The Boca Raton Tribune profiles Curtis Calabrese, a Boca Raton native, Navy combat veteran, airline captain, professor, and former FAA inspector who is the Democratic nominee for Palm Beach County Commission District 4. His campaign focuses on affordability, traffic planning, infrastructure, growth management, and greater government accountability and transparency
Dr. Curtis Calabrese, a Boca Raton native, Navy combat veteran, commercial airline captain, professor, and former FAA inspector, is the Democratic nominee for Palm Beach County Commissioner in District 4. The district which was won by Donald Trump in 2024, is seeing lots of campaign activity as much of it falls in the heavily-contested Congressional District 25 where former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer is the Republican nominee.
Calabrese’s website states his commitment to service began in his hometown of Boca Raton, where he earned a nomination to the United States Naval Academy from former Congressman Ron Klein – Klein was also a longtime State Representative and State Senator whose constituency included Boca Raton and West Boca.
After graduating in 2012, he served honorably as a Navy reconnaissance pilot, executing critical operational missions in demanding environments across the globe. His biography also includes federal oversight as a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, where he investigated aircraft accidents to pinpoint operational failures and strengthen national safety standards.
Alongside his duties as a commercial airline captain, he pursued advanced academics, earning a Master of Science with Distinction from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and a PhD from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Today, he serves as a university professor, researcher, and aviation safety leader.
As a candidate for commission his campaign rhetoric has focused on issues of affordability, traffic planning, enhanced infrastructure and growth management. He has also made an issue about accountability and transparency, something which is of concern in Palm Beach County where there have significant controversies and public corruption scandals in the past.
As the District 4 race continues to unfold in the next two months we will cover both Calabrese and his GOP opponent, Commissioner Marci Woodward who is completing her first term on dais in West Palm Beach.