Fundraising reports for Miami mayoral race show millions are being invested

PACs are where the big money is at
The third quarter campaign finance reports for the Miami mayoral candidates seem to indicate a slow growth in economic means for the candidates. Political action committees are another matter, however, for those lucky enough to have them.
Miami-Dade Commmissioner Eileen Higgins, for example, got only $67,670 for the three month period through Sept. 30 for her campaign account, for a total of $155,000. But she netted more than $407,000 for her PAC, Ethical Leadership in Miami, which is almost three times that. The PAC has collected a total of almost $658,000.
Former City Manager Emilio Gonalez raised $89,800 in the third quarter, his second report, for a total of $159,081. But his PAC, Mission Miami, took in another $222,000 for a total of just over $903,000.
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That’s already almost $2 million between them. But goes to more than $3 million when you add City Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Crazy Joe reported $26,550 in campaign contributions for the quarter, including many small bundles. But that’s because he’s been busy with his own PAC, Miami First, which reported an additional $686,230 in contributions, including $100,000 from an investment firm in Middleberg, Florida, just southwest of Jacksonville. The other biggies are:

$25,000 from auto mogul and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, who has been deeply and consistently involved in Miami-Dade politics for decades — and practically funded the historic 2011 recall against then-Mayor Carlos Alvarez — using his personal wealth to act as a major political benefactor.
$25,000 from competing auto mogul Mario Murgado, who took pains to hide it, making it in the name of his Maserati dealership in New Jersey, for whatever reason, instead of Brickell Motors
$15,000 from Bayside Marketplace, which could be gratitude from his days as chairman of the Bayfront Park Management Trust or could be a shakedown.
$15,000 from construction consultant David Portal.
$10,000 from real estate investor and developer Craig Robbins, in four separate checks.
$10,000 from uber-connected lobbyist Melissa Tapanes.

Carollo’s PAC’s total, just for this election, so far? Close to $1.4 million.
Braman is hedging his bets, giving $10,000 also to the Imagine Miami PAC that belongs to former Miami-Dade Commissioner Mayor Sir Xavier Suarez, who wants his son’s job, which he had in the 90s. That’s more than the $12,850 that he got in total contributions for his campaign account. The PAC reported a total of $106,000, with $15,000 also coming from Maria Martin, wife of developer David Martin, who wants to take over the Rickenbacker Causeway (more on that later); $15,000 from Liberty Mission Critical, an electrical contractor; $15,000 from attorney Fernando Pomares; $12,500 from PMA Consultants, a construction management firm; $10,000 from OKO Group, owned by developer billionaire Vladislav Doronin, who has been described as a Russian oligarch; and another $10K from commercial real estate professional Teresa Blanca.
Former City Commissioner Ken Russell reported a meager $26,592 in contributions for the three months ending in September. His campaign total is an equally unimpressive $101,453. But his PAC, Break the Wheel, reported $43,000 in contributions in the same time. That includes $20,000 in bundled $5,000 checks from real estate investor David Medina and $10,000 from South Pointe Construction and Development, which helped build a medical office building in Coral Gables and affordable housing in Fort Lauderdale.
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Former City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla — arrested in 2023 on 14 public corruption charges, including bribery and money laundering, that were later dropped — had to reach into his own pocket to report anything, loaning himself $100,000 from his “lucrative” political consulting business to add to the $1,000 he got from an auto shop owner in Allapattah. ADLP, who got $100K for his PAC, Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade, from the same couple that was accused of bribing him in 2023 — he is defiant, if nothing else — collected a big fat nothing for his committee in the last quarter, according to his report, which lists a total in contributions at $278,000, but that includes $142K from himself. So he’s mostly self-funding this redemption tour.
Candidates Michael Hepburn, in his fifth try for public office, and former Miami-Dade Community Council member Christian Cevallos are also mostly self funding, but neither has surpassed $40,000. The other five candidates have not gotten even $4,000 in contributions: Laura Anderson, Elijah John Bowdre, Alyssa Crocker, Kenneth James DeSantis, and June Savage.
As far as total spending, so far, Gonzalez and Higgins also lead the pack, with $141,400 and $123,000, respectively, spent from their campaign accounts — and $651,215 and $553,228 from their PACs, respectively. Most of the money went to advertising and direct mail pieces. ADLP has spent $438,000, mostly from his PAC, since November, including $27,500 for a poll in September — right before qualifying, maybe to see if he’d do it — and $5,000 a month to political consultant Sasha Tirador. The rest goes mostly to gas, phone bills printing and “wages” for “campaign workers.”
Ken Russell has spent just over $166,000 as of the end of last month, including $52,000 paid to his political consultant Fernando Diez. He also spent $24,500 on polling data in April and $20K on a vote by mail campaign.
Suarez has spent almost all his campaign money, and all but $82,000 of his PAC funds, including close to $150,000 in “marketing,” which includes $2,500 to former Miami Commissioner Richard Dunn. He also gave $2,500 to the Stronger Miami PAC, which is collecting signatures to, among other things, expand the commission from 5 to 7 or 9 seats.
Christian Cevallos has spent $12,746, including $5,500 to his campaign manager — himself. The rest is mostly on printing, mailing and camp.
There are two more campaign finance reports due before the Nov. 4 election, one on Oct. 24 and another on Halloween. Expect that one to be scary.
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