Lawyer: Ghost candidate’s PAC got ghost contribution

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Focus is on public service, conservative family values

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Alian Collazo has major support from a state senator

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I know its late. I know Ladra has been quiet lately. We have been distracted with other work and getting her puppy bien instalada at college. Forgive me.
This midterm election is much more important than we’ve treated it and for that, Ladra is sorry.
But better late than never.
So without any further excuses, and in time for election day, here are Ladra’s endorsements for the Aug. 28, 2018 primary.
For Governor: Andrew Gillum on the Dem side and Ron DeSantis on the GOP side simply because I can’t wait to see Gillum kick his ass.
The Republican Senate primary is easy: Roque “Rocky” de la Fuente wins this nod simply because he is not Rick Scott. Case closed.
And the only real cabinet position we have a dog in the race in is the Commissioner of Agriculture bid, where Ladra likes Homestead Mayor Jeff Porter. I may not like everybody around him, but I still think Porter, photographed right, is a good guy,
In the congressional races, everyone knows Ladra is #TeamKristen all the way. Kristen Rosen Gonzalez will be an excellent congresswoman and represent us the best because she knows us the best.
On the GOP side, there is nobody really worthy of a nod. I am not convinced that Maria Elvira Salazar wasn’t flirting with Fidel Castro in that interview, which can’t be forgiven, and she doesn’t know what she’s doing anyway. This feels more like a desperate attempt to stay relevant now that her job security is jello than it does a call to public service. And former Commissioner Bruno Barreiro doesn’t deserve it, the way he basically threw his campaign in the trash for his wife’s weak bid for his county seat. If I were a GOP voter, I would go with Angie Chirino, because I am a fan of her dad’s and amiga de la luna.
But I have choices in the other congressional races as well:
District 26: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell for the Dems, now that she’s in the right place.
District 24: Federica Wilson deserves it. She’s been honest. She didn’t back down from Trump during that phone call debacle. And she represents her constituency, which is what this is all about. Besides, who the heck is that other guy?
State races offer some easy choices, too:
Senate District 36: It’s firefighter David Perez all the way. He has the best chance of beating good for nothing puppet boy Manny Diaz, Jr., in the general.
Senate District 38: Jason Pizzo is new and Ladra doesn’t know much about him. But incumbent Daphne Campbell is quite possibly the worst example of a sitting elected we have. So anybody but her.
House District 103: Cindy Polo, photographed right, is the only real Democrat here. Rick Tapia is a plant. Please show him we won’t be fooled by those kind of shenanigans anymore.
House District 105: Ross Hancock is, indeed, a perennial candidate. But he knows what he’s talking about and what he’s doing and he is the best choice this year, even if that is not his original district. Who is the other guy? Who knows? Not me.
House District 108: Dotie Joseph is a young Haitian lawyer and we need more Haitians and more women in Tallahassee. That and she is running against an incumbent named Hardemon. Case closed.
House District 109: Cedric McMinn because James Bush III has already had his chance and Cedric deserves his.
House District 113: Former Commissioner Michael Grieco is Ladra’s choice and the choice of most voters because, like I said before, nobody likes Deede Weithorn and nobody knows Kubs Lalchandani.
House District 115: Ladra is going to vote for Jefferey Solomon, photographed left, in this race. But I urge my Republican friends to vote for Jose Fernandez, because Vince Aloupis has run a very negative campaign. Not that it matters. Solomon will win in November, too.
House District 116: Republican Danny Perez just won this in a special election earlier this year. Let’s give him a chance.
House District 119: Ladra likes Bibi Potestad in this one, mostly because she doesn’t want to see the daughter of a county commissioner win the race, but also because former State Rep. Juan Zapata likes her (she worked with him at both the state and the county).
In the county commission races, Ladra just wants to see upset. The only incumbent who gets my nod is Jean Monestime and that is only because the other choice is Dorrin Rolle.
Yes that does mean that I want Maryin Vargas over Rebeca Sosa. I like our tia comsionada just fine, but it’s time, okay. The perks at the airport, all the kumbaya talk while she stood complicit to the raiding of our half penny. It’s time she leave gracefully.
And I know I am going to attract the wrath of every Democrat that reads this poll but I would vote Daniella Levine Cava out. She is not what she says she is. She has not delivered on anything. We need to start holding our electeds accountable. Just because she talks nice doesn’t mean she is nice and all she’s done for the Pets’ Trust, which had to reconfirm their ridiculous support of her, is take photo opps with the mayor at pet adoption events. Ludicrous. She just wants to be mayor one day — she thinks she can be — so she doesn’t rock the boat while she says all the right “progressive” crap. Talk about all talk and no action. My problem is that I am not so sure Gus Barreiro, who campaigned for a different seat in a different part of town, lives in the district. It doesn’t matter anyway because Levine Cava will win. She just won’t do it with my support.
Ladra hopes that Jose Garrido gets some benefit from being the first on the ballot in the District 10 race against Javier Souto, who should have retired years ago but is being forced to hold on for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Chairman Esteban Bovo and the others who this puppet is always good for. Garrido worked in Souto’s office and knows where the bones are buried. We need him to throw the doors and windows open over there.
And, last but not least, let’s show electeds that we mean business by denying Jose “Pepe” Diaz his last term. There are two other guys in that race that you can vote for, but my nod goes to either Rafael Pineyro or Patricio Moreno, whoever is Xavier Suarez‘s boy.
Ladra doesn’t know enough about the school board or judicial races to give endorsements. So go with your gut. It’s always good to empower minorities. Women, black and Hispanic candidates get my attention when I know nothing else about anybody in the race. Sorry not sorry. You can have your own criteria.
The most important thing is that you go out and vote. They don’t expect long lines at most of the polling places and it will take about 10 minutes to fill out all the bubbles. But it is the only way we have of letting these people who control so much of our lives know that we are on to them and we are watching them and we will fire them when we have to.

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Everyone is concentrated on the special elections this summer and there’s more than a year to go before the primaries for the state legislative races next year. But a few open seats have hopefuls planning early — none more than in House District 115, the seat vacated by termed-out State Rep. Michael Bileca, which happens to be where Ladra lives and votes.

There are now six candidates — including Jeffrey “Doc” Solomon, por supuesto — with opened accounts, according to the Florida Division of Elections.

Solomon is a popular chiropractor “to the stars” that has run unsuccessfully twice already as a Democrat challenger to Bileca. But he won both primaries against Ross Hanckock and then losing to Bileca. Last November, it was 46 to the Bileca’s 54 percent. But it was a 2-point slide from how he did in 2012, when he lost to 47-53.

Nevertheless, these are respectable numbers against a much better financed incumbent. Bileca spent a little more than $200K last year, compared to Solomon’s $62,800. Since he filed in June, Solomon hasn’t reported any campaign contributions for this race yet.

And in an open seat with no incumbent, Solomon might benefit just enough from much higher name recognition. That is, if he gets through another primary. So far, he is one of only two Democrats in the race. The other is James Linwood Shulman, who raised $2,852 in his first month, May.

But there might be a surprise before qualifying. Because while this is considered a Republican stronghold, it’s really just barely that. Former President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were separated by just a few hundred votes in 2012. Our neighborhoods are split pretty evenly down the middle with a lot of NPAs, like Ladra, that could make the difference. It’s not completely unimaginable that this seat turns blue in 2018. Especially if the Trump trainwreck continues to unfold.

Read related story: Republicans start lining up for 2018 state primaries, challenges

Who knows, the Dems might wanna back Solomon. At least this perennial candidate has been consistent. After a brief and also unsuccessful run for Pinecrest city council, this is Solomon’s third attempt at this state seat. Maybe the third time is the charm. There’s something to be said about persistence. Gee, what a concept. Unlike a lot of 305 politicos, it hasn’t ocurred to him to move his residence in order to chase a more winnable seat because no esta pa’ eso.

And again, he’s got that coveted name recognition that Mr. Shulman, nice as he may be, ain’t got.

Are you paying attention Mr. Stephen Bittel? Or are you too busy eating crow after calling black legislators “childish” and licking your wounds fom the residency violation perpetrated by your protege, State Rep. Daisy Baez? Well, you wanted so bad to be chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, now get over your clumsy intro. There are bigger fish to fry.

Because there are four, count ’em, four Republicans already raising funds to run for the seat. That includes Vance Arthur Aloupis, CEO of the Children’s Movement and the heir apparent, who has already raised $150,900 — including an impressive $103K picked up in the first month (March) from many of the usual suspects, including some lobbyists, signaling that he is, indeed, the handpicked GOP choice. His political consultant is lobbyist Michaeld Cantens, who is also the son of former State Rep. Gaston Cantens.

The other Republicans are: Carlos Daniel Gobel who filed in March and has raised $1,975; Carmen Sotomayor, who filed in January and has reported raising $250; and Rhonda Rebman-Lopez, who filed earlier this month — so she’ll submit her first campaign financial report in July — and who has been way too excited about it on twitter.

None of them, so far anyway, stand a snowball’s chance in Little Havana. If this 115 primary were this summer, Ladra would predict a general match between Aloupis and Solomon.

But there’s more than a year to go before the candidates have to qualify. And who knows? Maybe if Annette Taddeo loses the District 40 special election this year, she’ll move back into Pinecrest in time for next.