Former Miami Commissioner Sabina Covo, who ran on a platform of fighting corruption, is currently under investigation for “remuneration by candidate for services, support, etc. and bribery.”

Remuneration? Yeah, that means promises of money or jobs by a candidate for support of her candidacy and it is illegal under Florida Statute 104.071.

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Miami City Commissioners will get another chance this week to take back a public park and reverse a vote that was basically bought through public corruption and led to the September arrest of former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla on bribery and money laundering charges.

In April of 2022, Diaz de la Portilla convinced his colleagues to give away the city-owned Biscayne Park, right next to historic Miami City Cemetery, to The Centner Academy so they could build a “state-of-the-arts” sports center (read: gym) for their students and also for profit.

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He may be under arrest on bribery and money laundering charges. He may have lost an election. He may have lost his house to foreclosure. He may be served with divorce papers by his new wife.

But former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla sure knows how to party.

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Former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla lost his seat when he was suspended by the governor after an arrest for bribery and money laundering, among other charges. He lost his election when he tried to get back into office in November. He lost his house to a foreclosure auction.

And now he’s going to lose his wife.

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Seems that former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla doesn’t have enough to worry about with the felony charges against him for money laundering, bribery, unlawful compensation and criminal conspiracy. He’s also trying to get his childhood house back from the bank.

The five-bedroom Little Havana house where Diaz de la Portilla and his two brothers and his sister grew up was sold for $300,100 at a Miami-Dade County foreclosure auction Nov. 15 last year. Owned by the former commissioner and his former wife, Claudia Davant, the home was purchased by Wells Fargo, which won a $628,545 final foreclosure judgment in 2019.

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As always, the candidates in our local elections are not the only ones who win or lose come Election Day. A bunch of influence peddlers, lobbyists, developers, consultants, environmentalists, preservationists and other special interests will float up with the winners on the ballot, or go down the losers’ proverbial drains.

And this has become somewhat of a tradition on Political Cortadito. So, without further blah blah blah, here are the winners and losers of the Miami 2023 elections.

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