Kristen 3.0? Miami Beach firebrand commissioner vs Mayor Steve Meiner

Because of course she is.
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez — Miami Beach’s drama queen of dais debates, email blasts and adult novelty props — announced in April that she is running for mayor.
Even before she filed paperwork, Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez had told many friends and supporters she planned to unseat Mayor Steven Meiner — most famously known for declaring war on Spring Break — who hasn’t filed for reelection yet but is widely expected to. It would be his second two-year term. If he survives this campaign.
“Miami Beach deserves a mayor who listens to every resident, protects our neighborhoods, and leads with transparency, innovation, and results,” Rosen Gonzalez says on her website and in her social media announcements. “I’ve always been the people’s commissioner, and now it’s time for me to be the people’s mayor.”
Rosen Gonzalez wants people to know she’s matured.
After her controversial first commission term marked by sexual harassment complaints that she made against a commission candidate who she said exposed himself and five ethics complaints (cleared, but still), and a failed run for Congress, Rosen Gonzalez came back rebranded as “Kristen 2.0.” Now she’s aiming for the mayor’s seat, possibly as “Kristen 3.0,” but still with the same flair for political rebellion that has defined her career.
Read related: Fighters Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Alex Fernandez win runoffs in Miami Beach
Like her or not, there’s no denying Rosen Gonzalez is a fighter.
She has made a name for herself by waving the preservation flag, clashing with developers (until she doesn’t), advocating for the little people and throwing elbows at just about everyone on the dais. She’s a tenured professor at Miami Dade College, but she’s schooled plenty of her colleagues in the art of political combat — including former Mayor Dan Gelber, whom she once compared to Vladimir Putin in a now-deleted post she apologized for.
Most recently, she has traded jabs with Commissioner David Suarez, an apparent prude who took offense when Rosen Gonzalez  pulled out a pink prop in defense of a “female wellness” shop on Lincoln Road. Suarez sent out a pearl-clutching email calling it a sex shop. Kristen hit back with her own email, accusing him of misinformation and shaming female empowerment.
She’s not wrong. You go girl!
But that’s Rosen Gonzalez in a nutshell: polarizing, provocative — and persistent.
This wouldn’t be the first time she’s run against Meiner. They faced each other in a commission race in 2019 — after Rosen Gonzalez came back from a failed congressional bid the year before, calling herself Kristen 2.0 — and Meiner, who was considered the underdog, won 54% to 46% in the runoff. Rosen Gonzalez did end up coming back as a commissioner in 2021, but is termed out this year.
That may be the real reason she is running. It’s not like there’s a ton of political contrast. Rosen Gonzalez, 51, and Meiner, 54, used to be pals. She supported his crackdown on Spring Break, the arrests of homeless sleeping outdoors and the support for the State of Israel. Until the O Cinema controversy earlier this year.
After the theater showed the Oscar-winning documentary about the West Bank, “No Other Land,” which some view as critical of Israel, Meiner wanted to defund and evict O Cinema from their city owned space  The mayor deemed the film “hateful propaganda” and said he worried about the safety of residents if protests were to erupt. He had also asked the city last year to clamp down on pro-Palestine protesters and even tried to censor people at city commission meetings.
Read related: Miami Beach mayor wants more ‘decorum’ among city officials, residents
Rosen Gonzalez spoke publicly and loudly against the censorship and the mayor ended up withdrawing his plan to evict the cinema after a lot of public backlash. Seeing an opportunity to show a clear difference between them, Kristen 3.0 is making her commitment to free speech part of her campaign.
She’s also running on a familiar “residents first” message, promising to preserve historic districts, support the police, and boost tourism marketing to keep the city’s economy healthy. She says she wants to focus on serious policy, not theatrics. Which is ironic coming from a walking, talking telenovela.
Voters can hear directly from her about her platform at the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club meeting at 9 a.m. this, um, Tuesday, at Lincoln Eatery, 723 N. Lincoln Ln. It may also be live streamed on Facebook.
While some have been critical of her flip-flopping on the rezoning deal at the site of the old Deauville Hotel, Rosen Gonzalez calls it proof that she can be pragmatic and is not against all development. Just when it’s out of scale or character. She also claims that her push back is what led to a better deal.
And people still love her. A May poll, reportedly independent and done by MDW Communications (Michael Worley) showed that she led Meiner by six points among 402 voters, 35% to 29%. The rest of the voters were undecided, so if they split the same way, she’s winning.
The poll did not include a third candidate in the Beach mayoral race, political newcomer Victor Rosario, because everyone is looking at this as a cage match between Rosen Gonzalez and Meiner. Unless anybody else qualifies before the Sept. 20 deadline.

Seven candidates have already filed paperwork to replace Rosen Gonzalez in the Group 1 seat: Daniel Ciraldo, Brian Ehrlich, Matthew Gultinoff, Omar Jimenez, Monroe Mann, Monica Matteo-Salinas and Monique Pardo Pope.
Incumbents Laura Dominguez and Alex Fernandez may face challengers in Robert Novo III and Luidgi Mary, respectively. Voters will know for sure who’s on the ballot after Sept. 20.

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