Early voting starts Friday for runoffs in Hialeah, Miami and Miami Beach

Three days of early voting for the election runoffs in Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah start Friday and end Sunday. Election Day is Tuesday. After that, we will have a new mayor and new commissioner in Miami and new representatives in the other two cities.
But the races in Miami, where almost 13,700 voters have cast mail-in or absentee ballots as of Thursday, are the main attraction.
In the mayoral contest, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins — who just gave up three years on her seat to run for the top job in Miami — is facing former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who sued the city to get the elections back on in the first place after commissioners voted to move it to 2026 (and extend their terms by a year).
Read related: Eileen Higgins heads into partisan Miami mayoral runoff with momentum
Higgins is the front runner and is poised to become Miami’s first female mayor — following her BFF Daniella Levine Cava‘s historic election as Miami-Dade’s first female mayor. We may soon have two La Alcaldesas.
Turnout is below 8% as of Thursday. But let’s be clear: Without Gonzalez, nobody would be casting ballots in Miami right now.
Ladra thinks he could have won if he hadn’t gone hyper partisan. Gonzalez will be kicking off the early voting weekend Friday at a “Keep Miami red get-out-the-vote” rally at Little Havana’s venerable Versailles restaurant, sponsored by the Republican Party of Miami-Dade and featuring Sen. Rick Scott and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar.
Also on the ballot is the commission race in District 3, where Joe Carollo is termed out. His baby brother Frank Carollo, who held the seat for eight years before Joe, is running against political newcomer Rolando Escalona, the manager at the popular downtown Sexy Fish. This one is more of anyone’s guess. Frank Carollo — who famously does not get along with his brother — has the name rec. But Joe lost the mayor’s race even in his own district, indicating voters may not want four more years of a Carollo.
And Escalona, for a newbie, has a lot of political support, including the same Higgins machinery run by consultant Christian Ulvert. So, let’s not underestimate him.
Read related: Miami Beach commission runoff: Two women, one seat — and the city’s future
In Miami Beach, you have the uber partisan race between longtime City Hall staffer Monica Matteo-Salinas, who has worked for two city commissioners, and MAGA-backed lawyer Monique Pardo Pope, the daughter of a Hitler-loving cop-turned-serial killer executed in Florida by lethal injection in 2012 who she calls her “hero” on social media that has since been scrubbed. She is also backed by the Christian Family Coalition, which is kind of a double whammy.
Behind Matteo-Salinas you have Commissioner Alex Fernandez, one of Matteo-Salinas’ former bosses, and Commissioner Laura Dominguez — both of whom won re-election rather easily Nov. 4.
“Monica is exactly the kind of leader Miami Beach deserves — compassionate, capable, and committed to doing what’s right for our residents,” Fernandez said. “She understands the seriousness of government and the respect our residents deserve.
“Having worked directly with Monica, I’ve seen firsthand the years she spent helping people navigate City Hall with compassion and integrity — fighting for families, schools, safety, and the character of our city.”
Dominguez echoed Fernandez’s confidence in the single mom and PTA veteran’s ability to serve effectively.
“Monica Matteo-Salinas has earned the trust of our community through her years of service, her compassion, and her results-driven approach,” Dominguez said. “She knows Miami Beach and our potential. Monica is exactly the kind of voice we need on the City Commission: experienced, empathetic, and focused on the issues that matter most to our residents.”
Who does Pardo Pope have, besides Daddy cheering on from Hell? Commissioner David Suarez, whose brother-in-law was arrested in the wee hours of Election Day last month — driving an unregistered golf cart that reportedly belongs to Suarez — after being caught on video removing Dominguez campaign signs and replacing them with developer’s favorite Fred Karlton’s.
Oh, and the bigots at the GOP and CFC, which might as well merge into one at this point.
Still, very few people are interested. Only 3,435 people have voted via absentee or mail-in ballot so far, according to the supervisor of elections website. That’s just over 8%.
Read related: Bryan Calvo breaks the Hialeah machine, wins mayor’s race outright
In Hialeah, where there are two open council seat runoffs, we have less than 5% turnout, with only 3,741 absentee or mail-in ballots received so far.
Gelien Perez, who worked for the city’s Human Resources Department, got 40.5% of the vote Nov. 4 and faces Jessica Castillo, who works in medical insurance sales and came in second with 36% in the Group 3 race. Perez was investigated by the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics & Public Trust, which concluded that there were signs she used her city position to benefit her private real estate business. Several of her real estate clients were also city employees under her supervision and, during that period, received substantial raises.
Now, that’s a great marketing plan.
In the Group 5 race, university student William “Willy” Marrero — the only candidate on Mayor Jacqueline García-Roves’ slate who didn’t lose Nov. 4 — got 25% of the vote in a five-way contest and faces land surveyor Javier Morejon who got just over 23%. This will likely be a close race. The difference in the first round was just 235 votes.
Morejon was chairman of the Hialeah Beautification Board and former vice chairman of the Miami-Dade County Historic Preservation Board. Marrero has served as an intern for Miami-Dade Commissioner Rene Garcia and as the administrative assistant to Hialeah Councilman Luis Rodriguez, who was re-elected Nov. 4. He also serves on the city’s centennial committee. The 21-year-old Florida International University student could become the youngest councilman elected ever, taking the record away from Mayor Elect Bryan Calvo, who was elected a commissioner at age 23.
“That’s okay,” Calvo told Political Cortadito. “Records are meant to be broken.”
Calvo also told Ladra that he has endorsed Perez, who was on the slate with mayoral candidate Jesús Tundidor, and Marrero, who was the interim mayor’s ally, in the two races. “I sat down with all four of them,” Calvo said. “I thought it was important to be conciliatory with the other camps. And out of the candidates there, I think these two are the best ones.”
For a full list of hours and locations for early voting, go the Supervisor of Elections website.
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