There are fewer excuses not to vote on Tuesday in Miami’s election.
Lime, the global leader in micromobility (read: electric ride-share bikes and scooters), will provide free scooter rides to and from the polls so it’s harder to blame car trouble.
Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo is a one trick pony. He cannot get elected without calling his challenger a communist or a socialist or a Chavista.
Much of Carollo’s 2017 campaign targeted Zoraida Barreiro, the wife of former County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, calling her… Another challenger, Tommy Regalado — son of former Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado — communists. But Carollo really meant the younger brother José because he once took a photograph with Sean Penn at an event.
When Miami Commissioner Jeffrey Watson got appointed to replace Keon Hardemon, who became a county commissioner, Watson told everyone at a public meeting that he would not run for the seat when it came up this year.
But that was ten whole months ago.
Two days. There are two days left to qualify for the Miami city elections on Nov. 2.
Time is running out — qualification deadline is Saturday — for any really viable candidates to step up and run against Mayor Francis Suarez or Commissioner Joe Carollo, neither of whom deserve a free ride or even another term and both of whom can be beat this year.
Less you were forgetting that there is an election in Miami this November, District 5 commission candidate Michael Hepburn — who ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2018 — is ramping things up.
On Thursday, he unveiled his Hepburn-On-The-Block campaign, with a plan to walk every block in all 37 precincts starting Monday and ending by the end of March. That’s a lot of blocks in 31 days.
Don’t think that former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla is not a true threat in the Miami District 1 race this year. While some think this three-time loser is unelectable, it’s best not to underestimate The Dean.
Especially when he is raising more campaign money than anybody else.
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Diaz de la Portilla tapped into his list of lobbyist buddies so they could bundle for him and he could come out with $40,400 in the first month. That’s just a couple K over the next highest amount, $38,000 by neighborhood fave Horacio Aguirre, who has been raising money since October.
Sure, it shows that Mike Gabela has raised $112,000 but he loaned himself $100K of that so he’s only raised $12K in a whole year. That’s worst than Yanny Hidalgo‘s $10,337, raised since October.
Eleazar Melendez, who also announced in January, raised $17,723, which wouldn’t be bad for someone without a rolodex full of lobbyists who owe him. Except he loaned himself $12K of that.
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Which means that a week before the second campaign report is due, just looking at January’s reports, Diaz de la Portilla is winning the money race thanks to his lobby pals.
He got at least $9,000 from former State Rep. and lobsterman Manny Prieguez, Jr., and his business and family interests as well as at least $5,000 each from Ron Book and his companies and Miami Beach parking czar Rafael Andrade and his companies. Add $1,000 each from Hugo Arza, Juan Mayol and Felix LaSarte and more than half the cash is lobby money.
There’s another $4,000 from Anibal Duarte-Viera, an attorney who is also a real estate developer and deal maker — and possibly a slumlord. Google him.
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We don’t have long to wait to see if DLP — whose house is being foreclosed on and who “moved” in September into the district that is being vacated by termed-out Commissioner Willy Gort — was able to keep the pace in February, because those campaign reports are due next week. Ladra, for one, can’t wait to see who he taps into next.
Aguirre has some bundling of his own, with at least $10,000 from Terry Zerby and his family and partners in the marine terminal business and address in Oklahoma City and North River Drive. There’s another $8,000 coming from Sara Babun and her related companies and $6,000 from Emmanuel Pacin, a real estate and marine guy. All $24,000 of it is Miami River money.
Much of District 1 is along the Miami River, a newly booming area of development in the city.
Aguirre’s best month might be March, with his official campaign kick-off fundraiser Thursday hosted by former Mayor Tomas Regalado, Rev. Guillermo Revuelta and ten others at the new Miami Police Benevolent Association Hall.
There are two other candidates, Michael Hepburn, who just lost in the Democrat congressional primary, and Francisco Pichel, but neither have raised any money yet.
