Newly-elected Coral Gables Commissioner Richard Lara, who won a runoff Tuesday against attorney Tom Wells, isn’t the only one who is celebrating his victory. Mayor Vince Lago, who handpicked Lara and supported him throughout, wins back his majority on the city commission — meaning that he’ll get to move his agenda forward.
It also means there is going to be hell to pay for anyone who opposed him.
Lara beat Wells with a solid 10-point lead, just over 55% of the vote, an 847-vote difference, according to the Miami-Dade Elections Department’s published results. The general counsel for Spanish Broadcasting Systems led in all three categories — absentee or vote-by-mail ballots, early voting and Election Day, although the last was a smaller gap (less than 100 votes).

We have to wonder if one of those votes was his own, seeing as how Lara hadn’t voted in the Gables city elections since 1999 before this year.
Turnout was a little more than 23%, which is lower than Election Day’s 29% but higher than some expected for a runoff after Easter Sunday.
Read related: Coral Gables mayor’s power hinges on runoff — Richard Lara vs Tom Wells
Lara was always the favorite after coming in with 47% in the first round April 8. Wells got 39% and lobbyist Claudia Miro, who later endorsed Lara, came in with 13%, which forced the runoff. Lago also won solidly April 8 and so did Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who also endorsed Lara.
Wells got the endorsement of The Miami Herald, which did him as good as it did Claudia Miro in the first round, and the Coral Gables Neighborhood Association, which did him as good as it did Felix Pardo, who lost against Anderson, and Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who lost against Lago.
This last victory Tuesday will change the dynamics on the commission, giving Lago the third vote he needs to get whatever he wants done. The mayor had been on the losing side of several 3-2 votes since shortly after the 2023 victories of commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez, who might have been crying Tuesday night, who were elected against Lago’s wishes and money. The mayor’s behavior towards the two newbies pushed Menendez a former Lago ally who lost his mayoral bid earlier this month, to quickly become a swing vote for them and against Lago.
Lara was always intended to restore Lago’s third vote. He announced his run for office during public comments at a commission meeting in February of last year, way before Menendez moved to the mayoral race. In fact, las malas lenguas say he switched because a poll showed Lara was a threat to Menendez on the salary and city manager issues, which were both Lago’s and Lara’s platform. Kirk decided he could do better against Lago, who certainly has his share of detractors and he could draw on that.
Meanwhile, Lara was an unknown. But he had many of the mayor’s same supporters flood his campaign account with almost $272,000, including $103,000 in just eight days after the first round — and Lago’s political action committee, Coral Gables First, which sent text messages and mailers to voters. Lara had more of everything — more mailers, more phone banking, more people knocking on doors.
Read related: Coral Gables election choice is a Vince Lago yes vote or an independent voice
That’s iffy right there. For a mayor to be so invested in a commission candidate’s victory. Lago is not only going to be insoportable, he’s also going to be unstoppable. Look for things like the mobility hub and the annexation of Little Gables to rear their ugly heads again. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.
Wells self funded his campaign, to the tune of about $19,000, and just did not have enough to counter the hammering he got from Lago, er, Lara (read: both), which included 11th hour whisper campaigns about Wells traveling to a golf tournament in Georgia (he didn’t) and some backroom deal to hire Menendez as the city a manager (laughable).
Wells emailed Lara a concession message late Tuesday, after the results were in.
“Congratulations on winning the Coral Gables Commissioner Group III seat,” Wells told him. “I wish you luck in navigating the issues of serving the City as an elected official and look forward to your campaign promise of voting independently and restoring civility and transparency as to each issue for the benefit of Coral Gables.”
But somehow, Ladra doubts it. Because he would have to be willing to, sometimes, vote against his benefactor.
The post Vince Lago scores with Richard Lara’s Coral Gables commission runoff win appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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In a span of eight days after the Coral Gables election earlier this month and before the runoff in Commission Group 3 Tuesday, attorney candidate Richard Lara — who hasn’t voted in the city since 1999 — raised more than $102,800. Eight days!
That is a huge injection into his campaign account, which totals almost $272,000 as of April 17, according to the latest campaign finance reports, and further impacts this already lopsided race. It’s the largest amount in one single report since he began fundraising last year. The second largest is his first report of $45,000 — but that was over the course of three months.
It’s not only because Lara came in with pole position in the first round — getting 47% to attorney Tom Wells‘ 39% — but also because he has the support of both Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who won his re-election handily. Many of the contributions between April 9 and April 17 are real estate or development related, from lobbyists (Lago’s brother Carlos Lago gave $1,000) or Lago loyalists, like former commissioners Frank Quesada and Wayne “Chip” Withers, as well as attorney and University of Miami booster John Ruiz, whose LifeWallet company was under a Department of Justice investigation last year for fraud.
Included in the contributions were $5,000 from developer Armando Codina, $5,000 from developer Tom Cabrerizo and $3,000 from three of the late Sergio Pino‘s companies that now belong to his estranged wife, Tatiana Pino.
Read related: Coral Gables mayor’s power hinges on runoff — Richard Lara vs Tom Wells
And Lara is spending it faster than he gets it, with $145,000 going just in one April 17 check to consultant Alex Miranda for advertising. That’s more than half the $245,250 Lara has spent in total. It may include the cost of several mailers he has sent out to voters, including one with an endorsement from his wife and a couple that attack Wells on the same exact arguments that Lago used to attack Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who lost his mayoral challenge with 55% of the vote April 8.

Lara also spent $3,000 to rent the Coral Gables museum for his watch party event and reimbursed himself $95.88 for an email expense.
That’s just from Lara’s campaign account. Mayor Lago is also using his political action committee, Coral Gables First, to benefit his handpicked yes vote, paying for mailers and text messages. Lago has a lot riding on this runoff.
Wells is the only thing standing between Vince Lago and anything he wants. He is the last defense against a new mayoral majority that will revisit the annexation of Little Gables, roll back the salary increases for commissioners, try to move the election to November and lower taxes for their developer friends, who will feel empowered with the Lago slate. Wells is independent, in the sense that he has gone against both the mayor and the other faction on the dais, favoring a national search for a new city manager rather than an on-the-spot appointment. He is not beholder to anybody.
Read related: Coral Gables election choice is a Vince Lago yes vote or an independent voice
While he has the endorsement of The Miami Herald and Coral Gables United, the political branch of the Coral Gables Neighbors Association, Wells is woefully underfunded in comparison, paying for everything out of his own pocket to the tune of $19,000, so far.
He’s that committed to the City Beautiful. He’s willing to put his own skin in the game.
Richard Lara hasn’t even voted in the city since 1999. He is simply a puppet for the mayor to get his majority back and move his agenda along without any checks and balances.

Turnout has been lower for the runoff, with almost 13.5% of the registered 34,017 voters in the Gables. The turnout for the first round was almost 30%. Of the 4,580 votes cast as of Sunday the end of early voting Sunday night, more than half, or 2,789, are absentee or vote-by-mail ballots. On Saturday, 1,155 people voted early. On Sunday, it was 636.
But that was Easter Sunday so it’s not as bad as it could have been.
Voters have one more day — Election Day on Tuesday. There are 14 polling locations open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
And then we will either have two years of Vince Lago running roughshod over everyone and doing whatever he wants, or two years of a more balanced and civilized commission where no one person has all the power.
The post Richard Lara pulls in $103K for Coral Gables runoff Tuesday vs Tom Wells appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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The Coral Gables election is almost over with early voting this weekend for the runoff coming Tuesday. The choice is between two attorneys: Richard Lara, general counsel for Spanish Broadcasting Systems, and the handpicked candidate, groomed by Mayor Vince Lago — who was just solidly re-elected — and Tom Wells, a member of the city’s charter advisory board who has spoken at the commission meeting 14 times in the last several months and is likely to be more independent.
Much more independent.
In fact, many of the mailers for Lara that Gables voters are getting in their mailbox almost every day come from Lago’s political action committee, Coral Gables First. Lago needs Lara desperately if he is going to move his agenda — which would include annexing Little Gables and building a multi-million dollar mobility hub — forward. That’s all Lara is there for — to give the mayor back the majority he lost shortly after Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez beat his candidates in 2023.
Lara won’t be independent. He can’t be. Lago will have put him there for a purpose. His will have to be loyal and complicit.
Read related: Coral Gables mayor’s power hinges on runoff — Richard Lara vs Tom Wells
Wells was a de facto member of the losing slate in the first round this election, but only because the same people who supported him supported Commissioner Kirk Menendez for mayor and architect Felix Pardo for commission against Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson. He is the anti-Lago candidate inasmuch as he is not Lara, the decidedly pro-Lago candidate. But he has spoken against measures taken by the other faction: Menendez, Castro and Fernandez.
So he is nobody’s go-to pocket vote, like Lara would be. In fact, he would be a much needed swing vote on that dais, able to go whichever way the wind blows best for residents.
Wells sent an email Friday, hours after getting The Miami Herald endorsement, explaining how his campaign had started about restoring civility and now it’s about stopping voting blocks.
“Our five-person commission needs five independent decision makers to address the needs and issues of all neighborhoods,” Wells wrote. “I am independent, and as your next commissioner, will vote independently on each issue in the best interest of you, the residents.”
That independence is also reflected in the fact that he is self-financing his campaign. He is not taking any special interest money. In the end, and ironically, that could be what ends him. No money to counter the messages that the other side — including Lago’s PAC — is hammering voters with.
At last count, through April 3, Lara raised more than $169,000, according to the most recent campaign finance report, and still had about $75K in the bank. Wells has spent less than half of that, or more than $36,000 of his own money, according to his reports. At some point, that’s going to hurt. Especially if it doesn’t make a difference.
Lara’s messaging has stayed pretty consistent with Lago’s platform. Even though it’s harder to attack Wells on them because he is not an elected already, like Menendez, they still have. Wells won’t immediately rescind the salary increases for the mayor and commissioners that Mayor Lago promised to roll back. Lara promises to roll them back also. Not a coincidence.
He also wants to change the election to November from April. And agrees with a tiny cut that would save the average homeowner less than $100 but the big property owners and developments tens of thousands in taxes, and possibly cut services.

Lara sounds like a parrot. Lara the loro. And, if he wins, people better get used to it. Lago is going to be getting an echo from both his left and his right side on the dais. Speaking of which, Anderson, who also won pretty handily April 8, also endorsed El Loro.
Several of the mailers sent out for Lara notes that he is endorsed by “trusted local publications,” citing the Community News and Coral Gables Magazine. Trusted must be a subjective term. At that time, Wells did not have the Herald endorsement, like he has now. The Herald said both candidates were good, but that Wells was simply better prepared. Lara, they suggested, should try joining a city board, if he wants to be involved.
That’s a good one. Because Lara obviously doesn’t want to be involved. He doesn’t even vote. This was all Vinnie’s idea.
Read related: Coral Gables candidate Richard Lara has not voted in the city since 1999
Lara — who, remember, hasn’t voted in a city election in Coral Gables since 1999 — also got the endorsement, as predicted by Political Cortadito, from transit lobbyist Claudia Miro, who lost the first round with only 13.5% of the vote against Lara’s 47% and Wells’ 39%. Many people expected Miro, who shares Lago contributors like former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff — who she used to work for — to endorse Lara. In fact, some of them think she was planted all along to thwart the race. There will be far fewer turnout this Tuesday, April 22, than there was last week. It’s Easter weekend. People are out of town. That could affect the outcome.
It could work in Wells’ favor, if the people who come out to vote are the engaged residents who are already involved and know the truth from the propaganda they’re getting in the mail and on their phones. Lago is not on the ballot, so some people will just forgo the runoff and let whatever happens, happen.
Wells got the Herald endorsement, as noted. But wouldn’t anybody who is swayed by that already be voting for him? And, again, he really doesn’t have the money to get that message out, anyway.
Meanwhile, there is money being spent on smear campaigns that have gotten their way to another blog, citing two sources that say they saw Wells at the Master’s golf tournament last weekend in Augusta, Ga. Even though Wells said he hadn’t gone — though he usually gets tickets comped by one of his clients — and been to Charleston to visit his mother in the hospital, instead.
“Just like anybody else might feel in that position, I did not want to end up having any regrets because I didn’t go,” Wells told Political Cortadito. He flew in the day after the election and flew back two days later, on Friday, to campaign.

Ladra bets the two “sources” that allegedly saw him in Georgia were Lara himself and Lago lackey Nicholas Cabrera, the self-described “prince of Coral Gables” who is serving as Lara’s body man on the campaign (because, surely, Jesse Manzano is running that show).
Other smear campaigns include that he has promised to make Menendez city manager in exchange for his endorsement. First, Menendez hasn’t endorsed Wells and, secondly, he would not really be the best choice from a national search, which is what Wells advocated for when the commission fired former manager Peter Iglesias. He still would go that route if the current city manager were to resign. Wells spoke at a city meeting against the position held by Castro, Fernandez and Menendez on that one — and no, the other two candidates have not endorsed him, either. And, no, Fernandez is not running his campaign.
This all smells like desperation on the part of Lago, er, we mean Lara. Aren’t they super confident they’ll come in ahead?
Wells’ only endorsement has been from Gables Neighbors United, an affiliate of Coral Gables Neighbors Association — an active group of residents focused on fighting overdevelopment — and, now, The Miami Herald. And the only people working on his campaign are his wife, Diane, and some friends. And gratis.
“I think it is wrong to get any elected official to endorse a candidate,” Wells says. “This is up to the residents to choose. Why would an elected official intervene in an election? I know that is what Mayor Lago and Vice-Mayor Anderson have done for Mr. Lara because they are running a slate — and I think it is wrong.
“I am independent. I would appreciate the vote of Commissioners Fernandez and Castro — as well as any other resident — but not their endorsement.”
Read related: Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
Sue Kawalerski, the president of Coral Gables Neighbors Association, said that the residents deserve checks and balances on the dais.
“He wants a one-side commission,” Kawalerski said about Lago. “We need a balance of power and the only independent candidate is Tom Wells. He won’t be on one side or another, she said. “He will be on our side.”
Wells has also committed to stop any efforts on the city’s behalf to annex Little Gables, because city voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea on a ballot question last August with 63% of the vote. Gables voters don’t want to absorb the $23 million cost that it would take just over the first five years to bring Little Gables into the City Beautiful fold. Lago, who has been obsessed with this annexation and whose brother used to lobby for the largest property owner in Little Gables, has not made the commitment to let it go. He voted against dropping it last year after the vote, because he said there was low turnout. So he will try again.
Wells also commits to keeping the zoning code intact and not grant exceptions and variances to developers for larger and denser projects that increase traffic and burden other city services.
Ladra and some Gables observers and critics of Lago’s are worried that if Lara wins, that means that there will be no checks and balances on the commission, the mayor will have the power he needs to run over the wishes of residents or business owners he doesn’t like and the temperature on the dais will get even hotter. But developers will be happy.
And so will Lago, who will have free reign for the next two years and be even more insoportable than he is already.
The post Coral Gables election choice is a Vince Lago yes vote or an independent voice appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Fresh from his re-election Tuesday, Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, in his third term now, doesn’t have time to rest. He has to make sure that his commission candidate, who will give him back the majority on the dais that he lost almost two years ago, wins in a runoff two weeks from now.
Richard Lara, general counsel for the Spanish Broadcasting System network of radio stations, got 47% of the vote on Tuesday, which was a majority but not enough to cinch a victory. Lara, who is Lago’s hand-picked pocket vote, heads into a runoff against attorney Tom Wells, who sits on the city’s charter review committee, who came in second with 39%.
“Now we have to get out there and support Richard Lara for the next two weeks. We have a runoff,” Lago said Tuesday night in a short victory speech clip for the A Day In Miami podcast’s Instagram account. The mayor already has one vote with the re-election of Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson — who won with 58% of the vote Tuesday — but he needs another guaranteed ally if he’s not going to stay on the losing end of a 3-2 avalanche for the next two years.
“I’m counting on your support to bring civility, trust and respect back to the city of Coral Gables,” Lago said in his short clip.
He’s one to talk.
Read related: Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
Claudia Miro, a transit lobbyist at Freebee and one-time assistant to former Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, came in a distant third with 13.5%.
But she’s the darling on Wednesday because both Wells and Lara, and their respective campaigns, will want Miro’s endorsement. Throwing her support — and 1,356 votes — one way or the other could make or break either one of the two runoff candidates.
“I haven’t even thought about that yet,” Miro told Political Cortadito late Tuesday, adding that she was proud of her campaign and had no regrets.

“I would have regretted not running,” she said. “I can hold my he’d up high. I had a clean campaign and ran on my own attributes and qualifications. I still think I was the best choice but, as we know, sometimes the most qualified candidate doesn’t win.”
Ouch.
Well, lots of other people are thinking about her endorsement, and speculating that Miro — who was once Anderson’s appointment to the planning and zoning board until she upset the mayor with a vote and got kicked off — was always a spoiler sleeper candidate who will throw her weight behind Lara.
This could be because she was standing on the same side of the street near Lago during early voting over the weekend.
Or because she has complained about Wells’ negative campaigning.
Wells, whose motto is “neighbors restoring civility” and who signed a clean campaign promise form — the only one in the race to do so — has taken some digs at Miro. She’s noticed.
Or maybe because Sarnoff and Mason Pertnoy, an attorney who represents Lago (and Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo), gave her $1,000 each for her campaign.
Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who lost to Lago 55% to 38%, was more forthcoming in his support for Wells and said in his concession speech Tuesday night that the attention had to be turned to the runoff.
“We have to do everything we can to help Tom get over the hump,” Menendez told a small crowd of family and friends at Birdie’s Bistro. He said he had known Lara for more than 25 years but was voting for Wells because of Lara’s association with Lago.
Read related: Coral Gables candidate Richard Lara has not voted in the city since 1999
“I don’t endorse anybody but I’m voting for anybody who is not linked to those who don’t have our best interests at heart,” Menendez said, and it’s more complicated that it sounds. He is voting against Lara.
“There is still a fight in us left and it’s fighting for Tom. And by fighting for Tom, it’s a fight for our community,” Menendez said.

It’s going to be a hard fight. Lara will certainly have more money and more people working for his campaign. He raised more than $169,000 as of April 3, according to the most recent campaign finance report, and still had about $75K in the bank. Wells has financed his own campaign to the tune of $36,000 plus, according to his reports.
And while the mayoral race is no longer a draw on the ballot, and the runoff hits on Easter week, Lago will use his organization and campaign machinery, as well as financial support, to help Lara win. He will get his people out to vote.
He has to. The mayor will continue to be powerless without Lara on the commission.
The post Coral Gables mayor’s power hinges on runoff — Richard Lara vs Tom Wells appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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It was over in Coral Gables in about 15 minutes.
After months of campaigning and negative attacks, it only took the first results that trickled in after the 7 p.m. closing of polls Tuesday to know that Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson won re-election with comfortable margins their opponents would never bounce back from.
Lago, who is now on his third term, got more than 55% of the vote in the mayoral race next to Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who got almost 38%. Michael Anthony Abbott‘s nearly 7% of the vote wouldn’t have made a difference. Anderson did even better, with more than 58% of voters returning her to office over architect Felix Pardo, who got a little more than 37%, and Laureano Cancio, who got 4%.
Anderson’s strong support was the biggest surprise for many on Tuesday, seeing as how she had seemingly lost a lot of her base as far back as two years ago when she became what many call Lago’s luckiest lackey. Ladra is going to go out on a limb here and say that maybe people found Pardo to be a little pushy.
Did anybody notice that 52 more people voted in the mayor’s race than in the vice mayor’s race? What’s up with that?
The turnout for Tuesday’s city election was more than 29%, which is more than the 20% that participated in the 2023 election — where there was no mayoral race because Lago had no opponent — and more than the almost 29% that participated in 2021, where there were three contentious races, like now.
If the votes are a referendum on Lago and his administration, and many said this election would be, then the mayor may have just gotten a mandate. And if we thought he was an arrogant jerk before, he is really going to be insufferable now. Insoportable.
Read related: What transparency? 22 reasons NOT to vote for Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago
“The city has spoken, the residents have spoken. Your mayor is back,” Lago said in a short clip on the A Day In Miami podcast’s instagram account. His election night watch party was to be at Wolfe’s Wine Shoppe on Miracle Mile, and the video captures his friends and campaign workers high-fiving it and yucking it up in the background.
“Thank you for your support. Thank you for your trust in me. It’s an honor to serve you for the next two years,” Lago says.
So, what happened? Some people were shaking their heads Tuesday night, flabbergasted that the results would be so lopsided. They expected it to be closer. Ladra is among them. People were given hope by the outcome of the 2023 election, when the two underdogs funded and supported by Lago and his loyalists lost to Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez.
But those two seem to have benefited from the mayor’s absence on the ballot two years ago. And it was a wrong move by Menendez and Pardo to lean so heavily on the anti-Lago vote and the positive reaction they got when they were door-knocking.
Lago pulls. How else could anyone explain the 47% pole position enjoyed by Richard Lara, Lago’s handpicked candidate in the Group 3 race, going into the runoff with attorney Tom Wells, who was the anti-Lago candidate. Folks agree Lara is a lousy pocket vote candidate. Worse than Alex Bucelo, someone said.
If Lara wins, then Lago will have scored the trifecta (more on that next).
Also, Menendez could not get above the flood of messaging Lago paid for with a hefty campaign treasure chest. According to the latest campaign finance reports, tracking contributions and spending through April 3, Lago had nearly half a million in his campaign account (including a last minute $1,000 from former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who is now a lobbyist for billboards). He also spent another half a million from his political action committee, Coral Gables First, since January of last year.
Read related: Fundraising for Coral Gables election slows, incumbents count on max gifts
And that $467,000 or so spent by the PAC is only through December. The next report, for the first quarter of 2025, is due later this week. Ladra is willing to bet it doubled.
The Lago campaign was organized and relentless. A drip, drip, drip that started more than a year ago and ended in a barrage that was not about how great a mayor he has been for the past four years, but rather how bad a choice Menendez would be after having voted for commission raises and the hasty firing and hiring of a city manager or two and against a tiny tax break and inspector general. The text messages, mailers, emails and social media posts were almost daily. Like a hammer.
And Menendez, while he blew those issues out of the water in live forum events and wherever he spoke, was not able to counter Lago’s messaging across to more voters. The former assistant Miami city attorney turned real estate agent raised a mere $41,000 in his campaign account. Lago likely spent more than that just on text messages. And how do you message against a “101% raise” headline anyway? It’s complicated.

Menendez also has a PAC, The Coral Gables Way, with zero funds raised as of the end of December and a report that is also due later this week. But Ladra suspects it will not be much. Because he could not amplify his message.
Tuesday evening, the one-term commissioner — he beat Bucelo then won a runoff against Javier Baños with 52% (a 358 vote margin) in 2021 — thanked his family and volunteers at a small gathering at Burger Bob’s, er, Birdie’s Bistro, “not just for being here, but for your friendship, your support, for being such an important part of my life.
“Tonight is not an end,” Menendez said. “It’s just a continuation of what we’ve all done, which is give back to our community, serve our community. It’s not about the politics, it’s about how we can make the lives of others better. And that’s why I ran. And that’s why I was a commissioner. And that’s why you all supported me in this campaign.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago camp uses Jesus image to hit Kirk Menendez
“As they say, God has a plan. And what that plan is, I’m sure will manifest itself sooner or later.”
Menendez said he would likely stay involved in the city as a non-elected.
“The result is not what I think any of us thought. We saw a path forward that we all wanted the city to go. I think that path is still there. It will always be there. And we don’t lose hope. We stay working together, making sure our voices are heard… for a better Coral Gables.
“Not a better Coral Gables for some, but a better Coral Gables for everyone.”
Certainly, Wednesday will see a better Coral Gables for Vince Lago and Rhonda Anderson.
The post Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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The commission race in Coral Gables Group 3 could — an open seat after Commissioner Kirk Menendez moved to the mayor’s race — offer voters a great choice between two good potential leaders who have proven their commitment to the City Beautiful.
But that’s only after attorney Richard Lara, the mayor’s handpicked candidate who hasn’t voted in the Gables since 1999, loses the first round and the others, Freebee transit lobbyist Claudia Miro and attorney Thomas “Tom” Wells make the runoff.
This is clearly the best case scenario for Gables residents, who would not make a bad choice either way.
Lara isn’t really interested in the job. He hasn’t voted in the Gables in 25 years, and misleads people about his longtime residency and activism. He doesn’t have either. And maybe he should stick to his real job as general counsel at Spanish Broadcasting System, though records show he’s not a star there either, even though his business acumen, ahem, is part of his campaign schtick.
Since becoming employed by SBS in 2016, the stock price has plummeted, going from $3.62 per share that year, through an all time low of 13 cents per share earlier this month before going back up where it is currently trading at $.30 per share. Meanwhile, Lara’s compensation for 2018 and 2019 was $580,594 and $589,742, respectively. We don’t know what he made after that because SBS stopped being an SEC reporting company in 2020, three years after it was suspended from trading on NASDAQ in 2017, less than six months after Lara came on board.
Read related: Coral Gables candidate Richard Lara has not voted in the city since 1999
No, Lara doesn’t really want to do this. Mayor Vince Lago wants him to do this. Lago needs him to do this.
Lago threw Lara into the race last year when he was trying to unseat Commissioner Menendez and regain his majority rule. Lara is a Seguro Que Yes vote for the mayor. Menendez later switched to the mayoral race to challenge Lago and bring back real transparency and civility to City Hall. That’s when Wells, the commissioner’s appointment to the city’s charter review committee, decided to run. Miro, who ran in a crowded race for an open seat in 2021 against current Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, threw her hat in a bit later.
If Lago were to win next week, or in a runoff two weeks later, he would still need Lara to get his majority. Neither of the other two are likely to be controlled by him.
Wells has been a vocal critic of the mayor’s policies and proposals, most notably Lago’s advocacy last year to cut the tax rate by a tiny bit, which would really benefit developers and owners of the large projects, and his efforts to move the city election to a November date, which he says would result in a fat ballot with the Gables issues and candidates at the end, increased campaign cost to compete with federal, state and county elections and voter fatigue.
“The increased November election campaign cost for a candidate prevents self-funded campaigns to ensure that you are hearing the candidate’s message rather than the message of $1,000 campaign donors,” Wells says on his website. But he also supports a referendum to allow voters to decide.
And Miro is certainly not going to be super friendly. She was on the city’s planning and zoning committee, until Anderson, who appointed her, removed her for “lack of attendance.” Coincidentally, it was after Lago blasted Miro in a series of text messages for voting against his interests in the naming of a new committee member so he could stack the board. So, while there’s a whisper campaign that Lago is hedging his bets with silent support to Miro, or that she herself is a plantidate, that seems far fetched.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago blasted Claudia Miro via text after P&Z vote
She swears she is independent and not aligned with any of the commissioners on the dais. She told Political Cortadito that she hopes that independence from either camp sets her apart.
There are definitely two slates. The very intentional slate of Lago, Anderson and Lara, and the defacto slate, through endorsements and associations, of Menendez, architect Felix Pardo against Anderson, and Tom Wells in this race. Miro says she’s nobody’s darling, but she did get the endorsement from the Miami Herald, which said the candidate “demonstrated a grasp of the big picture but also displayed granular knowledge of the city’s issues.”
In addition to the city’s P&Z board, Miro has also served on the Miami Herald Community Advisory and the Miami-Dade County Interfaith Board. She also boasts a strong background in public policy and communications, a master’s degree in public administration and her experience working with other cities and lobbying in Tallahassee.
“I’m actually doing the job,” Miro told Political Cortadito. “I’m the only one of the candidates who can draw upon work experience and education from the dais.”
Miro, who is officially vice president of business development at Freebee, an on-demand micro transit service, has the same baggage as she did four years ago, namely that she once worked with former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. But this time, she has a secret weapon of sorts: Her campaign manager is Tania Cruz Gimenez, a relentless workaholic who also ran in that same 2021 race and last year helped newly-elected Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz win that historic race.
Wells is the wild card. Let’s just face it. It’s a name thing. Both Miro and Lara end in vowels and that still resonates in the Gables, especially “Old Gables,” which tends to be a large voting chunk. Wells does have the support of the active Coral Gables Neighborhood Association — which helped elect Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez in 2023 — and also the Coral Gables Democratic Club, which has done canvassing for him in North Gables.
But Wells has pointed out that he is not their guaranteed vote, either. He has spoken at city commission meetings against issues that the two and Menendez, as a majority voting bloc, have supported. One good example is the hiring of the new city manager, in which Wells wanted to have a search and a selection committee. He was also against the firing of former City Manager Peter Iglesias because of the $105,000 paid in severance and is against “wasting” $2.6 million on Lago’s proposed mobility hub.
He’s been to the city commission 14 times in the last 18 months and has advocated for Birdie’s Bistro, Fritz and Frantz and more pickleball courts.
He is also self-funding his campaign, paying for signs, events and a postcard as needed, out of pocket. As of March 25, Wells had spent about $16,500 of his own money, according to the campaign finance reports  filed with the city. Wells says that ensures that he is not beholden to anybody. Miro says it puts Wells on par with Lara, who is not self funding but has a fat $129,280 in his campaign account since March of last year. Almost half of Lara’s 269 individual contributors are from outside Coral Gables and many of his donors — lobbyists and development interests — mirror Lago’s.
Read related: Town hall on tiny tax cut in Coral Gables shows residents don’t want it
“Both my opponents have mansions on Coral Way,” Miro told Ladra. “It makes it seem as if in order to run for office in this town, you have to be rich and have $20,000 in disposable income. The hardest part of running for office is doing the fundraising and seeing who is willing to stand behind you.”
Miro has raised more than $35,000 just since January for her campaign bank account, but a whopping 49 of the 62 individual contributions come from outside the Gables. Those people can stand behind her, but they can’t vote for her. And voters won’t know how much she raised in her political action committee, Your Voice, Your Gables, until after the election.
Also among her contributors, Sarnoff and attorney Mason Pertnoy, who has represented both Lago and Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Wells says he is self funding because he is committed to the city. “I care about this because it’s my money,” Wells told Political Cortadito.
He also says that Miro has a conflict of interest in that city has a contract with Freebee for its services.
None of the employee unions have endorsed anybody in this race, but they are all pretty much ABL — Anybody But Lara. Because even they know it would be good for everyone if the election were really just between Wells and Miro.
The post A Coral Gables runoff between Claudia Miro and Thomas Wells would be nice appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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