From the Where Are They Now? file: Former Miami-Dade Commissioner and onetime mayor of Homestead Lynda Bell is running for state office — in North Florida.
Bell, who is town manager of Sneads (pop. 1,796), filed earlier this month to run in the special election for House District 7, vacated by State Rep. Halsey Beshears after he was tapped by Gov. Ron DeSantis to lead the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
She faces three other Republican candidates — Virginia Fuller, Jason Shoaf and Mike Watkins — and then faces one Democrat, but it’s deep red country so whoever wins the primary is likely a shoe-in.
The special election primary is April 9 and the special general election for the seat is on June 18.
Read related: Levine-Cava gets to work while Lynda Bell finishes term
Bell, who lost her seat to Commissioner Daniella Levine-Cava in 2014, ran for House District 118 in 2016 but came in third behind Anthony Rodriguez (No.2) and David Rivera, who lost to Robert Asencio, who, in a turn of events, lost last November to Anthony Rodriguez. In August of 2018, she took the $16,500-a-year job in the Jackson County town. She lives in Tallahassee, which is within the district’s boundaries.
Somewhere in between, she stayed politically relevant, getting an appointment from former Gov. Rick Scott to the Florida Communities Trust that governs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection — she is still listed on the board, according to the agency website — and becoming the president of the non-profit Florida Right to Life.
Read related: Mark Bell’s Homestead loss ripples over to wife Lynda Bell
Lynda Bell and her husband Mark Bell — who also lost a 2013 bid for mayor — sold their historic Redland Hotel in January 2016 for $950,000. Nifty little profit because records indicate they bought the property for $250,000 in 2012. The next year, the county commissioner secured a $25,000 community redevelopment grant for “her husband’s hotel” for facade improvements.
The Bells must have invested that money into other properties, because they own six rental properties, according to her financial disclosure: Five in Tallahassee and one duplex in Homestead.
Does that mean that they could come back?

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The Kendall Federation of Homeowners Association will host seven candidate forums between Monday and Tuesday for voters who live in the western part of Miami-Dade.

Last week, the group hosted forums for the county commission race in District 11 and the congressional Democratic primary race in District 26.

Monday’s series focuses on three state races:

• In Senate District 39, The KFHA has gotten confirmation from Senator Dwight Bullard and his challenger, golden trust fund kid Andrew Korge, unless he is arrested before that for the allegations that he tried to bribe Bullard out of the race (more on that later).
• In House District 115, they will have Democrats Ross Hancock and Jeffrey Solomon, who are vying in the primary to go up against State Rep. Michael Bileca in November.
• In House District 118, they have gotten confirmation from everybody except former Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell, who lost a really embarrassing race against Daniella Levine Cava in 2014. That includes former State Rep. and Congressman David Rivera. The other candidates are Carlos Pria, Anthony Rodriguez and Stephen Rojas Tallon. They are all after the seat vacated by State Rep. Frank Artiles, who will face the winner of the primary

Tuesday is for county races, but it appears that Commissioner Dennis Moss is not going to represent. At least he had not confirmed as of Sunday night, said KFHA President Michael Rosenberg. Moss’ challenger, Earl Beaver, is listed.

Read related story: Awkward! Annette Taddeo, Joe Garcia face off with polite jabs

The way it works is that candidates give an introduction and then are there to answer a number of questions before the audience. It does not work like a debate, although the candidates can take turns answering the questions and it did turn out to be debate-like last week between congressional candidates Annette Taddeo and former U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia.

The other forums Tuesday are:

• School Board Member Lubby Navarro — a lobbyist who has never been elected because she was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to replace lobbyist Carlos Curbelo when he became a congressman — and her challenger Aster Mohammed, who unfortunately doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance on South Beach.
• Speaking of snowballs, Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Farid Khavari, who has lost this contest twice, getting 0.4 percent in 2011 and 0.85 percent in 2012. He must be encouraged by the doubling of his support! He insisted on a chance to address the audience since Raquel Regalado got the opportunity last week. Mayor Carlos Gimenez snubbed the group and has declined several debate requests (more on that later).
• In the race for Kendall’s Community Council 12, sub-area 124, three candidates want to fill out what is probably the busiest of the zoned zoning boards.  Angela Vazquez, who is currently the incumbent and chair of the council, is being challenged by Christopher Leon and Frank de la Paz.

The event begins at 7 p.m. at the Kendall Village Center ‘Civic Pavilion, 8625 SW 124 Ave., right in front of the movie theater.

Let’s face it, the big draw here is going to be the Bullard vs. Korge fight, which Ladra suggests the KFHA present as the last forum, to keep the audience there. And the undercover agents.

Unless Lynda Bell decides to make an appearance. She could steal the show.

Apparently, he is serious.

Former Congressman David Rivera, old “King Nine Lives” himself, is really running for the seat in State House district 118, vacated by Rep. Frank Artiles‘ dash to a Senate race (more on that later). On Monday, Rivera turned in signatures to qualify by petition. The Florida Division of Elections allows candidates to qualify by petition rather than pay the $1,781 fee. Rivera needed to have 1% of the 90,371 registered voters — or 904 signatures. The Elections Division verified he had 955 Monday.

Qualifying for state legislative seats is not until June 20 through the 24th. But, by law, the Florida Division of Elections can accept and hold qualifying papers beginning Jnne 6. Rivera turned the signatures in on the very first day he could.

“Qualifying by petition is a strong sign of voter support,” Rivera told Ladra on Tuesday. “Plus, it shows that no one will outwork me in this election.”

Read related story: David Rivera collects signatures for 2016 House run

Some malas lenguas believed Rivera was faking the petition drive he started in 2014 — to shake off investigators who can’t seem to indict or arrest him on any charges. Well, maybe. Because I think he had to go back to those people or get new Hancocks after he filed his campaign account information in March.

The newly drawn district overlaps quite a bit with his former congressional district, now held by U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, and maybe a little with the district Rivera last served in the Florida House from 2003 to 2011.

It also overlaps with parts of the county commission district that former Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell represented at the county and also as Homestead mayor. Bell, who was the first incumbent to be beaten in decades when Daniella Levine-Cava whooped her in 2014 — has also filed account documents to run for House District 118. But she has not turned in any petition signatures.

Read related story: Levine-Cava gets to work while Lynda Bell finishes term

There are two other Republicans crowding that primary. Anthony Rodriguez seems to be Artiles’ handpicked successor — if it weren’t for Rivera — and Steven Anthony Rojas Tallon, whose anglo-Hispanic name is too long for the ballot, I am sure. Both have been campaigning since at least February, but Rodriguez has raised $17,000 compared to Rojas $2,450.

Still, most campaign observers say this will be a two-person race between the two recycled politicos, each with their own baggage. Bell has her battles with labor, her right-to-life badge of honor and her attempts to help her family’s chain link fencing company through county legislation. And ol’ Nine Lives gets his name because he keeps dodging investigations into his campaign financing and tactics, which include the alleged financing of a 2012 Democratic ringer. Nothing ever sticks, and you want to believe it’s a government conspiracy.

Maybe it’s a devil-you-know thing, but they are the two everyone is watching.

Bell raised almost $15,000 in her first month, at least a third of which came from her political sugar daddy, developer Wayne Rosen.

Rivera raised almost five times that, with $71,000 collected in donations in March and April. The Division of Elections did not have his May report online.

But why am I not surprised?