Ladra must have misheard.
Didn’t newly sworn-in Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins say she would conduct a proper search for a new city manager? You know — open it up transparently to competition and seek résumés from city managers who have, say, managed a city?
Because what Miami got instead was a memo quietly sliding across commissioners’ desks announcing the political patronage nomination of James Reyes, Miami-Dade County’s Chief of Public Safety, whose résumé is long, impressive… and entirely devoid of actual city manager experience.
But who needs that when you have connections?
Reyes is not only one of the top advisors to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, he was a client of Christian Ulvert — the political consultant behind Higgins’ historic run as Miami’s first female mayor — last year when he lost the sheriff’s race to Rosanna Cordero-Stutz. She can’t make him the police chief, because he’s not a cop — which is why he lost the sheriff’s race. But he’s a pretty boy with potential. He could run for something again.
And just like that — abracadabra — the professional search evaporated faster than a City Hall ethics pledge.
The appointment still needs commission approval on January 8, but make no mistake: this wasn’t a search. This was a selection.
Read related: A beautiful beginning: Eileen Higgins sworn in as Miami mayor; now what?
To be fair, Reyes is no lightweight. And, well, he has a track record for keeping criminals in line, which might come in handy at Miami City Hall. Higgins’ appoint of a law enforcement professional to city manager could be sending a message: The party is over.
Reyes ran Miami-Dade Corrections during the time the jail system went back into federal compliance after more than a decade under a DOJ consent decree. That’s not nothing. He climbed the ranks at the Broward Sheriff’s Office, managed billion-dollar budgets, and earned plaques, awards, and acronyms galore. But corrections may end up eventually in the new Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, so there’s that.
But here’s the thing: running jails is not running a city.
A city manager doesn’t just oversee departments. They navigate zoning wars, developer tantrums, pension landmines, procurement disasters, Sunshine Law traps, and elected officials who believe the city charter is more of a suggestion.
Miami is not a corrections facility. Although  maybe that’s exactly why Higgins thinks Reyes is perfect. Because if you squint hard enough, City Hall does resemble a detention center: repeat offenders, questionable behavior, and an alarming number of people who should probably be supervised more closely.
In her letter to commissioners, Higgins praises Reyes’ “servant leadership,” “transformational vision,” and ability to “restore trust in City Hall.”
Bold words, considering Miami City Hall is where trust goes to die.
And while Reyes has undeniably managed massive budgets, his experience has been internal-facing — command-and-control environments where orders flow downward. Miami governance, on the other hand, is a knife fight conducted in public, with lobbyists, developers, unions, activists, and commissioners all pulling in different directions.
Could this choice be tied to her words about not necessarily adhering to the 287g agreement with the federal government about assisting in the detention of immigrants?
Read related: Miami could join 250 Florida cities with 287g contract to help ICE vs immigrants
Ladra wonders how long Reyes will last. Sure, the city commission has changed, but there is a history of churning out city managers and Reyes doesn’t seem like he’s just going to go along with them. Let the betting begin. Ladra’s money is on three months.
And who’s next? If this is the new logic, Ladra has questions. Will former State Rep. and former Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson — another one of Ulvert’s other clients who lost a constitutional office in 2024 — be named finance director. How about J.C. Planas — another Ulvert client who lost the supervisor of elections race last year — as City Attorney?
Actually, both of those would make sense. Richardson is a forensic auditor who can sniff out the former administration’s shenanigans and Planas, although he does not always prevail, is almost always fighting the good fight. And he won’t break the law for his bosses. And can we find a place for former Sen. Annette Taddeo, the Ulvert candidate who lost the county clerk’s race? Maybe in economic development?
But how much influence is Christian Ulert going to have at Miami City Hall now. There were already fears that Ulvert would take Higgins’ victory and, like he did with DLC, get his glass menagerie of people on display. The veteran Democrat consultant, who is respected and feared with equal fervor, came up frequently during the campaign as one reason not to vote for Higgins. Now people fear this move to appoint Reyes proves them right — Ulvert’s grip has expanded to Miami government.
Let’s play Miami City Hall bingo for a minute here. Who else could become part of La Alcaldesa 2‘s Dinner Key cabinet?
PR and government relations guru Helena Poleo, who was the director of communications in Doral once, might get the job in Miami. She was at the first and secret, invitation-only swearing in –before the official swearing in — where Barby Rodriguez Gimenez, the congressman’s daughter-in-law, was the officiator. Does she have that authority vested in her?
She didn’t only swear Higgins in, Rodriguez sat smiling in the picture next to her, between the mayor and longtime BFF and Chief of Staff Maggie Fernandez. Between them. Ladra thought at first it was AI.
Read related: Miami’s public safety circus: A sardonic welcome to new Mayor Eileen Higgins
Astute political observers say a Gimenez or two in a new Miami City Hall is not unforeseeable, particularly if it’s true that Congressman Carlos Gimenez made some sort of deal to secretly support her. I mean, why else have Barby herself officiate the swearing in?
Ladra expects one or two Transit Alliance kids to get in as aides or something. But nobody with any real chops is going to do anything with transit, because she wants to keep that business — transit and housing — to herself. Some political observers noted that could also be why Reyes is such a great choice for city manager — no experience in transit.
So far, only Reyes is announced as a new hire (after Fernandez). And Miami is being asked to accept that a career corrections administrator — talented, credentialed, but never tested in municipal chaos — is suddenly ready to run one of the most politically combustible cities in America.
All because the consultant math checked out. I mean, really, Miami City Hall might become the next place for Ulvert to grow a  new Democratic bench.
Reyes says he’s honored. Higgins says he’s the future. And Ladra thinks he’s being positioned to run for something else later. Now, commissioners get to decide whether Miami wants a city manager… or a warden.
Maybe this is just another case of campaign loyalty trumping experience, dressed up in bureaucratic buzzwords and rushed through before anyone can ask uncomfortable questions.
Or maybe Reyes will be what the doctor ordered. Maybe he’ll bring discipline, order, and accountability to a building that desperately needs all three.

Please take a moment to support the independent, government watchdog reporting like what you have read here with a contribution to Political Cortadito by clicking here.Ladra thanks you for your support.

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Dear Mayor Eileen Higgins,
Welcome to the City of Miami — where the skyline keeps climbing, but our fire trucks and patrol cars struggle to keep up. If anyone tells you the city’s public safety system is “just fine,” you might want to double-check. They’re not lying, exactly — they’re just reading from old talking points and omitting some embarrassing facts.
Let’s start with the fire rescue department, with more issues than you can shake a firehouse at.
Between 2014 and 2016, 240 firefighters retired — nearly a quarter of a department already stretched thin — and the city has been trying to catch up since. There are 55 vacancies right now, and the administration is quick to point out that the bulk of those — 44 of them — are new positions that were added to the department in the last budget in October. But they were added because the are necessary to keep up with growth. In addition to a population boom, the number of office workers who come to the city each day has grown significantly in the last 10 years.
That’s why the city commission approved two new units in this budget cycle. One already in place in Liberty City and another to start in March at Melreese, now Miami Freedom Park.
As the fire department struggled to keep up and the alarms kept ringing, the city approved more high-rises, SAPs, and density incentives like confetti at Art Basel, without making sure anyone could actually respond when the sprinklers went off.
Then there’s Brickell Fire Station 4, which was famously cleared out to make way for th 64-story Mercedes tower. The decision, approved under Chief Robert Hevia and City Manager Art Noriega, wasn’t just about brick and mortar — it was about risk, judgment, and public trust. Especially since the developer had ties to real estate developer Alain Lantigua, who said he did the “zoning legwork” on the property, and later sold a home in Southwest Dade to Noriega and his wife. Coincidence? Okay.
Meanwhile, temporary fire stations are being treated as permanent. These are trailers and hangar structures for equipment on parking lots that are responding to emergencies. It’s like putting a band-aid on a broken leg and calling it a miracle.
Instagram-worthy? Absolutely. Life-saving? Debatable.
Read related: Miami commission pushes climate fix by doubling development density
These  includes the temporary station 4, which will be included in the new Mercedes development once it is finished. There’s another station being built at the bottom of another high-rise, the one that’s in a trailer on another developer’s property — waiting for something to be done — since February of last year.
Las malas lenguas told Ladra that Higgins met with Hevia — who makes $290,000 a year — days before she was even sworn in, and the facilities were a main part of the conversation. This is good news.
At the police department, there are major building problems and a lingering rumor that this neglect is intentional so the city can sell the property to a developer. But what we know for sure is that staffing is top-heavy and bottom-light. Under Chief Manuel Morales, the department has sprouted more executive roles than a reality show reunion special: Executive Officer to the Chief, two Senior Sergeant at Arms, four assistant chiefs, 14 police commanders, 13 majors — and probably a Chief of Paperwork — all earning $200k+ each, according to a great story about top earners at the city in the Coconut Grove Spotlight this month.
Read related: Miami Police commander says Chief Manuel Morales is corrupt, unethical
Meanwhile, patrol officers and specialized units are running ragged, trying to cover streets, known drug areas and nightlife hotspots. It would be good for the new mayor to ask for the overtime figures.
Frontline readiness? Sacrificed. Administrative ego? Inflated. And Miami still calls this efficiency.
Then there are the promises that are quickly deferred (read: broken). Every SAP and rezoning came with gifts for the people called “public benefits”: new fire stations, substations, staffing, emergency-response upgrades. But most of these gifts? Santa apparently forgot to deliver. Delayed. Downsized. Relocated. Disappeared. Whatever means not gonna happen.
There is a vast lack of accountability. Case in point: For nearly week after he was termed out as mayor, and gave you the keys, Alcaldesa Higgins, there was still 24-hour police protection at his home on Battersea Road in Coconut Grove. The chief calls it “an oversight.” But there is no scenario where Morales — who became the chief as former Commissioner Joe Carollo played the theme from The Godfather — did not know this was happening.
Additionally, as Billy Corben pointed out in an Instagram video, there are six other supervisors between the chief — who makes $350,000 a year — and the three officers a day on patrol at the ex mayor’s house: A sergeant, a lieutenant, the commander of the district, the major, the assistant chief of uniformed personnel and the first assistant chief. That’s seven levels of accountability, including the chief — for a total of $1.5 million a year — that allegedly didn’t know three officers a day were still watching the Suarez home, as they have been for about five years.
Read related: Out-of-office Francis Suarez thought the Miami ‘protection’ cops were his to keep
If it’s really an oversight, then Morales doesn’t know what’s going on in his agency and needs to be shown the door. Somebody is going to get fired. And that’s where the proverbial buck stops.
Then there’s the political theater disguised as public safety. Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago — former Mayor Francis Suarez’s unofficial hype man — recently claimed he rode along with the Miami Police chief and/or assistant chief on “more than a dozen overnight raids,” involving hotels, drugs, and human trafficking (more on that later). Did he bring reports? Arrest data? Evidence? Of course not. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a good selfie?
Human trafficking is not a social media prop. Drugs are not a punchline. Public safety is not a cameo role in a mayoral vanity project. Yet here we are.
Mayor Higgins, here’s your starter pack for cleaning up the circus:

Audit every SAP and rezoning approval. Make sure fire stations and police substations weren’t just holiday decorations for developers.
Check executive and administrative staffing. Are they chiefs of staff or chiefs of selfies? Ask the hard questions.
Prioritize frontline readiness. Firehouses, patrol cars, ladder trucks — real stuff, not props. Temporary fixes are cute for Instagram, useless when the siren wails.
Ban political ride-alongs used for narrative spins. Public safety is a service, not a campaign reel.
Reassert oversight and transparency. No more backroom deals. No blurred lines between developers, city leaders, and critical safety infrastructure.

Alcaldesa, the glittering skyline may impress tourists, but without a capable police and fire force, Miami is just a pretty postcard with sirens in the background. Aligning development with the ability to protect life and property isn’t optional. It’s the most basic job of city leadership.
So trust your first responders, the people who actually answer the calls while everyone else tweets about them. Fund them. Staff them. Respect them.
And maybe, just maybe, stop letting political theater take the place of public safety.

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Nearly three years after what Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava memorably called a “Super Bowl Sunday inferno of garbage,” the county and the former operator of the Covanta waste-to-energy plant that burned down in Doral are now locked in a full-blown blame game — with millions of dollars, a $2 billion replacement project, and the county’s trash future hanging in the balance.
On Feb. 12, 2023, the county’s 41-year-old Resources Recovery Facility went up in flames. Literally. The fire burned for nearly three weeks, took Miami-Dade Fire Rescue 18 days to fully extinguish, and shut down a facility that once processed nearly half of the county’s 2 million tons of trash each year.
Fast forward to November and the county, facing lawsuits from residents, has basically said, ‘This is on you,‘ to the operator. And everyone — from the bidders on a new facility to the commissioners who will discus this ad nauseam again next month — knows it’s not a coincidence that it was right before one of the deadlines for proposals.
In other words: They wanted the Covanta operators to be pressured out of the equation.
Read related: Miami-Dade garbage incinerator talks look more like a stinky dumpster fire
In a Nov. 20 notice of default, Roy Coley, the county’s Chief Utilities and Regulatory Services Officer, accused Reworld (formerly Covanta) of more than 20 breaches of its operating agreement, laying the fire squarely at the company’s feet. Better late than never, right?
According to the county, the blaze was fueled — and allowed to spread — because of:

Poor housekeeping and combustible waste buildup
Fire suppression systems not fully operational
Failure to maintain conveyors and electrical systems
Failure to institute fire watches
General neglect at a facility everyone already knew was old

Coley, who came to the county as the water and sewer head from Miami Beach in 2021 and is now in charge of this mess, didn’t mince words in his letter, alleging the initial spark on a conveyor belt was allowed to smolder “without any action” by the operator. The result, he said, was catastrophic — and costly.
The county demanded $7.8 million from Reworld’s parent company to help cover alternative disposal costs, lost electricity revenue, and cleanup expenses.
Translation: Pay up.
Reworld’s response: No freaking way. They say the fire is absolutely not their fault any how dare the county even try this BS.
In a sharply worded response, five days after Coley’s missive, Vice President D. Scott Holkeboer fired back, rejecting the county’s allegations as “baseless” and accusing the Levine Cava administration of bad faith.
Read related: Miami Beach Public Works director is new Miami-Dade WASA lackey, er, boss
According to Reworld, the county had long known the facility was at the end of its useful life and failed to make critical capital investments, including $4 million in fire protection upgrades flagged as necessary in 2022. That’s the year before the fire.
“The county’s current situation is entirely of its own making,” Holkeboer wrote.
Reworld also dropped a potential bombshell: the claim that Miami-Dade underinsured the facility, failed to name Reworld as an additional insured, and did not carry coverage for full replacement cost.
If true, that’s not chump change. That’s taxpayers potentially eating a billion-plus dollar replacement bill.
And Reworld didn’t stop there.
The company issued its own notice of county breaches, claiming $179 million in unpaid service fees, inventory losses, and post-fire support costs. This is no longer a disagreement. It’s a legal standoff with receipts.
Meanwhile, taxpayers and residents are the collateral damage. This is all happening in the midst of a new incinerator debate as Miami-Dade desperately tries to figure out how and where to build a modern replacement incinerator — a process that has already been politically radioactive.
Reworld was part of a consortium led by Florida Power & Light, competing against a rival team led by FCC Environmental Services of Madrid. The project could be worth up to $2 billion. But after the county’s default letter, Reworld says FPL quietly showed it the door. Hasta la vista, baby. Like it had the cooties.
FPL later confirmed it had swapped Reworld out for a Swiss-based operator, Kanadevia Inova.
Reworld isn’t subtle about what it thinks happened here.
Holkeboer accused the county of trying to torpedo Reworld’s future business prospects by sending the default notice just days before updated bids were due.
County officials deny that — saying it’s normal to fight with a vendor on one contract while working with them on another.
Sure. And cafecito is just coffee.
Read related: To keep a new Miami-Dade garbage incinerator away, get ready to pay
Complicating everything: Miami-Dade still doesn’t even know where the next incinerator would be built.
For years, the plan was to rebuild in Doral — until Donald Trump won the 2024 election and his son Eric publicly vowed to fight any incinerator near the Trump National Doral golf resort.
Doral was dropped. A county airport site was dropped after Miramar objected.
Now, trash is being hauled north by train and truck to landfills elsewhere in Florida, and commissioners have punted the siting question to the bidders themselves.
Those proposed locations are still confidential — but expected to surface soon. Wherever they land, expect protests.
So who’s telling the truth? Maybe both?
Fire investigators initially deemed the blaze accidental, possibly mechanical or electrical, without identifying a single ignition source. That leaves plenty of room for finger-pointing — and both sides are taking full advantage.
What’s clear is this:

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What should be one of Coral Gables’ least controversial civic institutions — a youth center built to honor fallen veterans and serve local kids — is now the center of a political and legal brawl.
At issue: who really controls the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center — the city that owns and funds it, or the private civic association that gifted the land decades ago and still holds a powerful legal kill switch.
This entire fight allegedly revolves around a single sentence buried in a 1958 deed. When a Coral Gables family donated the land to the city, it came with conditions: The property must always be used for youth recreation, must always carry the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center name, and if the city ever strays — ownership snaps back to the donor’s association.
That’s called a reverter clause, and City Hall now treats it like kryptonite. They argue it clouds the title, limits flexibility, and leaves the city vulnerable to future legal claims — even as taxpayers continue pouring millions into operating and improving the center.
The association says that’s the point.
The Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association describes itself as a watchdog — a safeguard against future politicians who might rename, repurpose or quietly redevelop the site. Like they almost did in the 60s.
Read related: Coral Gables commission launches legal fight with Youth Center group
But what’s really the issue? It looks like retaliation. The War Memorial Youth Center is really collateral damage in Vince Lago’s revenge tour. The youth center association president is former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, an ex-ally of Mayor Vince Lago who ran against him and lost earlier this year. Because, well, there was never an issue before. And it’s really a non-problem that L’Ego is creating so that he can find a solution that would punish Kirk.
Let’s stop pretending this is about transparency. Or paperwork. Or “clouds on title.”
The escalating fight is about vengeance — plain and simple — and Lago isn’t even trying very hard to hide it. This is what happens when someone dares to run against him and loses.
Because the Youth Center isn’t just another civic asset. It’s Kirk Menendez’s life story.
Menendez grew up there. Learned leadership there. Built relationships there. He didn’t just serve on the association — he became its steward. The place is his home away from home, his political origin story, his emotional soft spot. He is Coach Kirk. Everyone is six degrees from someone who played soccer with him.
And then he committed the unforgivable sin in Coral Gables politics: He ran for mayor against Vince Lago.
And when he lost, suddenly, the Youth Center became a “problem.” Funny how that works, huh?
For decades — decades — the War Memorial Youth Center Association existed without controversy. The reverter clause protecting the land sat quietly in the deed, doing exactly what it was designed to do: keeping the property dedicated to kids and honoring fallen veterans.
No lawsuits. No panic. No urgent demands for private records.
Then Menendez ran for mayor. And suddenly the clause is “kryptonite.” Suddenly the association is “holding the city hostage.” Suddenly the mayor wants to see everything — including documents the city has no legal right to demand.
This isn’t governance. This is score-settling.
Read related: Election fallout: Coral Gables Mayor Lago takes aim at Youth Center group
After Menendez’s loss, Lago — with the help of his echo chamber, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara — demanded records. They set deadlines. Earlier this month, they authorized a lawsuit.
“A little added pressure goes a long way,” Lago said, without irony, before voting to sic the city attorney on the association.
Pressure on whom? Not the kids. Not the programs. Not the building.
On Kirk Menendez.
The message couldn’t be clearer: Run against me, and I’ll come for the thing you love most.
Everybody knows the clause is the excuse, not the reason. City leaders say this is about removing a “cloud on title.” But even they don’t believe it themselves.
The reverter clause has one job: prevent future politicians from repurposing or monetizing the land. That’s why it exists. That’s why it survived a court challenge in 1968 when the city tried to move a school onto the property — and lost.
The clause is inconvenient only if you want flexibility later.
The association understands that. Ladra thinks Lago does too. Which is why he’s floated the not-so-subtle ultimatum: Kill the clause, or hand over your private records.
That’s not negotiation. That’s extortion with a city seal. Political retribution, funded by taxpayers.
Read related: Post-election Vince Lago revenge tour in Coral Gables = political retaliation
Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez voted against authorizing the lawsuit, calling it retaliation dressed up as transparency.
“I won’t support using taxpayer dollars to go after political enemies,” Fernandez said — also openly questioning whether there’s another motive behind the push to neuter the reverter clause — some secret development plan.
The association is wondering the same thing.
In a letter to the city attorney, their attorney Jane Muir hinted that outside interests may have their eyes on the property — a suggestion Lago flatly rejects as political mudslinging.
But it’s happened before. This isn’t the first time the clause has saved the center. When the city tried to move Coral Gables Elementary onto the youth center land in 1968 — to use the site of the school for another development — the association invoked the reverter clause. The courts sided with the association. The city backed off.
That history is exactly why the association refuses to surrender the clause now. Strip it away, they argue, and the only thing standing between the youth center and future “creative” uses is a promise from politicians — which, history suggests, can expire.
Lago insists there are no plans to sell, rename or redevelop the youth center. He says the city just wants clarity and control. But he is a documented liar and it is understandable that the association is skeptical.
At the December meeting, Lago floated a deal: If the association doesn’t want to open its private records, it should agree to eliminate the reverter clause — and replace it with a covenant promising the property will never be developed.
The association’s attorney isn’t buying it. She says the clause is the promise — enforceable, permanent, and immune from future commissions with different ideas. Covenants have been broken. Too easily. She also says the group has already turned over everything it’s legally required to — including corporate filings and IRS returns — and that the city’s latest demands amount to a fishing expedition fueled by politics, not law.
“If the City were to bring suit to compel production of private records, it would lack legal standing,” Muir warned.
Translation: See you in court.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour
That means that Gables taxpayers are going to foot the legal bill for political vengeance. The city is now prepared to spend public money to sue a civic association that exists solely to protect a youth center — not because it stole funds, not because it broke the law, but because it won’t submit to political dominance.
If this were really about transparency, the city wouldn’t be demanding documents it has no legal standing to demand. If this were really about governance, it wouldn’t have started after an election.
And if this were really about kids, the mayor wouldn’t be weaponizing the government to turn their youth center into a political casualty.
This is part of a broader pattern since Lago’s reelection: consolidate power, neutralize rivals, punish dissent.
Menendez just happens to be the most personal target — well, him and Commissioner Castro — because Coach Kirk dared to challenge Lago’s authority and lived to tell about it.
Now his reward is a lawsuit.
This isn’t about deeds. It’s not about audits. It’s not about “facts.” It’s about revenge.
And Coral Gables is about to learn — again — that when politics turns personal, even a youth center isn’t off-limits.

Please take a moment to support the independent, government watchdog reporting like what you have read here with a contribution to Political Cortadito by clicking here.Ladra thanks you for your suppor

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There’s political loyalty, and then there’s political self-harm.
Ashley Perez-Biliskov — sister of Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez and the early favorite to inherit his District 116 seat when he terms out next year — recently sent out a mailer that manages to be both bold and oddly out of touch. Front and center: a smiling photo of her, a shot of Donald Trump, and the line, “Help send a Trump Republican to Tallahassee.”
This isn’t even a general election mailer. It’s a petition drive — the political equivalent of a handshake and a clipboard — meant to get Perez-Biliskov on the ballot.
Which raises a fair question: has anyone in this operation been watching Miami politics lately?
Read related: Democrat leaders waste no time calling Eileen Higgins victory a Miami ‘reset’
Because last month was not exactly a victory lap for “Trump Republicans” in South Florida. Voters just rejected them — loudly, repeatedly, and in races that were supposed to be safe. Most notably, Emilio González, twice endorsed by Trump, lost the Miami mayor’s race anyway — to the first Democrat to win that seat in almost 30 years. That defeat followed a string of local state and national losses and underperformances by candidates who thought a Trump hug was still a golden ticket.
Spoiler alert: It’s not.
Apparently, that memo didn’t reach Kendall.
Perez-Biliskov’s candidacy is already unusual. Not illegal. Not unprecedented. But interesting. She’s the sister of the sitting House Speaker, running to replace him in a district shaped by his fundraising power and political machinery. Voters may or may not mind the family succession, though they have lately been rejecting dynasties. But they’re definitely going to notice it.
So, why lean into a national brand that’s been actively repelling swing voters, young voters, and college-adjacent voters — all groups that live inside HD 116?
Read related: Ron DeSantis leaves HD 113 without a voice because he can — as always
This is a district with FIU, Miami Dade College, Dolphin Mall foot traffic, and a large population of voters who may be conservative-leaning but are not necessarily MAGA-branded. It’s a district that has voted Republican, yes — but also one that exists in a county where Trump-heavy messaging keeps producing diminishing returns.
And yet here comes the mailer, screaming Trump Republican, as if November didn’t just happen.
Perez-Biliskov, who has already been endorsed by Sen. Rick Scott, frames herself as an “America First” conservative, a healthcare professional (speech pathologist), a mother of two young girls, and a first-generation Cuban American. All of that is standard Republican primary language in Miami. None of it requires plastering Trump’s image on your first voter contact — unless the strategy is to turn a local legislative race into a loyalty test to a president whose brand is increasingly radioactive in Miami-Dade.
This isn’t about ideology. It’s about math.
Even within Republican circles, there’s a quiet acknowledgment that Trump endorsements don’t travel the way they used to in South Florida — especially with educated suburban voters and students who don’t live on political Twitter. Slapping Trump’s face on a petition mailer isn’t persuasion. It’s signaling. And the signal seems aimed at a shrinking slice of the electorate.
Read related: Florida Speaker Danny Perez takes private jet with insiders to inauguration
Meanwhile, her brother has thrived by being strategic, disciplined, and laser-focused on power, fundraising, and relationships. Danny Perez may have flown on a private jet to the inauguration early this year and posted selfies with the new president, but he doesn’t need Trump’s photo on a flyer to dominate Tallahassee. So why does she?
Maybe this is about the primary, even though she doesn’t have one yet and may not have one ever. Perez-Biliskov is the heir apparent and has raised more than $155,000 so far this year, according to the Florida Division of Elections financial reporting, mostly in the first quarter after she officially filed.
Maybe it’s about pleasing a base. Or maybe it’s just muscle memory — the reflexive belief that Trump branding still scares Democrats and electrifies Republicans everywhere.
But calling yourself a “Trump Republican” in 2026, in a district packed with college campuses and recent reminders of MAGA losses, feels less like confidence and more like denial.
In politics, timing is everything. And this mailer feels like it’s running in the wrong year.

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