Francis Suarez, Joe Carollo spend $1.6 million to elect Ralph Rosado in D4

Questions raised about intimidating senior voters
Newly-elected Miami Commissioner Ralph “Pinky” Rosado was elected with a lot of help from his friends, mostly two veteran politicians who poured around $1.6 million into his campaign for a special election last month that drew 5,346 people — or 11% of the District 4 registered voters.
According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez spent almost $1.1 million from his political action committee, including $900,000 that went directly to Rosado’s PAC, Citizens for Ethics in Government, and another $170,000 that went to the mayor’s political consultant, Jesse Manzano.
Commissioner Joe Carollo spent $547,000 from his PAC, Miami First, just since May, including more than $311,000 in TV ads (and it’s a safe bet to say Carollo made a commission on those), $34,976 in radio spots (which he also makes commission on) and at least $34,131 in mailers.
While the last contribution to Suarez’s PAC was $1 million made by Citadel Founder Ken Griffin in 2023 — which was supposed to go to the mayor’s fat chance presidential bid — much of the money donated to Miami First in the second quarter comes from real estate and development interests in the city, like:

$100,000 from affordable housing developer Mabruk USA
$100,000 from the owners of a vacant lot valued at $6 million at 191 SW 12th Street. The address is associated with a larger development project called 1 Southside Park, which includes residential units, office space, a hotel, and retail.
$50,000 from Mastec, which is owned by Jorge Mas, who is developing Miami Freedom Park.
$50,000 from 5 South River LLC, owned by renowned restaurateur Roman Jones, who wants to create a dining destination along the Miami River and has a vacant lot across from Kiki’s on the River, his Mediterranean restaurant that caters to a jet-setting crowd on the outskirts of downtown Miami.
$25,000 from real estate investor and developer Arnaud Karsenti.
$25,000 from Aabad Melwani, the operator of the Rickenbacker Marina, who was allegedly shaken down for a contract extension by former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, according to a civil lawsuit brought by lobbyist and former State Rep. Manny Prieguez.

In total, Team Rosado outspent Regalado by more than 10-1, flooding the airwaves with attack spots and carpet-bombing the district with mailers that will haunt the abuelitas dreams for weeks.
When you add other moneys contributed to Rosado’s campaign and his PAC — including $100,000 of his own money — Rosado raised more than $2 million to beat Jose Francisco Regalado, the son of the former Miami mayor, current Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomás Regalado, and brother to Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado. Rosado got just over 55%, or 2,938 ballots cast in his favor.
That comes out to about $709 per vote.
And for a 532-vote margin!
That’s quite an investment. And certainly not a grassroots campaign. It’s more like artificial turf.
Read related: Ralph Rosado is a fraud, liar, puppet trying to become Miami commissioner
Rosado has kept telling everyone that he will be an independent voice on the commission. But it looks more like he’s a sock puppet with two hands all up in it. In fact, one of his first acts was to abolish the Bayfront Park Management Trust, which Carollo failed to do back in February but Rosado handled it for him last week. Rosado also voted for the change in election year, which effectively cancels the election for mayor and two commission seats, giving Suarez and Carollo an extra year in office. It’s easier for Suarez to raise money for a 2026 campaign for governor as a sitting mayor than a former mayor. And Carollo wants the city to keep paying his legal bills.
But that’s not even the worse part.
In May, Joe Carollo was spotted directing Ralph Rosado recording a TV ad. Rosado lied about it.
Las malas lenguas say that senior residents at the city’s public housing buildings, like Smathers Plaza, were told that their rent assistance, home-delivered meals or other city services would end if they voted for Regalado and not Rosado. They were told that both Suarez and Carollo were supporting Rosado — for different reasons, of course — and would be angry if he didn’t win.
Now Ladra’s going to say what candidates and their attorneys usually love to say: “These are baseless allegations.” But they could be legit. And they should be investigated, though Ladra could not independently confirm that it would be. And we know that Carollo, who represents District 3, had a Mother’s Day event at Smathers — which is in District 4. Sure, he says he might run for mayor. But he didn’t have events in other districts. Just where the special election was going to be within a month.
Read related: Is Miami’s Joe Carollo using District 3 public money to campaign in District 4?
To coin a phrase of the moment, this is what democracy looks like — in Miami, anyway: low turnout, no debates, lies, attack content written by political operatives and questions about intimidation of elderly voters. Just another campaign in the Magic City. That’s how we sendup with a commissioner elected by 2,938 people out of nearly 47,000.
That’s not a mandate. That’s a marketing scam. And this wasn’t an election. It was the sale and purchase of a commission seat.
So now, District 4 has a commissioner who says he’s working for the people — while being ushered into office by the same two guys who want to control every inch of power left in Miami government before their scandals catch up to them.
The only thing worse than the low turnout in Miami is the low bar.
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