Miami’s political telenovela just cast another familiar face: Former Miami Mayor and former District 7 Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez wants his old job back — and maybe a rematch with Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Just hours after a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge on Monday declared the Miami City Commission’s election year change by ordinance unconstitutional, effectively rescheduling the cancelled election, Suarez — who had been considering a run and was included in multiple polls — popped out of the shadows to announce its official.
Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote
That’s right. The O.G. of Miami’s Cuban political club, the first island-born mayor of the Magic City, and papi to current Mayor Francis Suarez, is officially hitching a ride in the clown car that is the next Miami mayoral election — whenever that is. He said he would file paperwork Tuesday morning for what’s shaping up to be the most dramatic race for Miami mayor since… well, dare I say 1997?
That was the year of the first mano a mano mess between Suarez and Carollo, who’s been threatening to run for mayor for more than a year. Suarez technically won the race, until it was revealed by The Miami Herald that the election was tainted by absentee ballot fraud. Not only did a dead man vote, but people who lived in Westchester and Broward also voted in the city election. Eso no se puede hacer.
Ladra worked that election investigative story and remembers that Suarez was never officially tied to the AB shenanigans. Suarez just got swept up in the scandal when the court threw out all the ABs, effectively handing Carollo the seat.
And we all know how that turned out — with Carollo yelling at everybody and betraying his supposed allies. So, pretty much what he’s doing now, almost three decades later.
In addition to Carollo, Suarez and Diaz de la Portilla, none of whom have filed any paperwork as of Monday, there are 10 other candidates who have opened bank accounts and made their intentions official. They include Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez — who sued to restore the November election, which commissioners tried to change without voter approval — onetime congressional candidate Michael Hepburn, former Miami-Dade Community Council Member Christian Cevallos, perennial candidates Max Martinez and June Savage and first timers Alyssa Crocker, Ijamyn Joseph Gray and Linda Anderson, who doesn’t stand a chance as an official member of the Socialist Workers Party.
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins could join Miami Mayor’s race
But he is also sorta running against his son. Baby X is termed out in November and, by all indications, was counting on a bonus year in office to increase his net worth with side gigs and fundraise for his next influencer trip to Dubai. The city is appealing a ruling Monday from a Miami-Dade judge who cancelled the cancellation of the November election for mayor and commissioner because the vote last month to move elections from odd to even years was unconstitutional.
In his announcement Monday, Xavier Suarez congratulated Emilio Gonzalez for initiating the lawsuit to challenge the city commission’s change (read: cancellation) of election by ordinance — and took some credit. “I was directly involved in the selection of counsel and contributed significantly to the strategic approach, specifically advising that only indispensable parties be named as defendants,” reads his statement. Ladra thinks he means Carollo, whose attorneys filed an amicus brief.
The senior Suarez also said that his political action committee would campaign against the proposed ballot referendum on lifetime term limits, even though there is a carve out for him and Carollo because they did not serve two full, regular terms. He said the ballot question is misleading. “The city’s charter already provides for term limitations,” Xavier said in his statement. “This proposal seeks to implement retroactive lifetime restrictions and unfairly imposes constraints on individuals who previously served when such limitations did not exist.”
Instead, his PAC will support putting two other questions on the ballot, which are the petitions that have been collected by Stronger Miami, a coalition of community groups including the One Grove Alliance: One would move the elections to even-numbered years by a public vote and the other would expand the commission from five to nine members.
Hey! Isn’t that Russell’s issue?
Read related: Petition aims to add Miami commission districts, change election to even years
Suarez didn’t throw his son completely under the bus, saying that the “city has made commendable progress in maintaining public order, stimulating significant private-sector economic growth, and reducing the millage rate.” But, apparently, not enough progress on property tax relief. X said he supported measures proposed by state legislators and dropped the names of State Representative Vickie Lopez and Florida House Speaker Daniel “Danny” Perez.
Suarez, 76, hasn’t held elected office since he left the county commission in 2020.
Now, all eyes are on Carollo, who lives for this kind of political drama. Will he make it official and file paperwork to set up the rematch nobody asked for — but everybody will watch? Or will he just scream from the dais and call everyone a traitor until the November ballot goes to print?
The deadline to qualify is Sept. 20.
¡Aguántate, Miami! Because the ghosts of elections past are running again.

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The post Former Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez to file for crowded city mayoral race appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez is not only running for mayor in 2020 (probably), he’s got a whole slate of commission candidates he is supporting.
“Ordinarily, it would seem a bit early to engage in those discussions,” Suarez said.
But this is no ordinary election. Term limits approved by voters in 2012 mean that five of the seven county commission seats on the 2020 ballot will be wide open. That makes for a unique opportunity to change the make up of the board — and its priorities — which has people coming out of the woodwork.
That “together with the announcement of various eminent candidates for the five open seats, compels me to make my own plans clear – beginning with what issue and which candidates are likely to advance the county in the right direction,” X said.

Read related: Carlos Gimenez taps commissioner to block return of 1/2 penny funds
Suarez, who announced his endorsements last week, naturally would want allies for his administration and indicated that these candidates will support his efforts to separate the half penny funds from operational and maintenance expenses and implement the S.M.A.R.T. plan.
“Winston Churchill defined ‘squandermania’ as diverting taxpayers’ money for useless or improper purposes,” Suarez said, hinting at a word we might see on the campaign trail. “The misuse of the half-cent for 17 years, totaling $1.8 billion, must end in 2020. I am committed to supporting five new commissioners who will see to that.”
Those candidates are:

District 1: Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert, a “dogged champion and architect of Miami Garden’s renaissance as the eminently livable city in the northernmost region of the county. Recently selected chairman of the Transportation Planning Organization, he has fought for prioritizing the northern corridor of the S.M.A.R.T. Plan and to recoup municipal powers over the site of Hard Rock Stadium.”
District 3: Miami Commissioner Keon Hardeman, who “has distinguished himself as chairman of both the Miami City Commission and the SE Overtown C.R.A. His relentless pursuit of tax increment bond monies resulted in $60 million of financing, including affordable housing and commercial/cultural development, that have already transformed NW 3rd Avenue into one of the most desirable places to live, work, and play in the urban core.
District 7: Former Miami-Dade School Board Member and one-time mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado, who “led the effort to complete and promote MAST Academy, as well as bringing the school system to its present ‘A’ rating. She is a vocal critic of ‘squandermania’ of the half-cent surcharge funds and a strong proponent of the S.M.A.R.T. Plan using rail, as presented to the voters in 2002.”
In District 9: State Rep. and Minority Leader Kionne McGhee., considered “the emotional leader of the battle to bring rail to the South Dade transitway. He, too, is a vocal critic of ‘squandermania’ of the half-cent surcharge funds, testifying before the CITT in the 2017 board meeting that led to the resolution calling for the unwinding of unification by 2019.”
In District 13: Former State Sen. Rene Garcia, “one of the most respected legislators ever to serve our county. He is committed to using the half-cent surcharge for its proper purposes. He has been a steadfast supporter of Medicaid expansion in Florida. Like the others in this slate, he believes that a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens.”

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As the war of words between Carlos Gimenez and his family and Xavier Suarez and his family continues to heat up, a new radio spot paid by the Suarez PAC began to air Tuesday — calling Gimenez a fraud.
Suarez narrates the Spanish language, 60-second spot and makes comparisons between Gimenez and his son, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, asking voters to reject all the county questions on the ballot and vote yes on the three charter amendment questions in the city.
“Democracy gives us the opportunity to reward politicians who represent us well and punish those who defraud us,” Suarez starts, after introducing himself.
“In the city of Miami, Mayor Francis Suarez has worked like a champion for the people. He kept his promise and immediately took out the red light cameras. He goes to the comedores and community meetings day after day. He added free trolleys all over the city. And he connected us by rail to Broward and Palm Beach.
“He asks us to vote yes to the three questions on the ballot,” Suarez says.
Read related: Hypocrite Carlos Gimenez knocks strong mayor, petition pay
“Meanwhile, the county mayor has misspent the half penny tax, to the tune of $100 million a year, and he’s taken control of MDX with its tolls and unnecessary construction,” Suarez said.
“Say no to Gimenez. Vote against the referendums for the county. Vote yes for our Mayor Francis Suarez. Vote yes to the questions in the city of Miami.”
The spot is paid for by Imagine Miami, the senior Suarez’s PAC, which, according the the latest campaign finance reports available, hasn’t raised any money since July and has only spent $20,000 since September, mostly on donations to other candidates and PACs. There is still more than half a million available there to be used through Nov. 6. We’ll find out how much Suarez spent on producing and airing the ad in the next report. Ladra expects it to be on the radio a lot.
In comparison, Gimenez, who is indeed chair of the MDX board, has raised $70,000 for his PAC just in the last two months, using it to send at least four or five mailers urging Miami voters to reject the strong mayor referendum. He’s used the opportunity to attack both Papa X — his nemesis, as his strongest critic on the commission — and Baby X, who las malas lenguas say he will challenge in 2021.
Last month, after Suarez tweeted about $100 million in MDX monies that seemed missing from the budget, but were added later under capital improvements, Gimenez got personal, taking a swipe at X’s time as Miami Mayor and saying he left the city in better shape when he left as city manager, presenting budget figures that sources say his staff got through a public records request at the city.
Read related: Mayor Carlos Gimenez clan involved in Joe Carollo lawsuit vs strong mayor
That would be a second time Gimenez uses county staff or officials for his family feud. The first was when he got Commissioner Rebeca Sosa to tie up the CITT request to disentangle the half-penny tax funds from the operational budget. That vote by the board that voters created to oversee the tax they voted for in 2002 has still not been presented to commissioners (more on that later).
“I have dealt with him politely, almost obsequiously,” said Suarez, who did dial his criticism down last year before ratcheting it up again this summer.
“He has promised me he was going to do it [detangle the half-penny tax funds from the general budget] three or four times — in my house, with his son present — and then went back on all those promises that he made not only to me personally but to the electorate, which is more important.”
Then he went after Baby X, which is unforgivable.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez nets $70K vs city strong mayor — for what in return?
“Without any particular reason, without any consultation, without any discussion, he went after the strong mayor in the city,” Suarez the senior said. “He is already the strong mayor in the county. He has the airport, the seaport, water and sewer and plus now he has MDX. What more do you want?”
He wants to land as mayor in the city of Miami, unseating your boy. That’s what.
“That’s laughable,” Suarez said.
Ouch. Strong words again. Ladra fears that Gimenez will strike back.
“How can he hurt me? Gimenez is termed out,” Suarez said. “I don’t see a political future for him.”

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Is a Miami-Dade county commissioner intentionally delaying the removal of the half-penny People Transportation Plan sales tax from the general operational budget? And is he, or she, doing it on behalf of Mayor Carlos Gimenez?
That’s what it looks like.
It’s been more than a month since the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust, a 15-member body created to oversee the People’s Transportation Plan funded with the half-penny sales tax, voted to rescind an agreement that gave the county permission to use the funds — which voters approved in 2002 to expand rail and bus service — for operations and maintenance.
Their intention was for Gimenez — who campaigned two years ago on adding rail lines (this photo is a screen grab from a TV ad) — to stop balancing the budget with PTP monies starting this year. The resolution, passed Aug. 23, basically recommends the commission “end the greater flexibility in the use of county transit surtax funds for the operation and maintenance of the existing transit system to be effective commencing with fiscal year 2019-2020.”
Read related: No brainer Miami-Dade Commission approves Kendall Parkway despite so much
It rescinds a 2009 board decision that gave the county the ability to use the funds for maintenance and operations after the county said it needed the reallocation because of budget shortfalls after the 2008 recession.
“The resolution was put forward to make the law reflect the desires of the CITT and citizens to expand transportation versus operate the current system,” said CITT member Evan Fancher, who proposed it. “If we make the law reflect our desire to return money to its intended use, next year’s budget will be presented with the money put back toward expansion instead of operations.”
That was wishful thinking.
Last week, before the final budget hearing, Commissioner Xavier Suarez tried to put something on the agenda to approve the CITT’s recommendation, but he was blocked. Another commissioner asked to sponsor legislation first, County Attorney Abigail Price-Williams told him, without telling him who it was but suggesting he schedule a Sunshine meeting.
Without knowing who it was? How is he supposed to do that?
Suarez says that’s either disingenuous or “complicit” in what appears to be an intentional effort to delay the “unwinding unification” of the PTP and general budget funds.
“Prior to the receipt of your legislative request another Commissioner requested to be the Prime Sponsor of legislation that conflicts and/or overlaps with your request,” Miami-Dade County Price-Williams wrote to Suarez on Thursday. “Once the first legislative request is finalized, we will send you that item for your consideration in case you wish to be listed as a Co-Sponsor.  Alternatively, upon our receipt of written confirmation that the first legislative request is released, we will work with your office to complete your legislative request.
“You may also wish to discuss this matter with the first requesting Commissioner at a sunshine meeting called for this purpose or at a publicly noticed meeting,” the attorney ended, signing her email “Take Care, Abi.”
Read related: Rumors persist of a new recall effort to oust Carlos Gimenez
But who is the first commissioner? The one who can hold this up indefinitely? Ah, “Abi” wouldn’t say.
Las malas lenguas say it’s Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who has long been known to support Gimenez in everything he does. “Sosa is holding up the process. Doing the mayor’s work,” said one source.
We’ll find out.
Attorney Paul Schwiep, a member and former chairman of the CITT, has asked for all written communications regarding the agency’s resolution to end the subsidies.
The next day, Commissioner Suarez joined that public records request “which hopefully will elicit any and all communications, including telephone messages, emails, and texts between your office and other county officials,” he wrote in an email to Williams, where he basically accused the county attorney and/or her staff of playing politics.
“You have stated that there is another commissioner who is interested in this matter moving forward.  However, you did not identify the commissioner – yet suggested that I have a Sunshine meeting with this unidentified commissioner. In light of the above, putting my request on hold is at best disingenuous and at worst complicit,” Suarez wrote.

“It is your obligation as well as ours, and the mayor’s, to comply with this action by the CITT, which effectively dissolves a contractual agreement,” Suarez wrote, adding that it was more important to comply with the will of a citizen board than pander to commissioners.
“You have indicated that it’s your policy to only prepare legislative requests that may ‘overlap or conflict’ consecutively rather than concurrently, and only if the first legislative request is ‘released.’  I do not believe this policy supersedes the legal obligation to respond to the CITT’s resolution in a timely manner in accordance with Ordinance 02-177. The Board’s failure to do that is a matter of considerable concern.”
Suarez ended the email promising to find out exactly who is behind the hold up.
“I am intent on getting to the bottom of what appears to be an effort to ignore, delay or permanently frustrate the CITT’s clear mandate that rescinds the county’s right to continue diverting surcharge funds to balance the budget.”

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The word is out there again: Recall
Every so often, there are rumors about a recall of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez — who made his lucky break on the recall of another Carlos — since he was elected after a special and historic mayoral recall.
It happened early last year, after Gimenez cozied up to our racist U.S. president and betrayed this community on sanctuary cities and a few years before that when he proposed to close down libraries and fire police and firefighters. Both times, thousands of people protested and many of them begged for a recall, but no actual petition ever materialized.
In 2014, there was an actual — albeit emotionally-fueled and feeble — recall attempt by a bereaved, retired firefighter father whose son died in a boating accident after the mayor cut fire boat services. Jack Garcia was not able to raise much money for his cause, however, and suspended the campaign after six weeks, calling it a victory because Gimenez restored fire boat services.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez recall is recalled after budget concessions
Today, it’s a number of insults and abuses: The $100k raise he wants, the hiked water fees, the stealing of the half-penny tax to pay for operations, the refusal to build rail to the south, the travel on taxpayer dime, the pushing for the Kendall Parkway MDX extension, the abuse of power to help his lobbyist son, the parceling away of our county piece by piece to his friends and family.
There is definitely an anti-Gimenez sentiment en la calle and Ladra thinks it would not be difficult to collect the 60,000 or so valid signatures we would need, especially during early voting next month and on Nov. 6, when hundreds of thousands of eligible voters head to the polls for the midterms.
Read related: Termed out Mayor Carlos Gimenez gives self undeserved 70% pay raise
But let’s face it: Recall efforts cost money. A lot of money. Just ask auto mogul Norman Braman, who bankrolled the ouster of former mayor Carlos Alvarez to make room for the rise of Gimenez. Ever wonder if Braman is even a little bit sorry? It would cost even more now because Gimenez can raise a ton against it from the interests that benefit from him staying in office.
So, who besides Braman has the kind of money that could make a recall happen? Well, maybe father and son Suarez.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez — who has half a million in his Imagine Miami PAC — wants to be county mayor in 2020 but Gimenez is going to do whatever he can to stop him. And the mayor is already giving Baby X, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a major challenge on the strong mayor referendum. A recall of Gimenez now can save the fam some future headaches.
First, article 8.02 of the Miami-Dade municipal code requires we send a proposed draft petition, including ballot language, to the county clerk, who must give it the legal green light. Any elected official is eligible for recall, but it must be one year since last elected. Check on that.
Read related: Mayor Carlos Gimenez clan involved in Joe Carollo lawsuit vs strong mayor
Then we have to get four percent of the eligible voters of Miami-Dade to sign that approved recall petition. That’s four percent of 1,406,082 (as of last July, so it might be a little more). That means you need to get 56,243 signatures. Or maybe 80,000 signatures or so to make sure that 60,000 are good.
That does not seem insurmountable with the upcoming election coming. Not if you have enough people collecting signatures.
You can also appeal to the nearly half million people who voted for the Pets’ Trust initiative only to have Gimenez slap them in the face and refuse to respect their vote. I’d be willing to bet we can get 50,000 just among them.
Once we collect the signatures, we have to present them back to the clerk for canvassing and confirmation. Once they are confirmed, they go to the county commission, which then has to set the recall election no more than 45 to 90 days after they were confirmed.
That means we could be rid of Gimenez by February. Que alivio.
This is also arguably our last chance to recall him before his term is up in 2020 — and Gimenez can do a lot of damage between now and then. So if anyone is in any kind of position to help fund a recall effort — and yes, X, Ladra is talking to you — please don’t let this timely opportunity slip by.
It’s now or never.

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It took him more than 30 years to finally get a seat at the table, or rather dais. But less than 12 months after being elected to the Miami city commission last November, Manolo Reyes is already campaigning again for next year.
He hasn’t really stopped.
With $116,000 already in the campaign coffers, according to campaign reports filed with the city, Reyes — who won a special election to fill the seat vacated by then commissioner, now mayor Francis Suarez — had a fundraiser Thursday at Cuban Crafters hosted by all four of the other city commissioners. Sources say it netted at least another $30,000.
Reyes is the only incumbent who has started raising money for the 2019 election.
Read related: In Miami, Manolo Reyes finally wins and Carollo vs Leon… or Barreiro?
He may not look like he needs it now, as there is nobody yet lined up against him (activist and wannabe consultant Tony Diaz withdrew), but there are rampant rumors that a female candidate is going to jump in and make a campaign issue out of Miami’s all-male board.
Las malas lenguas say that female candidate is Maryin Vargas, who just lost a barely-there challenge against Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa that got her 24% of the vote.
Vargas — who apparently campaigned mostly in the Flagami neighborhoods that overlap with Miami District 4 — was reportedly recruited by Commissioner Xavier Suarez, who has denied it. He also initially denied putting anyone up against Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, but then endorsed Rafael Alberto Pinyero, who lost with 26% of the vote.
And it might make sense that he wants to run someone against Reyes, who has come out against both his son’s strong mayor initiative and the giveaway of the Melreese Golf Course for a soccer stadium and retail/hotel/office complex.
Even though both those things are coming to the ballot before Reyes, the general sentiment is that the Suarezes would prefer to have someone on the dais that was more friendly to the Baby X agenda.
Either way, anybody pretending to run against Reyes is going to have to catch up to his fundraising lead.

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