Miami politics is never just about the people on the ballot. In fact, half the drama is happening off the ballot.
Another election cycle has come and gone, leaving behind the usual debris field of broken signs, bruised egos, and consultants still waiting to get paid. And while everyone is busy dissecting the candidates and their margins and their margins of victory in Miami, Hialeah and Miami Beach, Ladra is here for the real autopsy: the winners and losers who never appear on the ballot but are pulling strings, pushing narratives, or just getting run over by the political pachanga.
The consultants, the machines, the dynasties, the wannabes, the trolls, the institutions, and the voters (bless their tired souls).
Read related: ‘Winners & Losers’ from the Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah elections
So grab your cortadito — heavy on the espuma — because while some candidates are still picking pastelito crumbs off their dignity, Ladra is here with this cycle’s MVPs and DOA’s, which has become a Political Cortadito tradition.
AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Political and media consultants Christian Ulvert and Michael Worley, who often work together, and went three for three Tuesday with wins for Eileen Higgins in the Miami mayoral race, Rolando Escalona‘s runoff in the Miami D3 commission contest, and Monica Matteo-Salinas in the Miami Beach commission runoff. Campaign veteran Emiliano Antuñez took Escalona to the runoff and “he’s a machine,” the commissioner-elect said. Ecalona’s win was particularly sweet since he beat former Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo, who has significant name recognition compared to the self-described “nobody.” And for Ulvert, who made the losers column last year after he lost all five Miami-Dade constitutional seats, it shows he is still bouncing back.
Democrats. Some might be calling in sick today, but they’re just still celebrating. Tuesday night’s election results in both Miami and Miami Beach were rousing successes. Hialeah is a throwaway for them. But they got Higgins elected the first Democrat mayor in Miami in almost 30 years — and by almost 20 points — and Matteo-Salinas elected in Miami Beach by a whopping 42 points. They attracted big-name, national blue star power from the likes of Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Congressman Rahm Emanuel, a former White House official under Barack Obama. And they showed that with national attention (and money), they can flip traditionally red seats. All they have to do now is lose that momentum, like they always do.
Former Joe Carollo district aide Steven Miro, who filed a whistleblower suit against his ex boss after he said he was fired in retaliation for reporting that the commissioner used his office and public dollars to campaign for Alex Diaz de la Portilla when the latter was running for county commission. The scandal became known as Paellagate and Miro eventually settled out of court for a tidy sum. Fast forward to this election cycle, where helped Escalona — a lot. It was personal for him. We might want to put other former Carollo staffers on the list. Let’s make that the Anybody-But-Joe coalition. Anyone who ever tangled with the brothers Carollo — from activists to former staff to political rivals who still have PTSD — got a little karmic dopamine hit this week. Whether you call it political maturity or simply exhaustion, it’s a win.
Speaking of which… Bill Fuller, one of the owners of Ball and Chain, which was targeted and eventually shut down by Joe Carollo’s weaponization of city departments — police, code enforcement, city attorney — for having had an event for his political opponent in 2017. The two won a jury trial in 2023 for $63.5 million in damages and have already gotten a $12.5 million settlement from the city for its part. But Tuesday’s results were like the cherry on top. “It’s been eight years of torture and harassment,” Fuller told TV cameras at Tuesday night’s victory party for Escalona, which he hosted.
Hialeah Mayor Elect Bryan Calvo, who wasn’t on the ballot this cycle but was able to flex already, throwing his brand new mayoral weight behind two candidates in the council runoffs who both won. Sure, they weren’t on his original slate, but they did much better in their second go-around. Gelien Perez, who worked for the city’s Human Resources Department, was on former Councilman Jesus Tundidor‘s slate when she got 40.5% of the vote Nov. 4 and got a whopping 80% against Jessica Castillo, who works in medical insurance sales, in the Group 3 runoff. In the Group 5 race, university student William “Willy” Marrero — the only candidate on outgoing Interim Mayor Jacqueline García-Roves’ slate who didn’t lose Nov. 4 — got 25% while the second place finisher got 23% last month to make it into the second round. This time, Marrero, who now replaces Calvo as the youngest council member ever elected in the City of Progress, got 71% against. But if you see a smile on Bryan’s face, you know why.
Ditto for Miami Beach Commissioners Alex Fernandez and Laura Dominguez, who backed Matteo-Salinas and can now form a tidy little alliance over in that city.
Downtown developers who might find a friendly Miami City Hall now that Eileen “Build More Housing” Higgins is mayor. Her campaign was heavily funded by development interests and she doesn’t have the best track record in that department, even voting in favor of rebuilding the county’s waste incinerator, which should have cost her environmental votes but didn’t.
Lobbyist Manuel “Manny” Prieguez, the former state rep with his finger on the pulse at City Hall. First, he backed Commissioner Miguel Gabela in his win two years ago. This time, he was behind Rolando Escalona from Day One, making hundreds of calls to raise funds and blast critics intermittently. His influence at the city has practically doubled from one day to the next.

NOW, THE LOSERS ARE:

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Did you feel the shockwave? The Carollo era is officially over. Kaput. Finito. Ciao pescao.
Rolando Escalona — the 34-year-old restaurant manager whose political résumé could fit on the back of a Sexy Fish cocktail napkin — just beat former Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo in Miami’s District 3 commission runoff, ending four decades of one Carollo or another haunting Little Havana like a family curse.
This wasn’t just a loss. This was an exorcism.
Five weeks ago, in the general election, Frank Carollo led the first round Nov. 4 with a comfy 38%. Escalona came in a distant second at 17% — barely edging out a field of six other hopefuls who all vowed they weren’t Carollo but couldn’t convince voters they were the one to take him out.
But that was before the runoff. Before residents had five full weeks to remember every lawsuit, every controversy, and every cringe-inducing meltdown courtesy of the candidate’s older brother, termed out Commissioner Joe Carollo, who got booted from the mayor’s race last month with a humiliating fourth-place finish.
It was also before political consultant extraordinaire Christian Ulvert really took over the Espinosa campaign after the first round.
Read related: Rolando Escalona picks up two anti-Carollo endorsements in Miami D3 race
So when the first votes flashed up on the screens at the Tower Hotel — yes, Bill Fuller’s Tower Hotel, the ultimate Carollo revenge venue — the room of a couple dozen die-hard supporters erupted. The include a few members of the Miami Young Republicans, who are balding and in their 40s and, Ladra suspects, were angling for a city job. Escalona was wiping tears, trying to stay composed, while grown men whispered “Felicidades” into his ear like a secret code.
When the final precinct dropped, the place shook like Cuba after a 7.0. Even the candidate couldn’t believe it. He said that he got discouraged when he saw the number of voters saying hi to Frank Carollo and hugging him and kissing him on the check at the polling place at Jose Marti Park.
“I knew some of these people, I saw them at their homes. But I didn’t have a relationship with these people,” Escalona told Political Cortadito Wednesday morning, after the realization of his victory actually struck him, he said. “Right there, I told my mom, ‘I think we lost.’ Because they have a name that everybody over 60 loves.”
Well, apparently not everybody.
“I think it works both way. They had the name recognition, but at the same time there was a lot of negative associated with it,” Escalona told Ladra.
The Carollo camp apparently knew that and panicked, sending misleading mailers in the last rally, with Escalona pictured with Donald Trump and the words “Rolando is ready to bring Trump’s policies to the city of Miami and drill, drill, drill.” It was sent only to Dems — trying to scare them off.
Thankfully, they didn’t bite. And Escalona was focused on the NPAs anyway. Ladra can’t wait to see the breakdown by party and voter age.

Now, Frank — who only won the early voting race — is out too. And, thanks to lifetime term limits voters passed on Nov. 4, neither brother can claw their way back onto a Miami ballot ever again. Well, Frank can run for mayor — but let’s not tell him, okay?
District 3 — once the most Carollo place on Earth — just slammed the door shut behind them.
“It’s the end of the Carollo reign,” Escalona told the Herald. Ladra would only add: Por fin.
Read related: Miami voters sue to keep Frank Carollo off the runoff ballot after term-limit win
This race wasn’t just decided at the ballot box. It was a legal novela — because nothing happens in Miami without a judge. Escalona survived a bizarre residency challenge in October that involved a three-hour trial, multiple leases, and even his Amazon order history. Frank Carollo only stayed on the ballot because a judge ruled removing him would “disenfranchise voters,” even after residents argued the new lifetime term limits barred him.
Those plaintiffs? They were already appealing. They were so sick of the Carollo saga, they were ready to take the fight all the way to SCOTUS if they had to.
One of them, Victor Milanes, hugged Escalona at the victory party and said, “We are tired of it… We did everything we could to make sure the system changes.”
Translation: Se acabó el abuso.
And Bill Fuller wasn’t just hosting an election night each party. He was baptizing a new political era at the scene of his greatest courtroom victory.
Fuller and partner Martin Pinilla — owners of Ball & Chain — won a $63.5 million verdict against Joe Carollo for weaponizing the city government against them. The City of Miami later settled its part of the case for $12.5 million. That’s your tax dollars, by the way.
“This feels like the ultimate chapter in redemption,” Fuller said after he gave Escalona a full bear hug.
Read related: Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo loses appeal on $63.5 million jury award
But who is Rolando Escalona? Even voters admit they don’t know much about him yet. All they know is he isn’t a Carollo, which seems to have been the magic password to City Hall this year.
His story is compelling. He came from Cuba 11 years ago and worked his way up the restaurant business — bussing tables, running food, waiting, managing — until he became general manager of Sexy Fish, a popular touristy eatery in downtown Miami. Meanwhile, he got political science degree from Florida International University in 2023 and a real estate license. And he became a father of twins during the campaign.
According to his campaign finance reports, Escalona raised about $110,000 — peanuts compared to Carollo’s $501,000 war chest — and still won comfortably.
“Nothing has been given to me,” Escalona says. And honestly, Miami loves a bootstrap story almost as much as it loves a corruption scandal.
Just how long will Miami’s newest commissioner keep his shine? Escalona campaigned on transparency (a novelty in District 3), better basic services (good luck), lower taxes for seniors, fixing the permitting disaster, adding affordable housing, public safety and economic development and real fiscal responsibility. Whether he delivers, we’ll find out.
He says he’s quitting Sexy Fish to focus on the job full time, but Ladra suspects he will still dabble in real estate.
“I’m not a politician. I have never been in politics,” Escalona told Political Cortadito. “I genuinely want to work to make the city of Miami a better place. I’m going to work for the residents of District 3 and Miami and I do’t care if they’re Democrat or Republican or neither.
“We’re done with that.”
Read related: Judge: Rolando Escalona belongs on Miami ballot for D3 commissioner
With Escalona’s win, four out of five commissioners are first-termers. Chairwoman Christine King is now the “senior member” with a whopping four years under her belt. Ralph Rosado joked he’s no longer the youngest on the dais. Commissioner Miguel Gabela declared, “The old guard is gone.”
Of course, none of them arrived at the watch party until they knew the Carollos were safely gone for good.
For the first time in forever, Miami has a commission without the Carollo gravitational pull.
“I’m very, very, very grateful to the residents of my district for giving a nobody a chance,” Escalona told Ladra. “And I will tell you, I will work very hard for them every day.”
Yes, we’ll see who Escalona really is soon enough. We’ll see who starts whispering in his ear. We’ll see which developer buys him a cafecito first. We’ll see who he hires. We’ll see if his “fresh start” survives his first zoning meeting.
But on Wednesday, District 3 voters are celebrating that they pulled off something people said was impossible: They sent Frank Carollo packing. They sealed the dynasty’s tomb. They chose the newcomer with tears in his eyes over the accountant with 40 years of baggage.
And Ladra has just one thing to say: ¡Por fin, Little Havana! Por fin.

You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

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They also believe it has wider electoral ramifications
Ay, Miami. After years of corruption fatigue, half-baked strongman cosplay, and enough FBI whispers to fill a telenovela season, voters finally did something different Tuesday: They elected Eileen Higgins, the first Democrat mayor in the city in almost 30 years and the first female mayor ever.
Yes, that Eileen — the transit nerd, the policy wonk, the woman who once got laughed at for caring too much about things like bus shelters and sidewalks. Tonight, she’s getting the last laugh. And the Democrats? Dios mío… they are ecstatic.
You can practically hear the champagne corks popping from the Miami-Dade DEC office all the way to Washington. After all, this is a blue win in the capital of Florida MAGAstan.
Read related: La Gringa Eileen Higgins makes history with Miami mayoral election victory
Miami hasn’t exactly been friendly territory for Democrats lately. The county turned red. The state turned ruby red. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis struts around like a future dictator-in-waiting, snatching municipal airstrips and holding up House district elections. Republicans ran City Hall like a private members-only club, complete with luxury perks, secret backdoor meetings, and that little FBI inconvenience.
But after Tuesday? Democrats get to say Miami just flipped its biggest citywide seat from GOP hands to a Democrat — and they’re already framing it as the first crack in the Republican façade, because Higgins came in 18 points ahead of the MAGA-backed former city manager, Emilio Gonzalez, who even had President Donald Trump‘s endorsement. Lotta good that did.
“This is the beginning of the Miami comeback,” one Democratic strategist told Ladra, practically floating two inches off the ground. “Higgins winning shows that voters are tired of the corruption circus and ready for actual governance again.”
Honestly, they are acting like Noche Buena came early.
Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chair Laura Kelley was practically dancing in place as she declared that Higgins didn’t just win — she made history. First woman ever elected Mayor of Miami, first Democrat in the big chair since the Clinton years.
Okay, let’s be honest: the bar was low. The last few years at Miami City Hall have been a piñata full of ethics lapses, shady alliances and Sunshine violations. You smack one politician and three new investigations fall out. But Kelley was also celebrating a win across the causeway as Monica Matteo-Salinas cruised into her Miami Beach commission seat by double digits.
It’s a two-city blue splash the Dems are already calling “the start of a wave.” At the very least, it’s a sign of what unprecedented involvement by the national and state party in a municipal race can do.
Read related: Monica Matteo-Salinas coasts to big win in Miami Beach commission runoff
Kelley bragged that during the five-week runoff sprint, every level of the party — national, state, local — suddenly remembered Miami-Dade existed and threw bodies, money, and strategy at it. The new county party leadership, elected just last year, has apparently been grinding: more than 300,000 calls to re-enroll vote-by-mail voters, 64,000 more to drag people to the polls, countless door-knocking shifts, millions of digital impressions, and a social media footprint bigger than anything they’ve managed in a decade.
According to the Dems, Higgins and Matteo-Salinas didn’t win because of party machinery alone — they won because they tapped into what residents have been begging for: honesty in government, real affordability solutions, safer streets, and stability for small businesses living under the whiplash of what Kelley bluntly calls “Trump’s disastrous economy.”
And flipping a seat the GOP held for more than 30 years? The Democrats are treating that as a countywide thunderclap. A sign that Miami-Dade is not, in fact, the MAGA fortress Trump world keeps pretending it is.
Kelley even aimed a warning shot at Tallahassee and the Trump-aligned mapmakers sharpening their pencils for mid-decade redistricting. If they think they can carve out safe GOP congressional seats here, she says, they’re delusional — and risking even angrier voters. The 2024 dip, according to her, was a “blip, not a trend.”
Democrats are calling this race a blueprint for 2026, pretending they’ve cracked the code for Florida again. They haven’t, but let them have the moment. They’ll say that a good candidate who isn’t afraid of retail politics can still win. They’ll say the GOP’s Miami machine is vulnerable. They’ll say local issues — transit, affordability, homelessness — cut through the partisan fog.
In other words: “See? We can win again. We just need a city drowning in corruption, a fed-up electorate, and a candidate with a political machine and name recognition.”
Said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried: “Tonight’s victory shows that the pendulum is swinging in our favor and that when we commit to relentless, year-round organizing and invest in a long-term strategic field program, we can, in fact, win.”
Kelley’s closing message was also a warning shot: “This election underscores a fundamental truth: Miami-Dade Democrats are in a strong position to deliver for residents who are exhausted by Trump-created chaos: ICE raids; mass, indiscriminate deportations; economic unpredictability, the authoritarian impulses, and Congressional enablers like Maria Elvira Salazar, Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart who continue to harm communities across the county.”
Yep. She named names.
“We are building the infrastructure needed to give every Democrat running a chance, and will further ramp up the efforts that led to this success, starting now and we invite voters across Miami-Dade to join us,” Kelley added.
In other words, Democratic leaders will frame this as a mandate for ethics reform, for transparency, for housing affordability and to unwind the mess that the last administration left behind. Higgins is going to walk into City Hall one day soon and find a stack of unresolved investigations, a few “missing” documents, and at least one office still smelling like burnt coffee and desperation.
But for the party, this is a fresh start narrative. A rebirth. A phoenix-from-the-ashes moment.
With 2026 looming, the national folks are hungry for any win south of Jacksonville. Miami electing a Democrat for mayor? That’s catnip.
But we not only have statements from the DNC and strategists about “momentum in Florida,” and confetti GIFs on X from every Democrat who suddenly remembers Miami exists, we also already have the shouts of “leftist” and “globalist” in online forums and the fear mongering that Miami has gone full blown communista.
And that is also going to get louder in coming days.

You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

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Some will say that Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins won the hyper partisan Miami mayoral race that ended Tuesday. But others might say that former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez lost it.
The official tally was 59% to 41% — an 18-point lead that Democrats statewide and nationwide celebrated as a bellwether to Miami’s officially partisan 2026 races (more on that later). And, yeah, Higgins got a lot of support on the ground from the Democratic National Committee and a PR boost from big, national, blue stars like Pete Buttigieg, and Congressman Rahm Emanuel and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego.
Read related: La Gringa Eileen Higgins makes history with Miami mayoral election victory
Make no mistake, though: Gonzalez definitely underperformed. Certainly because Republican voters underperformed. And maybe also because the Republican Party, at the national level, underperformed. There were no national phone banks. No big RNC money.
If Gonzalez thought the cavalry was coming, he misjudged.
The writing was on the wall as early as the first round Nov. 4, when Higgins came in first in a field of 13, but with 17 points over Gonzalez in the number two spot. And since absentee voting began weeks ago by mail, Democrats kept a turnout advantage. Republican voters did better in early voting, but only by a little bit. And Higgins still won that category.
Democrats ended with a 3,000-vote lead. And if we add NPAs, who tend to vote more blue than red, they doubled the number of GOP voters.
But it didn’t have to go this way. And some could argue that this was Emilio’s race to lose.
The former director of Miami International Airport got a gift last summer when the city commission moved the election to 2026, basically cancelling the mayor’s race and two commission race and giving everybody an extra year in office. You get a year. And you get a year. And you get a year.
Gonzalez was the only mayoral candidate who sued the city to stop them from doing that, arguing that the commission could not make that change without taking it to voters first. A judge agreed. The city appealed. Gonzalez won again. The city asked for a rehearing. The judges said GTFOH.
The amount of earned media he got from that process — the saving of the people’s voice — was any political consultant’s dream. Gonzalez was seen as a hero. He built a lot of good will on that.
Read related: Third DCA says no, again; Miami loses third try to cancel November elections
He could have run a race on an anti-corruption, pro-democracy, clean-up-City-Hall platform and won. But he threw it all away when he turned to embrace MAGA instead.
Ladra likes Gonzalez. He’s smart and scrappy. He is not the typical Miami Trumpista. But, early on, he took on the mantle of the GOP candidate with the endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott, Ted Freaking Cruz from Texas and then the president himself. Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social account twice urging voters to pick Gonzalez.
And maybe he had to motivate his base.
But maybe he also went too far. A Saturday caravan through the streets of Little Havana with Alex Otaola too far.
Reached Tuesday evening at his watch party, Gonzalez — who got into the runoff on Nov. 4 over several political veterans — was still yapping it up with friends and supporters. And it seemed he wouldn’t really do anything differently.
Read related: Miami’s mayoral race has gone full partisan – just like Ladra warned
“We started from zero. We self-funded, had no party money, and this was kind of an insurgent movement,” the retired Army colonel told Political Cortadito. “If I had been established, it would have been different.”
Maybe. But it might also have been different if he had danced to a non-partisan beat.
On X, Gonzalez thanked “the thousands of Miami residents who stood with us for integrity, safety, and putting families first,” and hinted that he might stick around. Maybe he’ll run for Higgins’ county seat in August. Maybe he’ll run in the yet-to-be-announced special election in HD 113.
“While this election didn’t end the way we hoped, our fight for accountability, transparency, and a city that works for residents not insiders continues,” he wrote.
That doesn’t sound like goodbye.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
The post Emilio Gonzalez loses to Eileen Higgins in hyper partisan Miami mayoral race appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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The high-drama Miami mayoral election is over and, as expected, frontrunner Eileen Higgins was elected mayor, making history as the first woman to hold that seat. She is also the first Democrat and first non-Hispanic to hold the seat in decades.
And she did it with 59% of the vote — an 18-point lead over her opponent, former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez.
It’s also historic because, for the first time in a long while, Miami voters didn’t pick the shiny object, the political dynasty, or the guy with the biggest billboard on Biscayne Boulevard. Sure, Higgins — a county commissioner who left her seat three years early for this bid — had the funding and the political machinery, the name recognition and the national party assist. But Miami voters still picked the one candidate who isn’t the status quo.
“For nearly 130 years since Julia Tuttle founded this city, Miami has never elected a woman as mayor. That changes tonight,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the other Alcaldesa and Higgins BFF, calling it a well-earned victory. “This is a milestone for our city, for representation, and for every young person who deserves to see themselves reflected in leadership.
Read related: Daniella Levine Cava gives Higgins the expected abrazo in Miami mayor’s race
“But tonight’s results tell another story as well. Miami spoke loudly. Young people, families, and seniors are tired of the chaos, the corruption, and the empty promises while life keeps getting more expensive. Grocery bills, rent, insurance — the basics people rely on — are becoming out of reach. Voters are demanding leaders who will show up, tell the truth, and fight for them.
“Eileen’s victory demonstrates that Miami is ready to turn the page,” Levine Cava said, putting a lot of pressure on her “friend and collaborator,” by adding, “The future of Miami starts now.”
Sure, and today is the first day of the rest of our lives.
But, honesty, the results weren’t just a win — they were a message. A scream, really, from voters who are tired of being embarrassed. A citywide, fed-up, “ya basta” aimed right at the last decade of corruption cosplay inside Miami City Hall.
Gonzalez, frankly, had been part of the system for years and came from the same Republican macho cloth that every other city mayor has come with, except, maybe, Manny Diaz.
Neighborhoods from Allapattah to The Roads, from Little Havana to Coconut Grove, from Flagami to Brickell — they all turned out for Higgins, who had the momentum coming out of Election Day with double digits over Gonzalez (36% to 18%). And Democrats, independents, Republicans-who-stopped-recognizing-their-own-party, and thousands of NPA voters all combined to give her a real, honest-to-God mandate Tuesday.

Even though Republicans outnumbered Democrats by a little bit during early voting, Higgins got more ballots cast her way during those three days.
And turnout was just a little bit higher than it was for the first round Nov. 4, which was unexpected.
Read related: Eileen Higgins heads into partisan Miami mayoral runoff with momentum
Minutes after the race was called, Higgins came out looking both stunned and steady — the same “keep your head down and get to work” energy that has carried her through every campaign.
“Tonight, the people of Miami made history,” she said in a statement shared with supporters. “Together, we turned the page on years of chaos and corruption and opened the door to a new era for our city — one defined by ethical, accountable leadership that delivers real results for the people. I am deeply honored by the trust voters have placed in me to serve as the next Mayor of Miami.
“This victory belongs to every resident who knocked on doors, gathered petitions, made phone calls, and believed that integrity and hard work could triumph over politics as usual. Together, we built something extraordinary: a movement powered not by insiders or special interests, but by residents from every single neighborhood in Miami who love our city and demand better.”
Eileen Higgins thanks her campaign “fellows” — student volunteers.
She tried to bridge the gap in the community created by what had become a hyper partisan race. “As Mayor, I will lead a government that works for everyone — one that listens, acts, and delivers,” Higgins said. “From safe neighborhoods and affordable housing to clean parks, thriving small businesses, and a City Hall that finally earns the public’s trust, we’re ready to get to work.
“Tonight, we celebrate not just a victory, but a new beginning for Miami — a city that belongs to all of us, and a future we will build together. ¡Vamos a trabajar!“
Even Gonzalez reached out to congratulate her and offer his experience and anything she may need. “I’m happy to help her out,” said Gonzalez, who had, just a few weeks ago, called Higgins a commie who would undermine Trump’s agenda. “If she succeeds, Miami succeeds,” he told Political Cortadito.
Let’s be real, however: This might be a fresh start, but there’s a long to-do list. Higgins is walking into a City Hall that needs spiritual cleansing, forensic auditing, and maybe one of those heavy-duty industrial pressure washers they use to clean I-95 overpasses. She inherits a City Hall plagued by scandals and controversies — from the manager’s wife’s furniture sales to the legal costs of City Commissioner Joe Carollo‘s many lawsuits to the giveaway of the Olympia Theater and, possibly, Watson Island (more on that later).
Read related: Miami’s Watson Island liquidation sale to developers for lowball $25 million
Sure, the Democratic Party is going to spin this as a comeback, a proof-of-concept, a miracle in the heart of Florida MAGA country. They’ll tweet their little tweets. They’ll take their little victory laps.
But the truth is simpler: Miami voters finally demanded something different, something — dare Ladra say — better.
They demanded decency. They demanded honesty. They demanded a mayor who treats the job like a responsibility or a calling — not a self-interested opportunity. Higgins will have to prove herself — oh, Ladra will be watching — but tonight, she gets her moment. And Miami gets its first glimmer of hope in a long, messy, scandal-plagued decade.
And tomorrow? Vamos a trabajar.

You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

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The runoff for Miami Beach Commission Group 1 ended Tuesday almost before it began.
With more than 71% of the vote going to Monica Matteo-Salinas in the first show of results, the race was basically a coronation. And Monica didn’t wait for the last crumbs of precincts to roll in before declaring victory — which, honestly, who would? That kind of margin is what Ladra likes to call a political blowout.
She will replace former, termed-out Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who lost a mayoral bid Nov. 4 against Steven Meiner.
Matteo-Salinas put out a polished victory statement thanking the “families, seniors, small business owners, first responders, and neighbors from every background” who she says inspired her to run. She said she’s “humbled and deeply grateful,” which is the required winner’s ritual, but to her credit she also hit on the reason she resonated with voters: She actually knows how City Hall works.
And that, amigos, may be the biggest difference in this race.
Read related: Miami Beach commission runoff: Two women, one seat — and the city’s future
Monica is no outsider parachuting in with glossy mailers and mystery donors. She’s a longtime Miami Beach resident, a PTA mom, and someone who’s spent years helping people navigate the bureaucratic maze as an aide to two different commissioners. Say what you want about insiders, but in this town, somebody who knows which department actually calls you back on a Friday afternoon? That’s gold.
Matteo-Salinas also had the support from Commissioners Alex Fernandez, who was her boss for a while, and Laura Dominguez, who celebrated with her on Tuesday and both called it a “landslide victory” on social media.
Her campaign leaned heavily on competence and calm — “solutions-focused leadership,” “public safety,” “mobility,” “neighborhood protection.” Very Miami Beach Greatest Hits. But it worked. Because it drew a contrast to the MAGA attorney with very conservative support.
Which brings us to Monique Pardo Pope, who… well… probably wishes she never ran for office in the first place.
Pardo Pope never recovered from what Ladra lovingly calls the Dexter chapter of this political novela: the barrage of questions about her serial killer dad, Manuel Pardo — executed by lethal injection in 2012 — and her social media posts hailing the Hitler fan as her hero. Then she was hit with a Florida Bar inquiry — which only happens in one of four complaints — after she spread lies about activist and award-winning documentary filmmaker Billy Corben.
Read related: Miami Beach Commission hopeful hit with bar inquiry days before runoff
The truth is, the more attention the race got, the worse Pardo Pope looked. And the more voters learned about Matteo-Salinas, the safer she looked — like the grown-up in the room.
By Election Day, the writing was so firmly on the seawall that even the pigeons could read it.

Monica Matteo-Salinas didn’t just win. She got more than twice as many votes in every single category — vote-by-mail, early voting and Election Day — and earned the runaway margin by running a clean, competent, resident-focused campaign while her opponent got swallowed by her own credibility problems. Miami Beach voters may be quirky, but they know when someone isn’t ready for prime time.
Now Matteo-Salinas says she’s “ready to get to work,” and with a mandate this big, she’d better hit the ground running. The city has plenty of issues — from crime and nightlife chaos to mobility messes and stormwater nightmares — and the residents who handed her this landslide will be expecting results.
But for tonight, the newest commissioner-elect can bask in it. Seventy-one percent.
Even Ladra has to howl a little at that.

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