Florida politicians love to talk about “family values.” But when it comes to helping parents — especially working moms — actually run for office, they’ve been leaving them high and dry.
That could finally change.
State Senator LaVon Bracy Davis (D–Ocoee) and State Rep. Kelly Skidmore (D–Boca Raton) have filed legislation — HB 361 and SB 414 — that would allow state and local candidates to use campaign funds to pay for childcare expenses directly related to campaign activities.
That means if you’re running for office and need to pay for a babysitter while you’re out knocking on doors, going to a debate, or attending a fundraiser — you can cover it with your campaign account.
You know, the same account folks use for yard signs and Facebook ads. The same accounts people like former disgraced Sen. Frank Artiles and former disgraced Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla use for food and booze and parties. Seems like common sense, right?
The Federal Elections Commission thought so. Back in 2018, it voted unanimously — bipartisan, mind you — to allow federal candidates to use campaign money for childcare. Since then, 38 states and D.C. have followed suit. Florida, as usual, is behind the curve. This will be the third year Skidmore tries to pass the legislation. In 2024, the Senate version of the bill, co-sponsored by Hollywood independent Sen. Jason Pizzo, advanced through two votes before stalling out in its third committee stop. But the House version died unhear. Last year, both the Senate and House proposals were unheard.
But in 2023, the legislature passed new rules that allowed for candidates to file campaign finance reports every three months, rather than monthly. Because that’s more important.
Read related: New Florida law gives us less campaign finance reporting, less transparency
This is not just about convenience. It’s about representation.
According to the Vote Mama Foundation, fewer than 7% of members of Congress are mothers of minor children, and just 7.9% of state legislators nationwide are mothers with kids under 18. The number of fathers of young kids isn’t even tracked, but let’s be real — they’re not showing up in droves either.
That’s because it’s nearly impossible for a working parent — especially a single parent or someone without deep pockets — to juggle the demands of campaigning and child-rearing without serious help. Not everybody has an abuelita standing by.
“Running for office should be about your ideas and your commitment to serve, not about whether you can afford childcare,” Skidmore said in a statement.
And Bracy Davis nailed it when she said this bill “opens doors for working parents, especially those from lower-income families, who too often must choose between providing for their children and participating in our democracy.”
Amen, sister.
So where are our South Florida legislators on this?
Because Ladra would love to see Miami-Dade’s delegation — Democrats and Republicans — get behind this one. If we’re serious about electing people who actually understand what working families go through, then we have to stop building systems that only work for retirees, the independently wealthy, and trust-fund candidates. If our local state senators and reps can use their campaign funds to pay for their cellphones and executive lunches, getting childcare for candidates is an easy yes.
Read related: In Miami-Dade, first day of school jitters come with ICE deportation fears
We’ve all seen it — campaigns dominated by people who can afford to run because they don’t have to worry about carpool, dinner, or daycare. Meanwhile, the people who should be in office — teachers, nurses, moms, dads, caretakers — are priced out before they even print their first yard sign.
That’s not democracy. That’s gatekeeping.
So, to our friends in the Miami-Dade delegation — Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, mother of two boys, I’m talking to you — and the rest of you who say you support families and opportunity, here’s your chance to prove it. Support HB 361 and SB 414. Vote yes to make politics a little more family-friendly.
Because it shouldn’t take a miracle — or a millionaire — to run for office in Florida.

You can help bring your community more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

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Either decision will likely be appealed
Will former Miami city commissioner Frank Carollo remain on the runoff ballot Dec. 9 or won’t he? We probably won’t know before absentee or mail-in ballots go out next week.
On Monday, Circuit Court Judge Peter Lopez heard arguments in yet another Miami election case. This one seeks to remove Frank Carollo, an accountant who came in first in last week’s District 3 race, from the Dec. 9 runoff, where he faces restaurant manager Rolando Escalona, who came in second with 17%. The lawsuit says keeping Carollo in play runs afoul of a charter amendment on lifetime term limits that voters overwhelmingly approved — by a whopping 79%— on the same Nov. 4 ballot as the City Commission races.
The new rule says anyone who’s served two terms as mayor or commissioner is done for life. No more revolving door, no more comeback tours.
Read related: Miami Voters get it right on the fine print referendums: Yes, No, Yes, Yes
It’s quite possible, and a little ironic, that some voters could have voted for the lifetime term limits and Frank Carollo, who already served two full terms representing District 3 from 2009 to 2017, before being replaced by — wait for it — his older brother, Commissioner Joe Carollo, who’s now termed out and lost a bid for mayor. So, little brother wants his old seat back.
That could mean 24 years of having a Carollo rule over D3 — exactly what the referendum aimed to stop.
Three residents, including third place finisher Oscar Alejandro, say that’s not happening and have sued to stop it. “On Nov. 3, Frank Carollo was a lawfully qualified candidate,” said their lawyer, Juan-Carlos “J.C.” Planas. “On Nov. 5, he was not.”
Planas says it’s simple: voters clearly said they want no more career commissioners, and Carollo’s two-term run means he’s automatically disqualified. The fix? Just swap Frank’s name out for Alejandro’s on the ballot and move on.
Carollo’s attorney, Robert Fernandez, called that idea crazy talk — and maybe unconstitutional. He argued that the referendum didn’t explicitly say it would apply to candidates on the same ballot. Removing Carollo now, Fernandez said, would “disenfranchise” the 2,570 voters who chose him last week and could violate both state and federal law.
But, wait. Wouldn’t leaving Frank Carollo on the ballot disenfranchise the 27,931 voters who passed lifetime term limits?
Read related: Miami voters sue to keep Frank Carollo off the runoff ballot after term-limit win
Judge Lopez didn’t sound thrilled about having to decide this political hot potato and he knows his decision will be challenged either way. “I’m not the last word on this,” he said. “Whatever I do, the Third DCA is going to have to chime in.” That’s why he promised a quick ruling Wednesday morning. Because everyone knows the losing side will appeal faster than you can say “vote-by-mail.”
Speaking of mail ballots — that’s another problem. Oren Rosenthal, attorney for the county elections office, warned that changing the ballot now would throw a wrench in the printing and mailing process. Ballots are already being prepped, envelopes stuffed, and the mail-out is set for Nov. 17. That’s Monday.
“It’s not as easy as just printing a new one,” Rosenthal told the judge. “They have to be programmed, tested, and quality-assured.”
Which means this isn’t just about District 3. The same ballots also include the Miami mayoral runoff between Eileen Higgins and Emilio González. Any delay could ripple into that race, too — and neither of those campaigns want to give voters another reason to roll their eyes at Miami’s perpetual chaos.
For those keeping score at home, Frank Carollo got 38% of the vote, Escalona came in second with 17%, and Alejandro was third with almost 12%. Interestingly enough, another candidate, Denise Galvez Turros, sued to try to get Escalona off the ballot, claiming he did not meet residency requirements. Planas represented Escalona in that case, and won.
Read related: ‘Winners & Losers’ from the Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah elections
If Judge Lopez sides with the plaintiffs, it could make history — enforcing the city’s new lifetime ban before the ink on the ballots is even dry. If he sides with Carollo, it means the voters’ 79% “yes” might not take effect until the next election.
Either way, this is peak Miami politic: one brother out, another trying to sneak back in, the voters saying “enough already,” and the lawyers turning it all into a three-ring circus — all before the ballots even hit the mail.
Why it so hard to clear City Hall of all Carollos?

You can help bring your community more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

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Even before a Mami-Dade Sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed last week, the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations had planned its annual celebration of first responders with pizza and speeches and awards. But the KFHA Police and Firefighter Awards night Wednesday will have special meaning since the death of Devin Jaramillo, 27.
“We talk about their dangerous work,” said KFHA President Michael Rosenberg. “But every day is ordinary, until it’s not ordinary. This was an ordinary day for him, an ordinary call and it turned out to be horrendous. Any call can end up like that.”
That’s true. But the most dangerous calls, according to policing organizations nationwide, are domestic violence calls and traffic stops.
Jaramillo had responded to a “minor” crash near the corner of Southwest 122nd Avenue and SW 128th Street just before 4 p.m. Friday. He got into a physical scuffle with the driver, who grabbed the officer’s gun and shot him up to seven times. The driver then ran to his car and took his own life.
There will likely be a moment of remembrance for him.
There will also be plaques and certificates from Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez and Commissioner Raquel Regalado for some of the first responders in Kendall who should be recognized. That includes a firefighter who jumped into a lake to pull out the passenger of a vehicle that had become submerged. And four or five police officers who joined to lift a heavy vehicle off an injured person.
In the past, this evening has brought together emotional reunions between first responders and those they’ve saved. The KFHA also plans to honor hero dogs, K9 units assigned to Kendall officers.
“Our first responders are always there for us. Let’s show them that we are there for them,” Rosenberg said.
So, the evening starts at 6 p.m. with Italian food by Mike’s Italian at the that small little clubhouse room at 8625 SW 124th Ave., and the event moves at 7 p.m. to the Regal Cinema movie theater next door for the presentation of the awards And if anyone wants to stay, the Regal will be showing the new movies, Sarah’s Oil — based on the true story of an African American girl who became a millionaire in Oklahoma after she discovered oil on her land.
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Where will the rest of the pack land?
The first endorsement from one of the losing Miami mayoral hopefuls is vintage Miami.
Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier L. Suarez, the original Mayor Suarez, the father of our camera-obsessed current mayor Francis Suarez, has thrown his weight (and his word count) behind Emilio González in the upcoming Dec. 9 runoff for Miami mayor.
Because, of course he did. If he couldn’t make a comeback, he could at least help crown a new king.
Read related: Eileen Higgins heads into partisan Miami mayoral runoff with momentum
The elder Suarez — who got about 5% of the vote in the crowded Nov. 4 race — said Monday that González, a former city manager and retired Air Force colonel, has all the good-government virtues Miami hasn’t seen in decades: integrity, professionalism, empathy, compassion, bilingual brilliance, and, wait for it… bonhomie.
Yes, bonhomie. That’s a new one for Miami politics. It literally means exactly what it sounds like it means: Cheerful, friendliness, geniality. In other words, un buen homie.
In a lengthy letter that Emilio’s team proudly distributed as if it were a papal decree, Suarez Sr. praised González’s service as Miami city manager, as the county’s aviation department director, and as head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He called him “a courageous reformer” and “a proven public servant.”
He even commended Emilio for filing the lawsuit that got the election back on track after the city commission voted to postpone it for a year without getting a public vote.
But let’s not forget, dear readers, that González’s tenure as city manager didn’t exactly end in a happy dance. He resigned amid accusations that he fast-tracked permits for his own home improvements. He said it was to care for his ailing wife, but the timing was sus. Of course, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust cleared him of any wrongdoing and all of that was just Commissioner Joe Carollo trying to deflect from his own problems.
Still, this endorsement feels less like a surprise and more like a reunion. After all, the Suárezes and González go way back — back to the cozy corridors of City Hall where titles and favors pass like coladas at 3:05 p.m. And how much is Suarez going to pull for Gonzalez with less than 5%. Ladra doubts all 1,841 of the people who voted for X will flip for Emilio.
Read related: Eileen and Emilio headed to Miami mayoral runoff as voters end the circus
What’s next? The Alex Diaz de la Portilla endorsement? After all, ADLP did better than Suarez, with 1,929 votes. And Carollo, well he could deliver some of his 4,277 votes to someone — and it would most likely be Gonzalez, except Joe spent the last few months attacking “Colonel Clink” in ads, mailers and on radio.
Across town, Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins — who won a decisive 36% in the first round, carrying every city district — is still leading the race and calling herself the true outsider in a runoff against what she calls “the City Hall establishment.” She might not say so, but she wants former Commissioner Ken Russell to endorse her. He came in third on Nov. 4 with 6,550 votes. Now, some of those can make a difference in what could be a close race.
Everybody is sort of expecting him to endorse Higgins, but they might have forgotten that she basically got him canned as the lobbyist for the Florida Sierra Club. Russell doesn’t really have to officially endorse Higgins, she will get most of his voters automatically.
Higgins, for her part, already has the unions, the LGBTQ+ groups, and a bunch of Dem mayors — the county’s Daniella Levine Cava, Javier Fernández of South Miami and former Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber — lining up behind her. She’s also got support from Sen. Shevrin Jones and State Rep. Ashley Gantt.
Read related: In Miami mayoral bid, Emilio Gonzalez goes for the law and order vote
González, on the other hand, adds the Suárez seal of approval to nods during Round 1 from Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, and the Miami Young Republicans.
So much for being a nonpartisan race.
In a contest that’s quickly shaping up as a clash between a community coalition of newcomers and the political old guard, the endorsement from Xavier Suarez feels like déjà vu — another episode of Miami’s eternal insider telenovela.
Still, it’s the first post-election endorsement, and that counts for something, even if it does smell a little desperate. It gives González a talking point, a headline, and maybe a few older Cuban votes that still remember when the elder Suarez ruled the roost.
But it also reminds voters what’s really on the line Dec. 9: whether Miami wants to keep recycling the same names and networks — or finally take a chance on something different.

You can help bring your community more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

The post After coming in 6th, Papi Suarez backs Emilio Gonzalez for Miami mayor appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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If you thought Miami’s political telenovela might take a break after Election Day, think again. The show goes on — and this next act could be the one that finally rewrites the script at City Hall.
Commissioner Eileen Higgins came out of Tuesday’s first round not just ahead — but way ahead — in the race for mayor. She didn’t just win with 36% of the vote, compared to the second place showing of 19% for former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez. Higgins swept all five commission districts, including Commissioner Joe Carollo’s old stomping grounds in District 3, where she beat him 32% to 26%, according to a Miami Herald tally. That’s right — she beat El Loco on his own block.
And now she’s heading into a Dec. 9 runoff against Gonzalez, the ultimate City Hall insider, who’s trying very hard to rebrand himself as a reformer and gets major brownie points for filing the lawsuit that forced the election to happen after the city commission had effectively cancelled it by postponing it for a year. The courts agreed with Gonzalez, saying the city needed to get a public vote if they wanted to change the election year.
If only Gonzalez had stuck to that message: The hero who saved the election and, thus, the city from another year of Carollo and Mayor Francis Suarez. The anti-corruption warrior who would put residents first. Ladra had told him early, this was his race to lose.
But nooooo. He had to lean hard into his Republican base, touting endorsements from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Ted Cruz all the way from Texas. You don’t pull out Ted Cruz unless you’re trying to send a message. Gonzalez also had to call the Democrats in the race “commies” in a Politico interview a week before the race and say that they would use the mayor’s office to fight the president’s policies.
“A liberal, Democratic, progressive mayor in Miami will serve only to have a platform with which to bash the Trump administration,” he told Politico. “They can’t help themselves. They all wear the same uniform. They all have the same script.”
It sort of feels like he had to out-Trump Carollo, who was sending mailers with photos of the POTUS and himself, making it look like they’re pals. Hey, could Joe be on the Epstein list?
Read related: Eileen and Emilio headed to Miami mayoral runoff as voters end the circus
To be fair, Higgins rode the blue flag like it was the magic carpet that would take her to City Hall. The Miami-Dade Democrats paid for mailers and messages that painted Gonzalez as the MAGA mayor. And her endorsements read like a coalition of the fed-up progressives: almost all the labor unions, Unite Here, SAVE, Equality Florida, The Miami Times, The Miami Herald, Legacy Magazine, plus local mayors like South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez, former Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber (does anyone remember him?) and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, arguably the most powerful and popular Democrat in the state.
Third place finisher Ken Russell, who came within two points of getting into the runoff instead of Gonzalez, wrote an op-ed in The Miami Herald last week that urged voters and the candidates — who are supposed to be the adults in the room among the 13 who ran to succeed the termed out Francis Suarez — to keep partisan politics out of the runoff. Good luck with that.
Sure, Gonzalez will try to roll back that hard right message now because he has to appeal to Democrats and independents if he wants to win in Round 2. But he has to walk a fine line because if his base thinks he’s gone too soft, they won’t come out to vote.
Meanwhile, Higgins — the self-styled “outsider” in the race, who is very much a part of the “insiders’ club” — has managed to build a support base that cuts across neighborhoods and languages, winning everywhere from Little Havana to Coconut Grove. She is now leading González 50 to 24 in the latest poll.
Higgins’ challenge now is turnout. The first round drew just 21% of registered voters, and December runoffs are notorious for even lower participation. If she can keep her coalition energized — the renters, the working families, the young voters who want a City Hall that speaks their language and listens — she could make history as the first woman elected mayor of Miami. And she has the endorsements that could make it happen — unions and SAVE means boots on the ground to spread your message.
Read related: In Miami mayoral bid, Emilio Gonzalez goes for the law and order vote
González, for his part, will try to rally the old guard — homeowners, conservatives, and the Republican establishment — who might see Higgins’ rise as a threat to the status quo. They’ve already compared her to New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, the new face of the Democrat boogeyman. (Sorry, AOC, you’re yesterday’s news). Will that work?
Team Emilio is also likely betting on low turnout and high loyalty.
Because right now, all signs point to momentum on Higgins’ side. Even the Herald noted that Democratic turnout jumped 12 points this election compared to a meager 4-point bump for the GOP. If that keeps up, she’s going to be a happy camper.
And so will other Democrats statewide, who are watching this officially “nonpartisan” race very closely. The Florida Democratic Party immediatly congratulated Higgins on advancing to the runoff.
“It’s been 28 years since Miami last elected a Democrat as its Mayor and tonight’s result shows that the pendulum is swinging and the Democrats are the source,” said FDP Chair Nikki Fried on the night of the election. “Miami is on the path to getting the leadership it deserves, and tomorrow the fight continues to ensure Eileen has all the people power she needs to declare victory in 35 days.”
That’s right, it’s now less than a month before the election that truly decides who will lead the city of Miami for the next four years.
The bottom line is voters could have had it worse. Both candidates promise to end the chaos, corruption and rampant dysfunction in the city. Both are competent people who do not seem driven by emotion. Neither seems like they would weaponize the government against their “enThere’s no real terrible choice here. Unless you believe that Higgins is a communist or that Gonzalez will invite the National Guard to invade Miami.
Because voters aren’t just picking between two very different personalities — they’re deciding what kind of city they want Miami to be.

You can help bring your community more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

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The American Business Forum seemed more like an audition for him
This past week, while millions of Americans faced lost food aid, shuttered programs and threats to their health coverage, downtown Miami staged a spectacle. You know the kind — velvet ropes, orchestral beats, VIP tickets, and a gilded ceremony that screams celebration even when large swaths of the public feel anything but triumphant.
At the America Business Forum, held for the first time in the U.S. at the Kaseya Center in Miami Wednesday and Thursday, carefully curated privilege and business‐glamour took center stage. Headline speaker: Donald Trump, fresh off electoral bruises in New Jersey and Virginia, though you wouldn’t know it.
And perhaps the coup de grace: Miami Mayor Francis Suárez thought it was a good idea to hand Trump the symbolic “key to the city.” What he really deserves is a padlock.
In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, when even middle-class families are choosing between groceries and gas, our selfie-mayor decided to throw a red-carpet party for the rich and famous. Suarez boasted about importing the two-day corporate pep rally from Uruguay after attending last year’s edition in Punta del Este — where, no doubt, he saw how well the fog machines worked.
Because yes, there were fog machines at the Kaseya Center, home of the Miami Heat, which was decked out like a Super Bowl halftime show. Speakers came out through a tunnel of lights to a thundering orchestral beat while men holding glowing batons parted like the Red Sea. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, called it “a little embarrassing.” Ya think? And that was before the mayor pulled out the city’s golden key for his buddy Trump, who he probably wants a job from.
Come to think of it, the whole thing did seem a little like a girl at a high school dance thinking, “Pick me! Pick me!”
And remember, Baby X was once a presidential hopeful who admitted he did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020. At one point he said,“If Donald Trump should be the Republican candidate, in my opinion it would be the biggest disaster for the Republican Party since the Republicans turned against the civil-rights movement in the 1960s.”
Are all the workouts affecting his memory?
Read related: What corruption probe? Mayor Francis Suarez enjoys Egypt wedding, Miami F1
Let’s be honest: The key to the city was a slap to our face. While people drive up to food distribution sites and scramble to figure out what to do when their Medicaid runs out, Suárez decided this was the perfect time to honor a billionaire who lost Miami-Dade by 7 points last year. While many in Miami and Florida wonder how to keep a roof over their head or what to do when their health coverage evaporates, or if they’re going to be awakened in the middle of the night by an armed, masked goon squad, the mayor gives the key to a nearly-ubiquitous national figure whose brand is power, wealth, and global spectacle.
Suarez even joked that Trump could use the key to unlock some “really nice presidential library real estate,” referring to the multi-million public land next to the Freedom Tower that the state just gave away to the Trump library foundation for free to turn into a library and hotel — and maybe a casino. Because nothing says “public service” like making light of political corruption and backroom deals.
Maybe that’s the kind of “leadership culture” they were talking about at this so-called business forum.
And because one dictator is not enough, Suarez also was “honored” to welcome Argentine President Javier Milei, an authoritarian masquerading as a libertarian, a guy who screams about freedom while cozying up to police crackdowns, a showman who governs by spectacle and insult. Milei is anti-press, anti-workers, and anti-social-safety-net. So, basically Trump with a tango accent.
Talk about a disconnect.
Food stamp benefits (SNAP) cuts hit tens of millions across the state as the government shutdown dragged on. Inflation and affordability remain everyday crises for many Floridians — housing costs, insurance rates, everyday staples. Job growth is slowing, leaving the “business forum” chatter about unicorns, A.I., leadership culture and global conferences sounding like background music in a luxury elevator, not a grassroots town hall.
Yet the forum played it as if all is well: skyrocketing trade, booming Miami, global business. Trump credited tariffs for “hundreds of billions” flowing in. Never mind that those same tariffs raised prices for American consumers. Never mind that food prices, rent, and insurance premiums are all still rising in Florida. And never mind that thousands of Miami families are struggling right now. Because the language of crisis — of real people losing benefits, losing insurance, losing stability — couldn’t crack the surface of this gilded bubble.
Handing a key to the city is, of course, only a symbolic gesture. But the timing here feels so wrong. It reads like a photo-op for global capital while the ground crumbles for the non-elite. The tune was: “Look how far we’ve come,” when many are still wondering “How far will it drop?”
Read related: We’re No. 1! Real estate experts say Miami’s housing bubble is about to pop
Meanwhile, the real story was in the contrasts: humongous corporate suites, $1,000+ VIP tickets, orchestral lights, business mega-talks — while local families face cutbacks in food aid, insurance limbo, rising rents.
Who is this city for? The elite handing keys to each other — or the workers juggling bills, or the immigrants who built the city? If you’re flaunting a “key to the city,” what door does it open? And for who?
That key wasn’t just symbolic of access. It felt like an accessory for the scene.
Miami, at its best, is meant to be a city of diverse culture, of resilient hustle, of inclusion — so antipathetic to everything the POTUS represents. But this moment? It looked like Miami as backdrop for spectacle. A show of “business as usual” — for the 1%. Oh, and sponsored by the likes of American Airlines — which cancelled more than 700 flights because of the shutdown, but had money for this dog and pony show — Royal Caribbean and Chewy, the subscription pet supply service that must have forgotten the “they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating ting the cats” line. (Note to self: Cancel Chewy subscription).
Early bird tickets started at $100, but the real players — the ones who matter — paid almost $2,000 for VIP seats. Meanwhile, the upper deck was curtained off because even with all that star power — Trump, Jamie Dimon, Jeff Bezos, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt — the place was half empty.
Half full of what, though? Ego, mostly.
Schmidt even read a “Shakespearean sonnet” about Suárez — written by artificial intelligence. “Through tempest rage and plagues most grievous tests, he stood as a bulwark against adversity’s tide,” he read. Cue the applause. Cue the irony.
Read related: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is all over the place — except leading the city
Because if there’s one thing Miami doesn’t need right now, it’s another AI-generated love poem to a postalita lame duck mayor who loves mirrors more than policy.
Outside the Kaseya Center, there’s another kind of production going on — people working two jobs to pay rent, seniors skipping meals to afford their prescriptions, parents losing benefits that helped feed their kids.
They don’t get fog machines or orchestral intros. They don’t get keys to the city.
But they’re the ones who make this city what it is. The ones who keep it running. The ones who deserve a mayor who’s not so busy courting the global elite that he forgets the local reality. Thank goodness this one is on his way out.
Handing Trump the key to Miami this week wasn’t just tone-deaf — it was symbolic of everything that’s broken in the city’s leadership. When regular people are losing everything else, our mayor gives us the only thing he’s got left to offer: a shiny distraction.
You can help bring your community more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
The post Miami Mayor Francis Suarez gave Trump a key to city; gave us the finger appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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