Summer is coming.

As we enter the last full week of May, we realize that the usual summer political doldrums should not hold true this year, since we have the special eletion in Senate District 40 to keep us entertained as well as municipal elections in the county’s four largest cities just gearing up.

But Miami-Dade County is already suspiciously quiet. So we’ll have to get by with a big meeting in Doral and club gatherings and candidate events — even Roger Stone telling stories — to pass the time meanwhile.

Did Ladra miss something? Get me the 411 on your 305 government and club meetings, campaign fundraisers and political powwows and get in the calendar. How? By sending an email to edevalle@gmail.com or inviting me on Facebook or hitting me up on twitter like some of these people did.

MONDAY — May 22

6:30-8:30 p.m. — Roger Stone is back again. Must have to sell those books. This time, he is the guest speaker for the Women’s Republican Club of Miami Federated’s May Forum features Stone — billed as author of “The Making Of the President 2016: How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution — Monday evening at John Martin’s Irish Pub, 253 Miracle Mile. He’s an interesting guy and tells great stories, for sure. But you have to guess what’s true and what’s gibberish or part of his delusions. Ladra can’t go but boy do I wish they would Facebook live it.

TUESDAY — May 23

8:30 a.m. — The Miami Beach Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club continues its candidate parade with another candidate for commission. They’ve already had five other commission and both mayoral candidates on the podium. They’re going to run out of candidates soon if more people don’t file. This week, we will hear from commission candidate Mark Samuelian, who also leads the actvist group Miami Beach United. Former Mayor Matti Bower, who is still so far not running for anything, serves as moderator at the morning meetings, which are at Puerto Sagua Restaurant, 700 Collins Ave. Questions can be submitted in advance via Facebook or email TuesdayMorningBreakfastClub@gmail.com.

6:30-8:30 p.m. — The Miami Young Republicans will kick off their Leadership Speaker Series with a bang. First, former Miami-Dade School Board Member and onetime county mayoral hopeful Raquel Regalado “will make a special announcement.” Ladra suspects she will formally announce her candidacy for congress. Then they are having a panel discusssion on “Women Impacting Miami” about leadership development and journeys in business, public policy, and philanthropy with Diana Arteaga, director of Government Relations at the city of Miami, Cuban American Bar Association Vice President Maria D. Garcia, a partner at ZP&W Law, and Isis Pacheco, a vice president at Interamerican Bank. The disussion will be moderated by Jessica Fernanez and Rey Anthony and it is at CubaOcho Museum and Performing Arts Center, 1465 SW 8th Street.

6:30-8p.m. — Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco, who is running for mayor, is having a “friend-raising” reception meet and greet at the Mondrian Hotel, 1100 West Ave., Tuesday evening. “Food and drink will be served,” the Facebook invite says, but Ladra doubts its open bar, so take some cash (but not for the candidate; he can only take checks).

WEDNESDAY — May 24

5 p.m. — The Doral City Council will to consider a proposal to develop a park in the north part of the city and a variance request from Miami-Dade to put a second monument within 100 feet of the first at its new Pet Adoption Center.  They will also look at expanding different zoning categories that can be combined in mixed use districts (like downtown), establishing parking requirements for assisted living facilities, a possible moratorium on workforce housing and changing the zoning from business and office residential to high density residential for 10 acres north of 41st Street between 107th and 109th avenues. It’s gonna be a busy night at City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Terr.

THURSDAY — May 25

5-6:30 p.m. — A campaign kick-off event for Cedric McMinn‘s bid for state rep in District 109, where Rep. Cynthia Stafford terms out next year, will start at 5 p.m. at Jackson Soul Food, 950 NW 3rd Ave. McMinn, who has been chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party and works now as community outreach director for Miami-Dade School Board Member Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, filed the paperwork earlier this month. He will be running in the Democratic primary against former State Rep. James Bush III, a schoolteacher who filed in January and raised $1,000.

SATURDAY — May 27

10 a.m.-2 p.m. — Annette Taddeo‘s “campaign canvass kick-off” for the Democrat nomination to the Senate 40 District race begins at 10 a.m. in West Perrine, 17490 SW 104 Avenue. Taddeo and her team will be canvassing the neighborhood until 2 p.m. For more information, call Manuel Gutierrez, 786-973-9067.

Daisy Baez vs. Ana Rivas Logan vs. Annette Taddeo

The Senate 40 race to replace disgraced former Sen. Frank Artiles got a little more interesting Monday when Republican State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz said he would run, as expected, and perennial Democrat candidate Annette Taddeo said she would run, as always expected — setting up for some exciting primaries in both aisles. Former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla (Republican) and newly-minted State Rep. Daisy Baez (Dem) had already announced their bid for the seat that opened up last month after Artiles was caught making racial and sexist slurs to colleagues.

Former State Rep. Ana Rivas Logan, a former Republican now Democrat, told Ladra late Monday that she intended to run as well and would announce this week, making it at least a three-way race for blue voters on July 25.

Read related story: Two new ‘open’ seats spur political pinata question: 40 or 27?

Or a two-and-a-half way race. Because even though she is the Democrat Party choice, it is going to be difficult for Baez — who is barely known in her own district, let alone the one next door — to get much traction with the other two veterans in the race. And she will have to resign her seat to run. Ladra asked the Army veteran and freshman legislator if it was worth the risk of losing a recently turned House seat and her voice, which she used this year to speak against laws to punish sanctuary cities, especially now that a Senate seat in her very own district, where she was elected six months ago, will come available next year: In what is becoming an avalanche (more on that later), newly-minted Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez announced Monday that he would run for the congressional seat that will be vacated by a retiring Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. That means that the seat he won from former Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, which is where Baez votes now, would be open. (I stand corrected. J-Rod’s term is not up until 2020 and he does not have to resign to run so it might not be open… but it might be and there also might be a special election if he wins).

“I’m a person of my word. I’m not going to be switching around seats just because it’s convenient,” Baez said in what seemed like a dig at Taddeo. “I hope more people run. It’s good for democracy.”

Still, it really doesn’t make any sense for the Democrat Party, which has such a shallow bench, to put all their eggs into one basket and possibly lose a House seat they just won when they can spread their love. Maybe new Florida Dem Chair Stephen Bittel, for whom this is a first test, ought to rethink his longterm game plan. Both Taddeo and Rivas Logan have already had people vote for them in this district. They are both known entities here and this could very well become a race between the two of them.

Baez thinks that she can get voters interested in new blood. “I believe people are tired of the same names, the same faces, the family dynasties,” she said. “I think people in 40 have no appetite for recycled candidates.”

She scoffs at my carptebagger thing, since she would have to move. She said shares boundaries with Senate 40 and that she will still represent the people who elected her to House District 114 in November. “Many of the issues important to the constituents of 114 are the same in 40,” she said. “People want good jobs, economic development. We want to feel safe in our homes.”

Read related story: Red goes blue, blue goes red in four 305 seats

Those same people who elected her, Baez said, would support this move. “I went to Tallahassee and I had a great time and I learned a lot. And because I learned a lot there’s an understanding I can do better in the Senate. I can deliver better results to them as a state senator,” Baez said.

Rivas Logan, who ran for this seat last year and handily beat Andrew Korge in the primary blindfolded and with one hand tied behind her back, is not discouraged by the estrogen in the race or the fact that the Democrat Party would, again, pick someone else to back. She is used to being independent from her party, which used to be the GOP before it abandoned her in favor of Pepi Diaz when they were redrawn into the same district in 2012. Which means, by the way, that this could be a rematch of sorts.

“I’m going to do it and let the cards fall where they may,” Rivas Logan told Ladra Monday, adding that she called Taddeo to let her know. “I’m going to run a very positive campaign based on issues. And I hope we would support the other one in the general. But I am not getting out of anyone’s way this time.”

The schoolteacher and former Miami-Dade School Board member sort of canned her campaign for the same seat midway through the primary last year to avoid any negative attention from Korge, who was already hitting incumbent Sen. Dwight Bullard and had lots of money to do so. The strategy worked. Almost. She came back in time for early voting and actually beat Korge, who had outspent her.

Read related story: Senate 40 race: Ana Rivas logan still in it, could win it

She told Ladra that this was a better time for her because it is summer and school is out. “I spoke with my family and I have their full support,” she said, promising to keep her campaign positive. “It’s going to be about the issues. I have a track record of working for the people and fighting against the establishment.”

Taddeo — who moved into District 40 after selling her Pinecrest home in November — said she welcomed the competition. “I’ve never been afraid of races. In fact, this is the first time I run in an open seat,” Taddeo told Ladra.

This would be Taddeo’s first foray into a Senate campaign. She has run for congress, twice, and for county commission and lieutenant governor. It “wasn’t an easy decision” to run again, she said, but that she could not ignore the people in the community, including a number of influential black pastors, who had called her and asked her to run in this seat.

“They way things happened with Artiles was very hutful to a lot of constituents in our community,” she said, adding that she at first told them she would not run. “I was sure Dwight was going to do it,” she said, referring to Bullard, who won the primary last year but lost to Artiles and apparently understands now that only a Hispanic Democrat can beat a Hispanic Republican in that district. Bullard, she said, is not interested.

Read related story: Annette Taddeo has not gone gently into the good night

Even after Ros-Lehtinen, who Taddeo ran against in 2008, announced her retirement, the Colombian born small business owner said she didn’t flinch. “For me, it’s not about a title. It’s about fighting for the people. It’s not about a job. I have a job,” she said, referring to the translation company she owns.

“It really came down to listening to the people, the community that is telling you to do something. It would be inappropriate for me to ignore them,” she said.

One could say, however, that she keeps ignoring the voters who keep rejecting her. But Taddeo thinks this is the right seat at the right time. She told Ladra that she won almost 60% of the precincts that overlap with Congressional District 26 in her primary run against former Congressman Joe Garcia last August. Could she win in an off year?

This is all important because now that we are guaranteed a Hispanic woman, chances are that whoever wins the Democrat primary wins the general. It was already true because of the demographics — that district went to Clinton with 12 points — but now it becomes especially significant after the whole Artiles thing.

Sorry, Alex. Maybe he should run for his brother’s old Senate seat next year.

Chalk another loss up for Annette Taddeo.

The former chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, who has lost four elections for public office, lost a fifth race Tuesday night when former North Miami Beach Assistant City Attorney Dotie Joseph was elected vice-chairwoman of the same body by about 200 local Democrats after three hours of hand-wringing in what had become a contentious and curious Dade Dems election.

Dottie who? The immediate past president of the Haitian Lawyers Association with a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University — where she co-founded Yale’s Haitian Student Alliance and served as the Political Action Chairperson of the Yale NAACP — beat both Taddeo and this year’s chair and former Sen. Dwight Bullard. She’s pretty and smart and could have a great future in 305 politics. Ladra smells a state legislator in the making.

Still, that means the same group Taddeo led as chair three years ago rejected what many might assume was her last ditch effort. Maybe she should have never abandoned her position — and a half dozen noname Democrats she had strong-armed to run against incumbent House members in 2014 — mid term to run for lieutenant governor alongside Charlie Crist. Which was before she ran for Congress against Joe Garcia in this year’s primary, but after she ran for county commission against Lynda Bell in 2010 and waaaaay after she ran for Congress the first time against Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in 2008.

Tuesday’s loss must hurt the most, though. After all, these are her peeps. The true believers. And if even they don’t support her, maybe she should hang it up once and for all.

Read related story: Annette Taddeo has not gone gently into the good night

That’s what you or I might think, but Taddeo has what looks like an addiction to running for office. There was a lot of speculation in the week leading up to Tuesday’s vote that Taddeo was just running as a stand-in and would step aside to make room for heavy Dem donor and fundraiser Stephen Bittel. But Ladra never believed it. Maybe someone else was going to do that but there is no way that Taddeo would give up any elected office if she were ever to get one. Because it is an addiction. If it were truly a real hankering for public service she would just volunteer somewhere like the rest of us and be done with it.

A friend and fellow political observer speculated that Taddeo has some empty void in her life that she could feel elected office will fill. The saddest thing, as he said last night, is it won’t.

And also sad is that there is no 12-step program for perennial candidates addicted to running for office. So, Ladra has come up with some healthy (okay, okay… healthier) alternatives for Taddeo, who needs a new hobby more than she needs un despojo:

Binge watching — You’ve binged on ballots so try it with something else. This is a great time to catch up on shows you probaly missed while you campaigned for the last 10 or 20 years. House of Cards and Orange is the New Black are only available on Netflix but worth the $9.99 a month, and it’s also good for cancelled shows like The Good Wife or Breaking Bad. Current shows On Demand now that are worth a few days of marathon viewing include Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, Shameless and The Walking Dead. Live vicariously through Olivia Pope or Alicia Florrick.

Scuba diving — This is South Florida, after all. There is a lot to see under the sea. And you should already be used to feeling underwater and dealing with scaly things.

Therapeutic coloring — It’s a trending hobby for 2016 and you can now find adult coloring books in every major book store. Ladra has one with mandala patterns and bohemian paisleys and let me tell you, it is very zen.

Theater — Ladra saw those commercials. You have talent, woman! If you can act like a leader, you can try it on stage. Here are some liberal political monologues you can practice that are right up your alley. And I know some local theaters, like Area Stage, hold open auditions a few times a year. Acting is also very therapeutic.

Scrap booking — Now, this is kind of cliche, but think about it: You must have multiple volumes worth of pictures and memorabilia from the different campaigns that will keep you busy at least through the next election cycle.

Coupon cutting — Now, I know you don’t necessarily need to save money but I hear it is a real high to go into a grocery store and come out with $2.05 cents more than when you walked in. And you’ll finally feel like a winner.

Online poker — Improve your chances of winning something. It’s free, with play chips, or it’s illegal. And you will lose again. But you are bound to win some, too.

Blogging — Anyone can do it. And while it can be frustrating at times, it also provides you with a healthy avenue to express your outrage at local politicians. Because, you know, you can’t just slap ’em in the face like you’re Olivia Pope or Alicia Florrick.

And if you can’t beat ’em at the polls, beat ’em up online. It’s more satisfying than therapeutic coloring.

She may have been beaten, yet again, in the Democratic primary for the 26th Congressional district by the candidate who lost anyway to U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo Tuesday. But Annette Taddeo will not go gently into the good night. She is raging against, not a dying light, but the Republican darkness.

Taddeo is still vice chair of the Florida Democratic Party, after all, and for whatever good that has done anybody. Apparently believing she is still a valid Democrat surrogate for people like Hillary Clinton and former Sen. Dwight Bullard, she has been working the Spanish TV and radio circuit in the weeks leading up to the election. She sent out an email last week also to promote the medical marijuana amendment.

You gotta admire, maybe even envy, her thick skin. But maybe she is the kiss of death. Both her candidates lost. Epic fails, man.

Then Wednesday, among the thank you emails from winners and losers alike, she sent nothing less than a digital pep talk, even encouraging we get therapy if we need it. Really.

Dear Elaine,

There is no need to repeat what we’ve already heard on the news last night and today. Many of us are grieving, scared, or still in shock. That is normal.

Today is not the day to play Monday morning quarterback. There will be time for us to regroup later, and determine what we can improve in our strategy for the next election cycle. Right now, I ask you to reach out to the people in your life who spent time on this campaign, and thank them for their hard work and the sacrifices they made. Without these dedicated organizers, interns, and volunteers, last night would have been a whole lot worse.

I strongly encourage anyone who needs help to seek it, and anyone who can help to offer it. Now, more than ever before, it is critical that we stand together and support each other. History has shown us time and time again that we can survive and thrive, even in the worst of circumstances, if only we work together.

Today we begin our efforts to emerge from the despair that has blanketed our nation with the only tool we know can overcome this, the same tool a young, energetic Senator from Illinois had the audacity to use eight years ago when we were weary from a war gone on too long and teetering on the brink of a devastating financial crisis. Hope carried us to victory in 2008 and 2012, and hope will carry us to victory again.

Last night, President Obama promised us that the sun would rise again in the morning. Today, I promise you a similar fate with the same certainty — we will rise again. Together, we will rebuild the hope that propelled all of our progress over the past eight years, and together, we will win back all that we lost last night and then some.

Today, I ask you to remind your daughters that our promise of a female president is not broken, but merely delayed. And as you remind your daughters of this, join me in recommitting to ensure that we fulfill this great promise, because you and I both know that we can achieve it together.

We are working to determine our next steps, and will keep you updated on that process. Know that I am thinking of you, and that I have faith we will get through this together.

Your friend in the fight,

Annette Taddeo

It’s actually a smart message — saying out loud what many of her core supporters and non-supporters are thinking — especially if she’s running for office again. And it sounds to me like, barring an intervention by family and friends, Taddeo may be mulling a fifth stab at it. Key words: “Next steps.”

After running for county commission, lieutenant governor and congress, twice, what is left?

Mayor of Pinecrest, perhaps?

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife Tuesday night, when the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations had their first candidate’s forum and former friends Joe Garcia and Annette Taddeo faced off for what could be the first time in this election cycle — or ever.

They are so used to working together, not against each other, and you could tell both were uncomfortable with the new dynamic. Pained, even. Certainly extremely awkward.

The other candidate sessions were lackluster in comparison.

Blame Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who was a no-show and gave Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado (and, yes, Ladra’s horse) a captive audience of about two dozen people to present her platform and ideas to. She did a great job because she can fill a room by herself. The audience was full of bobbing heads in what Ladra now calls the “aha moment,” which is when people realize she is the real deal and can be the mayor we deserve to have.

Next to her, KFHA President Michael Rosenberg, who is also founder of the Pets’ Trust and has a rocky relationship with Gimenez, had placed an empty chair to represent the mayor — not just his personality but his MIA status. Rosenberg first noted that he had invited Gimenez no fewer than a dozen times. Ladra is not surprised he’d be afraid to try to defend his record of broken promises, sweetheart deals and no-bid contracts to his friends and family.

The opening acts were even more — yawn, stretch — uneventful. Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez and former Commission Chairman Joe Martinez, ran circles around their challengers, the unfortunately named Michael Castro and Felix Lorenzo, respectively. These certainly seem like slam dunk races, so it’s hard to even pay attention. Ladra got her ears pulled for talking in whispers during Martinez’s closing statements. Ay, he is such an unforgiving guy. And he’s trying too hard. Both incumbents — because Martinez once represented District 11 and is the defacto incumbent now that Commissioner Juan Zapata withdrew — should landslide in. Unfortunately. Because nothing makes for a bad elected like a big head that feels no pressure.

Read related story: Chased out: Juan Zapata leaves hostile work environment

But the Taddeo/Garcia face-off was weird enough to make up for the rest of it. And it offers just a taste of what we might see in future debates and/or mailers.

You wouldn’t think that a debate or forum featuring these two carbon copy candidates and former BFFs could be entertaining. They both support the same things. They both love Obamacare and the U.S. reaching out to Cuba. They are both concerned about sea level rise and immigration. They both took jabs at Republicans. Garcia said Everglades restoration was being purposefully mismanaged by Gov. Rick Scott. Taddeo mocked Congress members Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (who beat her 58 to 42% in 2008) and Carlos Curbelo (who they are fighting to face in November) for their efforts to keep studying sea level rise ad nauseaum.

Blah. Blah. Blah. Taddeo even said “Ditto” one time because it was getting repetitive.

But underneath all the outwardly polite agreement, seethed a palpable bitter resentment that surged with a little jab here and there. Him on her total lack of experience in public service. This is Taddeo’s fourth try to get elected. Her on the election fraud issues in his 2014 campaign. Garcia’s campaign consultant and his former congressional chief of staff, Jeffrey “No Relation” Garcia, was sentenced to 90 days in jail for absentee ballot fraud after he was found to have rigged a computer to request ballots without the voters’ permission.

Read related story: Joe Garcia releases first web ad in congressional contest

When asked if negative campaigning had a place, Taddeo was quick to make her position clear. And it’s a yes. But she said it was a “very tough thing” to “let people know about your opponent,” especially when it was someone you once supported.

Once upon a time, Joe and Annette were BFFs

“My level of disappointment to find out that the person I supported to get rid of David Rivera had done exactly what David Rivera had done was very high,” Taddeo said. “I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. It is not right.

“And I know the disappointment I feel is felt by the community because they tell me.”

Garcia did not take the bait.

“Clearly, they’re going to attack. You’ve known me for a better part of two decades,” Garcia told the room, because it basically took him that long — and four tries himself — to get elected. He said that he was going to campaign on his track record, fighting FPL, fighting for children — we guess between his ear wax snacks.

“I’ve worked here. I lived here. I grew up here. I know this community,” he said, which could be a dig at Taddeo’s carpetbagging for a seat, any seat.

Taddeo shot back. She told the audience that Garcia was backed by Big Sugar. “Let’s make sure to follow the money… I;m so tired of the influence of special interests,” she said. To which Ladra would say, yeah, but he had Big Sugar money when you supported him, too.

Still, Obamacare seems to be the go-to for Democrats as much as it is for Republicans (the repeal anyway). Taddeo also took Garcia to task for voting against Obamacare eight times.

Garcia giggled and glimpsed down at his shoes a lot while he waited his turn with his arms crossed. Then he said he had voted against some of the convoluted registration requirements and actually made it easier to sign up. He said he voted for Obamacare more than 50 other times and hit her on her lack of experience. “I was on the floor. Unlike her, I have a record.”

Ouch. That is hitting her where it hurts. Taddeo wants nothing more than a vote record. Anywhere.

But as pained as it might have been for them to be in this position, it was even more so for many in the audience. Said Esther Garvett, a Democrat who has volunteered for both candidates in different races: “It’s breaking my heart.”

Former Congressman Joe Garcia, who wants his job back in Washington, is talking all over the internet today about his track record and his connection to the residents District 26.

“Hi. I’m Joe Garcia. You know, a few years ago we began a journey together, a journey to bring the voice of South Florida to Washington,” Garcia starts with the almost two-minute message. “We were successful on so many issues, whether it was trying to fix our immigration system, lowering interest rates for college students, fighting increases on our flood insurance.”

He also takes a swipe at U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who beat him two years ago amid headlines about absentee ballot fraud by his campaign manager, who ended up sentenced to 90 days.

Read related story: Miami GOP draws first blood on Joe Garcia in FL26

“One of the things we tried to do when we were in Washington, was make sure you knew exactly where I stood on issues of importance… Today, we have a representative that says one thing in South Florida and does completely the opposite in Washington — on women’s healthcare issues, the environment, global warming, gun control or investing in our families,” Garcia says without naming Crybaby.

“On each and every one of these issues, the republicans have let our community down. Like you, I love this community… And I want to go back to making sure we have a voice in the important issues of our day. I’m asking for your help.”

Read related story: Joe Garcia goes from zero to hero in 60 seconds

Um, but what about August? Is he’s ignoring the primary opponent, Annette Taddeo?

Once upon a time, Joe and Annette were friends

“People in the district know Joe. They have voted for him in several elections,” said Javier Hernandez. “We are focused on speaking on the issues ignored by Carlos Curbelo. That is our aim in this election.”

Which is a long way of saying yes. Which is what you do when polls show you have a 25 point lead or so ahead of your primary opponent.

Garcia may be the first to release a web video in this race. Digital advertising is growing and while some consultants will tell us that it can never replace direct mail, more and more candidates are using them because it is not only cheaper, but the way to connect to voters on a platform voters feel comfortable in.

Love the hair!

Web ads also offer more time for candidates to tell their story and make their pitch. Garcia’s first web ad features photos of him as a child, as a young parent with his daughter on his shoulders and a black and white of his grandfather.

Hernandez said it was too early to tell if it would be aired on television as well.

“Our strategy adopts new forms of media as well as old and we want to get Joe ties to the community and his track record out to everyone,” Hernandez said. “This is just a first step.”