Back in October, Robin Peguero was already doing something most first-time congressional candidates struggle to pull off: raising serious money, fast.

In his first quarter in the race for Florida’s 27th Congressional District, the former federal prosecutor and congressional investigator of the Jan. 6 riot hauled in more than $330,000, according to the Federal Elections Commission report. It was fueled by over 2,500 donors — including a six-figure burst in the first 24 hours after he launched. At the time, Peguero’s campaign bragged it was the strongest showing by any Democratic challenger in a targeted Florida district that cycle..

That was the early signal.
Now comes the confirmations.
Last week, Peguero picked up endorsements from the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, a heavyweight nod representing 62 members of Congress and the Senate. He had already been endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s BOLD PAC, placing him among a very small group of candidates nationwide embraced by both caucuses. In CD27, where 81% of the voting-age population is Black or Hispanic, that dual backing is not just symbolic. It’s strategic.
These are the kind of endorsements that don’t go to hopefuls — they go to candidates that party leaders think can win. And this, in a district that hasn’t been kind to them in the past.
“Robin Peguero has dedicated his career to public service, from prosecuting homicides in Miami to investigating the violent insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6,” said CBC PAC Chair Gregory Meeks, calling him “the commonsense leader we need in Congress.”
For a district Democrats have long written off as a lost cause, that’s a notable shift in tone.
Then he announced an endorsement from former Miami-Commissioner Katy Sorenson, an icon of local politics — who is, in fact, not dead, just quietly watching behind the scenes since she shut down in 2016 the Good Government Initiative, a non-profit which tried to train electeds and would-be electeds about ethical standards. Of course it didn’t last. But she gets an A for effort.
Sorenson still has some pull with diehard Dems in the district, and her coming out of “retirement” for the first time in a long time is telling.
There are two other Dems in the primary, each wanting a chance to unseat Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar. Environmental entrepreneur Richard Lamondin, another newbie with good fundraising, more than $450,000 since he announced in May — but no notable endorsements — and accountant Alexander Fornino, who nobody knows and is largely self-financed. Former Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey — who lost a primary bid in the district last year — withdrew from the race and endorsed Peguero, who seems to have the momentum right now.
Read related: Democrat candidate Richard Lamondin steps up for absent Maria Elvira Salazar
An Afro-Latino and the son of Dominican and Ecuadorian immigrants, Peguero has leaned hard into his résumé — not as biography fluff, but as proof of seriousness. His background includes prosecuting violent crime, serving as an investigator for the January 6 Committee, and working as chief of staff to Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey. He now teaches law at St. Thomas University and has published two novels, a detail that still surprises people who expect candidates to come in one dimension.
“I’ve served and been mentored by a number of CBC members,” Peguero said in a statement. “Now, I’m proud to have them in my corner in the fight for Miami’s working and middle-class families.”
The CBC endorsement lands atop a coalition that’s been quietly forming since the fall. Former U.S. Rep. and former cabinet secretary Donna Shalala signed on early. Longtime Democratic power broker Joe Geller, a former state rep and current Miami-Dade Public School Board Member, a man who chaired the Miami-Dade Democratic Party during some of its most successful years, also pledged his support.
“Robin Peguero will fight for you and me in Congress,” Geller said, adding that he has the right position on everything from healthcare and housing to defending democracy itself. He believes that Peguero is the candidate to “take back this seat.”
Other endorsers include  former state Reps Annie Betancourt and J.C. Planas, Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro, Cutler Bay Council Member B.J. Duncan, and Key Biscayne Councilmember Franklin Caplan.
And then there’s the money — again.
In the most recent reporting quarter, Peguero out-raised even the incumbent, not just his Democratic primary rivals. That’s a data point Democrats in Washington actually pay attention to, especially in a district Salazar won last cycle by nearly 21 points.
None of this means the race is suddenly easy. Salazar is a seasoned incumbent with national Republican backing and a proven ability to outrun Democrats in Miami-Dade. Peguero still faces a contested primary, and Lamodin is being pushed by political operative Christian Ulvert, who just had a couple big wins in Miami and Miami Beach.
But what started last summer as a relatively quiet launch has matured into something louder: a campaign with cash, credibility, and now institutional buy-in.
Robin Peguero may still be new to voters in FL-27. But he’s no longer new to the people who decide which races matter. He’s gone from what looked like a novelty to a possible frontrunner.

Read Full Story

’Twas the day before Christmas Eve, and all through the Gables, a political action committee was stirring — and not in a “peace on Earth” kind of way.
Just as Coral Gables residents were thinking about midnight Mass, Nochebuena prep, and whether the roast would dry out, Coral Gables First, the PAC that Mayor Vince Lago has repeatedly and proudly acknowledged as his, slid into inboxes with a “holiday greeting.”
Only it wasn’t much of a greeting.
Instead, it was a parody of Santa Baby — yes, that song — retooled to mock Commissioner Melissa Castro, complete with snarky lyrics, insinuations about corruption, and AI-generated misogynistic cartoon images that many recipients described as sexualized, juvenile, and wildly inappropriate for a city that still clutches its pearls over parking decals.
Nothing says Christmas in the City Beautiful like a “soft porn” email blast portraying a sitting commissioner — and single mother — in tight, suggestive outfits, with exaggerated curves, innuendo-laced lyrics, and winking references that leaned less “political satire” and more middle-school locker room humor.
In Coral Gables.
On the day before Christmas Eve.
Very classy, Vinnie.
Ladra thinks he has an obsession with her. Like she is every girl that ever rejected him in high school and the epitome of what he cannot have.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago lashes out at Commissioner Melissa Castro
The PAC’s email attempted to dress itself up as harmless holiday fun. But beneath the tinsel was a familiar Lago-era pattern: personal fixation masquerading as policy critique, aimed squarely — and repeatedly — at Melissa Castro.
The problem? Much of the content wasn’t just mean-spirited — it was misleading or flat-out false.
The email paints Castro as pro–Live Local development, cozy with builders, and personally benefiting from city decisions. In reality, Castro has been one of the most vocal skeptics of Live Local projects in Coral Gables, often standing opposite the pro-development bloc that Lago himself has led or enabled. The anti-development, residents-first vote is and has been squarely behind her.
So while the mayor’s PAC was busy rewriting Christmas carols, it also rewrote the facts.
But what really raised eyebrows — especially in a city that still thinks “edgy” means sleeveless at commission meetings — was the gendered and sexualized framing. The choice of Santa Baby alone carries baggage, historically designed to infantilize and sexualize women. Layer that with AI cartoons emphasizing Castro’s body, and the message was clear to many recipients: this wasn’t about policy. It was about diminishing a woman in power.
This from a man with daughters. It should strike everyone as horrible that Castro’s daughter is the one who pointed out to her that the same message had been posted on social media.
This is the same mayor who months ago talked about restoring decorum at meetings and public behavior. It’s pretty obvious that this is just part of his intimidation campaign to silence Castro, who is the only real effective voice against him on the dais.
And the email landed with a thud.
If Lago’s PAC was hoping for fireworks, Melissa Castro didn’t give them any.
“He’s just trying to flip the script because Im the only one he cannot control,” Castro told Ladra. “He can’t go after the legislation so he has to go after me personally.”
“He’s trying to convince people that I’m someone that I’m not,” she said.
In a measured, pointed email to her supporters, Castro — who has become used to being the mayor’s and his lackeys’ punching bag — acknowledged the attack. And then she calmly dismantled it.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, allies bully and browbeat Melissa Castro
She reminded residents that Mayor Lago has openly confirmed Coral Gables First is his PAC, and that it has been used repeatedly to target her. She noted the timing: the day before Christmas Eve, a moment of particular significance for Christian families reflecting on motherhood, sacrifice, and humility.
Choosing that moment, she wrote, to demean and sexualize a woman in public service “speaks volumes about the values behind the attack.”
Castro didn’t trade insults. She didn’t parody back. She didn’t meme.
Instead, she did something far more uncomfortable for her critics: she stated facts.
She reiterated that she stopped doing business in Coral Gables long ago, at real personal and financial cost, specifically to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. No expediting business. No backroom deals.
And then she drew a line.
Healthy policy debate? Yes. Sexualized caricatures, gendered ridicule, and false insinuations dressed up as holiday humor? Absolutely not.
She closed by pivoting away from the spectacle and back to governance — neighbors, shared values, and the work of protecting Coral Gables for future generations.
Which only underscored the contrast.
Read related: Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro calls out the kickback culture
Several residents reached out to Ladra to express their disapproval of the distasteful missive.
Jack Thompson, a longtime Gables resident and activist, says he is thinking twice about a scheduled meeting with the mayor over the deteriorating maintenance of the Granada golf course, but he was flabbergasted by the email and called it a “soft porn attack.” He asked the mayor to apologize to Castro.
“Why would I meet with him anyway? I don’t trust him about anything,” Thompson told Ladra, adding that the issues with the golf course are well documented and obvious to the naked eye.
“His treatment of individuals is far more important than anything going on at the golf course,” Thompson said. “I want to ask him, ‘Have you not heard of #metoo, Bill Cosby and Trump?’ The email was rude, unkind and doesn’t serve the city.”
Thompson went as far as to call L’Ego “Trump Junior.”
At this point, it’s fair to ask: why the fixation, Vinnie?
Commissioner Castro has been talked down to, censured, mocked, sidelined, and now turned into a Christmas parody — all while consistently challenging the mayor and his allies on elections, transparency, and development policy. Disagreeing with her votes is one thing. Turning her into a recurring character in a political PAC’s content calendar is another.
In a city that prides itself on decorum, discretion, and dignity, the email left many residents wondering who, exactly, lost the holiday spirit — and who lost the plot.
Because if the goal was to make Melissa Castro look unserious, the result may have been the opposite.

If you like what you read on Political Cortadito, please consider making a contribution to support the independent, government watchdog journalism on this website. Thank you!

The post Vince Lago’s not-so-silent night: A mean Christmas Carol for Melissa Castro appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Miami’former frequent flyer mayor — the guy who once turned taxpayer money into his own personal presidential wannabe protection program, with cops in tow across Asia, the the Caribbean, and the campaign trail — has added a new footnote to his abuse of power file.
Remember when activists pointed out that while Francis Suarez was skipping all over the globe, Miami was footing the bill for security that tagged along to luxury hotels and state visits? That $20,000 security tab during his short-lived presidential run raised eyebrows several times — enough for ethics complaints, even if they got tossed on technical grounds.
The same officers — whose time is billed to residents as “dignitary protection” — was recently spotted again last week with a police unit outside Baby X’s $2 million Battersea Road house. But he is no longer mayor. Not on vacation. Not on a travel jaunt. He is termed out. Gone. Out. Finito. Newly elected Mayor Eileen Higgins was sworn in and got the keys to City Hall on Thursday.
Read related: Goodbye, Francis Suarez: Miami’s most frequent flyer mayor takes off for good
But still, there they were, cops idling outside the former mayor’s house like a Kardashian lived there or it was a VIP lounge — taxpayers paying for watchful eyes while the rest of Miami watches cops scramble for staffing.
“The police unit that had been stationed outside the former Mayor’s residence was originally established during the previous administration. During the transition following the election of Mayor Higgins, the detail was inadvertently not discontinued,” said Police Chief Manny Morales, responding to Ladra’s inquiry. “Once the oversight was brought to my attention, it was promptly corrected,” he said.
Translation from Ladra: Oops! We forgot to turn it off — but now we did.
That’s right: according to the Chief, the only thing more persistent than Francis Suarez’s frequent flyer miles was his taxpayer-funded protective detail — apparently forgotten like leftovers in the back of a fridge. And once someone (read: Ladra) asked about it, voilà — gone. Poof. Like magic.
Read related: Miami Police commander says Chief Manuel Morales is corrupt, unethical
Inadvertently, Morales said. As in: no one noticed. As in: no one stopped it. As in: Francis Suarez never thought to say, “Hey, maybe I shouldn’t still have a cop posted outside my house.”
Because that’s the real outrage here. The cops were there with his knowledge. With his silence. With his acceptance.
This is the same Francis Suarez who normalized flying around the world with Miami police officers in tow — on the public dime — while selling himself as a global brand, a crypto evangelist, and a presidential contender. The same guy who blurred the line between public service and personal privilege so badly that even now, after he’s gone, the perks apparently lingered like an unpaid bar tab.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just a paperwork “oopsie.”
This is about a former mayor who apparently felt perfectly comfortable continuing to enjoy taxpayer-funded police protection after leaving office, while the city struggles with staffing shortages, overtime costs, and neighborhoods begging for patrols.
He should be forced to pay the city back for their salaries those days they were there out of his million of dollars that he got as he was mayor.
If this reads like a comedy of errors, that’s because it is. Miami watched cops jet off to foreign lands on the public dime to babysit a mayor on official visits that seemed more like selfies and second breakfast than security priorities. Now even after he’s out of office, the protective detail apparently needed someone to notice before it evaporated.
Meanwhile, residents are left wondering: whose safety was the priority here — the people who pay the bills, or the guy who enjoyed them?
Miami residents didn’t elect a king. They hired a mayor — temporarily. And when the job ends, so do the privileges.
Or at least, they’re supposed to.

If you like what you read on Political Cortadito, please consider making a contribution to support the independent, government watchdog journalism on this website. Thank you!

The post Out-of-office Francis Suarez thought the Miami ‘protection’ cops were his to keep appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the town, all the people worked hard, to bring us up — or bring us down.
The activists spoke, as they were ignored. The electeds just yawned — they are always so bored.
They lobbyists conspired, the developers stole. Some government flacks left us all in a hole. 
But don’t worry dear readers, because what did appear? But a loud chihuahua with a phone to her ear.
People knew in a moment, it must be Ladra, a watchdog con garras que nunca se amarra
And she whistled and shouted and called them by name, bad political players just playing a game.
Her eyes are wide open, her mouth in a smirk, she knows who’s the hero and who is the jerk. 
So, raising a finger to the side of her nose, and leaving a love note in her sarcastic prose,
She gifts everybody with a beautiful list, while it’s quite incomplete she knows you get the gist.

This is Ladra’s inaugural Naughty and Nice list, featuring some of the people this year who did some good — they show up when needed, and do the work without a development budget or a PR firm — or some very very bad people who are only interested in themselves.
We’re not going to include electeds because, well, that would make the naughty list terribly long and the whole thing lopsided.
So, without further ado, here are Ladra’s picks for the naughty and nice in local government. Santa, take note. We’re going to start with the naughty list, because, admit it, that’s what people really want to read.
Naughty girls and boys

Read Full Story

The Trump presidential library is back on the fast track in downtown Miami — at least for now.
Last week, a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz lifted her two-month injunction blocking Miami Dade College from transferring prime bayfront land that is slated to become the future shrine to Donald J. Trump.
Ruiz ruled Thursday that MDC had effectively cured the open-government problem that led her to halt the deal in the first place — not because the controversy went away, but because the college held a do-over.
And this time, they checked all the Sunshine Law boxes.
Read related: Miami Dade College gifts Donald Trump land for his library — and a hotel
Ruiz had initially frozen the transfer after local activist and history professor Marvin Dunn sued the college, arguing trustees violated Florida’s open records laws by fast-tracking the deal with vague notice and zero public testimony. Back in November, the judge agreed the case deserved a full trial — scheduled for August 2026 — and temporarily stopped the land from changing hands.
But in December, MDC trustees held a second, “properly” noticed meeting at the college’s Hialeah campus. This time, the agenda spelled it out clearly: the land would be used for the Trump presidential library. The meeting dragged on for four and a half hours, featured nearly 80 speakers, included testimony from Dunn and his attorney, Richard Brodsky, who warned the fight wasn’t over. Some people supported the library’s placement, mostly self-identifying Republicans or Trump fans. Others said it was an affront to have it next to the Miami Freedom Tower, a beacon for Cuban immigrants who came to this country.
Documentary filmmaker and reluctant Democrat Billy Corben surprisingly said he was all for it — as long as the library foundation paid a fair price for the land that could then be used to benefit the students. He called it a reckless giveaway.
“It’s a real estate deal guys, that’s all,” Corben told board members., which include former State Reps. Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz and Michael Bileca. “I presume some of you own property in the county, residential, commercial. Why don’t you donate it for free to the present? Of course not. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous for me to even say it or suggest it. It was absurd when you heard it out loud.
“If you wouldn’t do it with your property, don’t do it with the college’s property.”
But it was pretty obvious the decision had been made before anybody started speaking.
And that second meeting, Ruiz ruled Thursday, changed everything on the legal front.
Read related: Lawsuit challenges MDC giveaway of downtown Miami lot for Trump library
“Although there have been a lot of political issues associated with this case, let me make something very clear,” Ruiz said from the bench. “This is not and has never been a political decision.”
“Although there’s been a lot of political issues associated with this case, let me make something very, very clear. This is not and has never been and is not today a political decision,” Ruiz said. “The complaint was based on the lack of notice. This court finds that the new notice complies.”
The judge emphasized that the court was not ruling on whether a Trump library belongs in Miami, whether gifting public land is wise, or whether the site should be used for a library, a park — or, as she put it, “a petting zoo.”
Her job, she said, was limited to one thing: whether the public had been properly notified and given a chance to be heard. And on that narrow question, she sided with MDC.
“It’s hard to think what more could have been added to this notice to comply and to inform the public of their right to appear,” Ruiz said, pointing to the December meeting’s detailed agenda and broad public outreach. “The law is the law. It applies to all of us equally.”
Lawyers for Miami Dade College argued the lawsuit was now moot, noting that Dunn’s own attorneys had previously said the issue could be resolved by renoticing the meeting. MDC attorney Jennifer Hernandez told the court that even if there had been a Sunshine Law violation — which the college disputes — it had been “cured.”
“The Sunshine violation — if any existed — has been cured,” Hernandez said.
Read related: MDC Trustees rubber-stamp Donald Trump library land giveaway — again
Ruiz deliberated for about 10 minutes before lifting the injunction. The ruling clears the way for the transfer of 2.6 acres of downtown Miami land — valued at roughly $67 million, though some real estate experts say the bayfront property across from the Miami Heat arena could be worth far more.
The deal began quietly in September, when MDC trustees voted to transfer the land to the state. Days later, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on social media that the Cabinet would vote to gift the parcel to the Trump Library Foundation.
That speed — and the lack of public notice — is what triggered Dunn’s lawsuit.
At the first MDC meeting, no one testified. The agenda vaguely referenced “potential real estate transactions,” and trustees didn’t even mention the Trump library by name. Uthmeier joined the defense and said Miami Dade College didn’t have to be more specific in the notice of the trustees meeting, which has frightening implications statewide for other public noticed meetings.
Ruiz later said that wasn’t good enough, placing the injunction and setting a trial for August.
MDC trustees said they didn’t want to drag the issue out and opted to vote again — this time loudly, publicly and at length.
Brodsky tried Thursday to keep the injunction in place, arguing the second meeting was little more than “going through the motions.” He’s not wrong.
Ladra would add that the trustees intentionally moved the meeting to the Hialeah campus to curb public comment. They also drummed up support from a lot of local Republican activists who turned it into a defense of the POTUS instead of important, relevant guardrails on the use of public land meant for the benefit of college students.
Read related: MDC Trustees to vote again on Trump library land; still smells like a done deal
And most people knew it was a done deal. The trustees had said so before the meeting. So, how was it a real do-over?
Still, Dunn didn’t walk away empty-handed. The judge dissolved the injunction but left open the possibility that he could file another lawsuit to try to stop the transfer of the land. And Ladra bets he will do something.
You know who won’t? Newly-elected Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, who has said that it is out of her purview. Okay. That may be true. But that doesn’t mean she had to be so chummy with MDC President Madeline Pumariega at La Alcaldesa 2‘s swearing in last week. It sends the wrong message.
So, for now, at least, the Trump library — even if it’s just some coloring books and a McDonald’s kiosk — moves forward. The politics remain radioactive. The land remains priceless.
But the final chapter — legally or politically — is far from written.

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.

The post Donald Trump Library back on track after judge lifts MDC injunction appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story