Miami voters sue to keep Frank Carollo off the runoff ballot after term-limit win

The ink on Miami’s new lifetime term limits isn’t even dry — and already, some voters are asking a judge to make sure the city doesn’t pretend not to see it.
Three Miami residents — Victor Milanes, Alex Almirola and Oscar Elio Alejandro, who case in fourth— filed an emergency injunction Tuesday night to block Frank Carollo from appearing on the December runoff ballot in the District 3 commission race.
Their argument is simple: voters just passed Referendum 4, the lifetime term limit amendment, and they meant what they said.
“Miami voters spoke clearly when they passed Referendum 4,” their statement reads. “They want to end the revolving door of politicians cycling through office and set clear lifetime limits on elected office applied retroactively as stated on the ballot measure.”
Translation: enough with the Carollo reruns.
Read related: Bait and switch on lifetime term limits proposal for Miami mafia politicos
Frank Carollo, who served two full terms as District 3 commissioner before his brother Joe Carollo took over the seat in 2019, led an eight-candidate field in Tuesday’s election with almost 38% of the vote. He is expected to face Rolando Escalona, who got just over 17%, in a runoff next month.
But there’s one little problem — the voters just banned exactly this kind of comeback tour.
The lifetime term limit charter amendment, approved overwhelmingly by almost 80% of the voters, bars anyone who’s already served two full terms from ever holding the same city office again. Retroactively.
As in, starting now.
“Voters have chosen a fresh start –- a government that serves the public interest, and leaders who reflect our city’s future, not its past,” the three voters’ statement reads. “Enforcing this reform is the only way to ensure that the people’s will is clear, consistent, and fully upheld — and that the new chapter Miami voters demanded begins today.”
So while Frank Carollo, who was endorsed by the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, may have gotten the most votes — maybe it was all those birthday cakes he delivered to voters — the new rule voters passed on the very same ballot could make him ineligible to take office at all.
Read related: Miami Voters get it right on the fine print referendums: Yes, No, Yes, Yes
Cue the lawyers.
The Miami police union endorsed Frank Carollo in the D3 race.
The lawsuit asks the court to enforce the term limits immediately, calling it “essential to ensure that the voters’ mandate for reform is both respected and enforced.”
It was filed by former State Rep. JC Planas, who recently lost the supervisor of elections race, but just won a case for Escalona brought against him by Denise Galvez Turros, who knew she couldn’t beat him at the polls, and only got 7%. That’s less than Alejandro, Rob Piper and Brenda Betancourt.
Ouch. But maybe he is used to it after losing a commission race in 2017 to the late Manolo Reyes because she lived in District 4 then. She was drawn into D3.
Planas argues that allowing a candidate who’s already done two full terms to stay on the ballot would “directly undermine that mandate and risk nullifying the very reform voters just enacted.”
In other words, you can’t promise voters a new day in Miami politics and then let one of the old guys waltz back in the next morning.
This is why Commissioner Damian Pardo tied the lifetime term limits to moving the elections to next year, precisely to avoid this from happening.
On the same night voters approved lifetime term limits — a direct rebuke to the political class that’s run City Hall like a revolving door for decades — one of the first people trying to walk through that door again happened to be… a Carollo.
You can’t make this stuff up.
This is the second lawsuit in this race. Last week, a judge ruled against candidate Denise Galvez Turros, who came in fourth with just over 7%, when she tried to kick Escalona off the ballot based on allegations that he did not live in the district. A judge found that he provided enough evidence that, yeah, he did.
Read related: Judge: Rolando Escalona belongs on Miami ballot for D3 commissioner
It’s not clear how quickly a judge might rule on this emergency motion or whether the city clerk will hit pause on certifying the runoff ballot until the case is decided. But this is Miami — so expect the legal drama to get messy fast.
City lawyers, election officials, and maybe even the Carollo brothers themselves could get pulled into this fight over whether “lifetime” really means lifetime, or just until the next loophole comes along.
Voters said loud and clear Tuesday that they want new blood at City Hall — not the same last names on repeat.
If the court sides with them, it could be the first real test — and victory — for the “new Miami” that reformers keep talking about.
If not, well… let’s just say Ladra wouldn’t bet against seeing the same old faces haunting the dais again.

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Lawsuit to get Frank Carollo off the D3 runoff ballot by Political Cortadito
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