all spheres (workplace, military, public office, schools)
Not yet verified
Candidate supports conscience exemptions for Christian medical professionals, business owners, adoption agencies, and educators
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city/county/school board) opposes mandatory pronoun policies for staff + employees + students
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council) supports city/county Christian displays (Ten Commandments, Nativity scenes), invocation prayer at meetings, Sunday-closure where chosen by community
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes city-funded non-Christian religious displays/programming (Ramadan illumination, etc.) at city facilities
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/county) opposes city participation in CBDC pilot programs + supports cash-acceptance ordinances for local businesses
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports sound-money policies including gold/silver as constitutional money and audit/abolition of the Federal Reserve
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (mayor/council) has voted against deficit-bond issuances for non-capital city expenditures + supports balanced city budgets without service cuts via tax increases on residents
TRUE (+2)[1]
Candidate supports usury limits, anti-debt-slavery protections, and tithe-friendly tax structures
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city/county) has voted to remove city pension/treasury investment in ESG-aligned funds + opposes city participation in WEF-aligned sister-city programs
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city clerk/county election official) supports hand-counted paper ballots at local precincts where state law permits
Not yet verified
Candidate (city clerk/election official) enforces state photo voter ID + citizenship verification at local precincts
Not yet verified
Candidate supports single-day in-person voting with absentee only for verified medical/military exceptions
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes mass mail-in voting, drop boxes, and ballot harvesting
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city clerk/council) refused acceptance of private election-administration grants ('Zuckerbucks')
Not yet verified
Candidate supports completed physical border barrier and active military border presence
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (DA/sheriff) cooperates with ICE detainers + transfers; (mayor/council) supports local cooperation with ICE rather than sanctuary policies
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/county) has voted against local sanctuary-city ordinances + supports city cooperation with federal immigration enforcement
Not yet verified
Candidate supports mandatory E-Verify for all employment and benefit eligibility
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens, tourist births, and opposes foreign ownership of U.S. farmland
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (mayor/council) opposes local gun-registry ordinances + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/council) opposes local-ordinance red-flag/magazine/AWB analogs + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
Not yet verified
Candidate supports repeal of the National Firearms Act (NFA), Gun Control Act (GCA), and other federal gun regulations
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports castle doctrine and stand-your-ground laws with full civil immunity for lawful defense
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes ATF overreach, citizen disarmament initiatives, and U.N. small-arms treaty participation
N/A · out of tier
Candidate has publicly backed law enforcement and opposed defunding/dismantling police
TRUE (+2)[2]
Candidate opposes cashless-bail, soft-on-crime, and rogue-prosecutor (e.g. Soros-DA) policy
Not yet verified
Candidate supports victim restitution and proportional punishment of evildoers
Not yet verified
Candidate refuses to treat violent crime as a "public health" excuse to avoid punishment
Not yet verified
Candidate affirms the magistrate's God-ordained duty to bear the sword (Rom. 13:4)
Not yet verified
Official has asserted local control against unconstitutional state mandates
TRUE (+2)[3]
Official has declined state strings that compel ungodly or unconstitutional local policy
Not yet verified
Official has protected local citizens from state overreach (lockdowns, mandates, ESG)
Not yet verified
Official affirms subsidiarity — decisions made at the lowest competent level
Not yet verified
Official has refused to enforce unconstitutional state directives
Not yet verified
Sources & Evidence
2 Center1 Official9 Other
Ballotpedia ProfileCenter
Bias ratings sourced from AllSides and Ad Fontes Media. Classifications for government, reference, and advocacy domains are maintained by U.S.M.C. Ministries; see source_bias.json.
References & footnotes
Every answer above with a [n] marker corresponds to one of the footnotes below. Wayback-archive links preserve the page as it read at our access date so a reader can verify the citation even if the original URL changes or disappears.
- [1]Sole 'no' vote on the City Hall Partners FTL P3 deal; sustained vocal opposition to the Inter Miami / Lockhart Park stadium arrangement as a 'deeply flawed business plan'; ~16-yr City Auditor record establishes fiscal-dissenter posture. Caveat: also supported establishing a new EMS taxing district (EMS1 coverage). Unclassified
Sole 'no' vote on the City Hall Partners FTL P3 deal; sustained vocal opposition to the Inter Miami / Lockhart Park stadium arrangement as a 'deeply flawed business plan'; ~16-yr City Auditor record establishes fiscal-dissenter posture. Caveat: also supported establishing a new EMS taxing district (EMS1 coverage).
- [2]Personally issued and presented May 12, 2024 National Police Week proclamation to FOP Lodge 31, naming 13 fallen FLPD officers — affirmative pro-police advocacy (ceremonial but specific), plus documented police/fire union endorsements. Unclassified
Personally issued and presented May 12, 2024 National Police Week proclamation to FOP Lodge 31, naming 13 fallen FLPD officers — affirmative pro-police advocacy (ceremonial but specific), plus documented police/fire union endorsements.
- [3]Voted in the unanimous Aug 27, 2025 commission action to administratively appeal FDOT order removing Pride crosswalks — local-control assertion. DEVIATION DIRECTION: substantive issue (Pride-symbol defense) is anti-rubric; scored TRUE on the local-control action per skill discipline. Unclassified
Voted in the unanimous Aug 27, 2025 commission action to administratively appeal FDOT order removing Pride crosswalks — local-control assertion. DEVIATION DIRECTION: substantive issue (Pride-symbol defense) is anti-rubric; scored TRUE on the local-control action per skill discipline.
Have Information About This Official?
Help us improve this scorecard. If you have evidence of this official's positions — voting records, social media posts, public statements, or corrections — submit it below and we'll review and update the profile.