Early voting starts Saturday in the Republican primary for House District 114, but voters in the north end may have to drive further to cast a ballot.
This is already a low turnout race, a special election to replace former Democrat State Rep. Daisy Baez, who resigned last year after she was caught living outside her district and lying about it. Gov. Rick Scott called a special election just six months before the real election, presumably to give a Republican, who normally have the edge in special low turnout elections, an incumbency in November for an advantage in the swing seat.
Only three polling places will be open for early voting — the libraries in Coral Gables, Pinecrest and Cutler Bay. The library in Flagami and the West Miami Community Center, which are normally early voting locations, are not included in this race, even though there are voters that live in those precincts.
Does anybody else see a pattern here?
One of the candidates, Jose Pazos, is crying foul. “My base is in the north of the district,” he told Ladra Thursday.
It’s also where a majority of the Cuban or Hispanic voters are concentrated. It’s where the lower income voters are concentrated. It’s probably also where the older voters are concentrated. They may not go if they have to get to Salzedo Street and University Drive in Coral Gables (exactly) to cast their ballots.
Is this voter supression? If Ladra didn’t know any better, we might think there was a concerted effort to keep Latino voters away.
A late night text to Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Christina White Thursday was not answered. But White has likely heard about this already. Pazos said that West Miami Mayor Eduardo Muhiña and newly-elected Miami Commissioner Manolo Reyes — both of whom have consituents who are being disenfranchised — have written letters asking that the two northern polling places be open for early voting.
The other candidate in this primary is Andrew Vargas, an insurance lawyer and named partner of State Rep. Carlos Trujillo, who had signed up to run in House District 119 to replace Jeanette Nuñez, but changed to 114 as soon as Baez announced her resignation. It is widely rumored that Trujillo made the protests in front of Baez’s house happen to speed up her fall from grace so Vargas could run here instead in a special election. Andrew, of course, is expected to do better in Pinecrest et al than Jose.
The winner of this Feb. 20 election (more on this soon) will face Democrat lobbyist Javier Fernandez, who has no primary, in May — which will be another low-turnout special election.
The county and elections officials should be doing everything to engage as many voters as possible, especially in elections where already fewer people will be making this important choice. Perhaps Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, whose constituents are being disenfranchised at the worst and incovenienced at the least, should get involved. Or Miami GOP pres Nelson Diaz.
There is still time to do the right thing. Early voting starts at 8 a.m. Saturday. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
Early voting ends Feb. 18 and is at the following locations:

Coral Gables Branch Library, 3443 Segovia Street, Coral Gables
Pinecrest Branch Library, 5835 SW 111th Street, Pinecrest
South Dade Regional Library, 10750 SW 211th Street, Cutler Bay

And, hopefully, at the West Miami Community Center and the Hispanic library branch in Flagami.

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Tallahassee’s worst kept secret is out. Ladra had heard about an affair between senators Anitere Flores and Oscar Braynon III for more than a year, maybe two. But we didn’t care. Not then. Not really. Not so much now, either. It was only mildly interesting because of its bipartisan nature. Flores is an ultra conserative Republican in District 39 (Kendall). Braynon is a Democrat in District 35 (Miami Gardens).
Other than that, it’s a pretty garden variety soap opera. What should bother people is that someone put secret surveillance on two duly elected lawmakers for some special interest purpose. It isn’t sexual harassment, though it is being bunched into group thought with Jack Latvala‘s and Jeff Clemens‘ very real transgressions. It isn’t corruption — as in the city of Hialeah, where the former mayor’s chief of staff got his side dish a job she was wholly unqualified for (more on that later). It isn’t even non-feasance — unless there was taxpayer paid travel that was unnecessary so the lovebirds could coo far from home. But, really, who can prove “unnecessary”? You say tomato blah blah.
At the end of the day, we are talking about the actions of two consenting adults, longtime friends, on their own time in their own personal space. It is none of our business. Ladra would be far more concerned with all the people rumored to be sleeping around in local government and at the school board, where it’s allegedly led to jobs and contracts.
So why is everybody getting their panties in a bunch about this? Because of  perceived partisan conflicts of interests?
Some folks say Braynon — the minority leader who sought and fundraised for Democrat candidates — tossed his little love bunny an easy peasy candidate in the 2016 election on purpose. Or did you think Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is the best the blue party can do? This is that race that trustfund baby Andrew “Richie Rich” Korge abandoned because, as he said, he was getting no Dem love. Others say the affair may be why Flores blocked those open carry bills last year that most of her colleagues supported. As if Braynon threatened to cockblock her if she didn’t block glocks at committee? Poppycock.
This is all smoke and mirrors intended to keep us away from the real story: Who paid for the secret surveillance and anonymous website and, as importantly, to what end? Is the NRA behind it? This is possible. And the ramifications are far more important than some nerdy policy pillow talk. It’s why there should be an state or FBI investigation.
Many political observers think that former Sen. Frank Artiles — who was forced to resign in shame after a racist and sexist rant with black legislators at a Tallahassee eatery — was the one behind this website as a kind of payback. The video tape that was taken via a secret camera was installed by a private investigator that has reportedly worked for one of Artiles’ well-known Tallahassee lobbyist buddies. But while Artiles certainly has the (un)ethical fortitude to do something like this, we’ve never seen him have such follow through before. He’s all bark, no bite. And how would he fund it? Artiles is mean spirited, but smear campaigns cost money. The NRA has tons of that.
Las malas lenguas told Ladra that there could be an ethics complaint coming. But that was a month ago and nothing has happened. Because there really was no ethics violation. If anything, the relationship proves that Republicans and Democrats can work together if they take their clothes off. I suggest they add a Nude Days to the themed schedule at the capitol, like Lobby Days, Dade Days, Children’s Days and Dentists Day.
No, Ladra thinks maybe the front page story in the Miami Herald was the end game. Maybe that was really the intent of the smear job anonymous website that outed the affair days before session began, with video tape and photographs to go with the allegations but no specific accusations as to just how those affections allegedly affected Florida voters and residents (hint: it didn’t). Ladra suspects there will be no ethics charge coming. In fact, there’s been very little fallout so far, which no doubt was the intention of the lawmakers strange, joint mea culpa “forgive us” announcement as the session began.
“As this 2018 session of the Florida Legislature gets underway, we do not want gossip and rumors to distract from the important business of the people, That’s why we are issuing this brief statement to acknowledge that our longtime friendship evolved to a level that we deeply regret. We have sought the forgiveness of our families, and also seek the forgiveness of our constituents and God. We ask everyone else to respect and provide our families the privacy that they deserve as we move past this to focus on the important work ahead.”
Since then? Nada. Silencio. People have, indeed, given them their privacy.
But (sorry, Anitere) we will hear of this again — in political mailers and TV ads. Not by the Dems. They don’t attack each other with the same relish the Republicans have for one another. And hasn’t Anitere borne the brunt of the slutshaming in this case, although both she and Braynon are married? How sexist is that? Anyway, even though Flores is termed out this year, everyone knows she has (had?) other political ambitions right here at home (otherwise she’d have to get a real job). Some think county commissioner. Others believe Miami-Dade mayor is more her size. She could also be headed up, into Congress or U.S. Senate. Why not? Either way, Flores was unlikely to fade into the footnotes — until now. A young mother of two, this can’t be easy on her personally. And if she runs, especially for anything so fiercely competitive and dirty as county mayor, she will have to face a wildly ugly negative and selatious smear campaign. She may choose not to.
Which may have been the idea. And that is why this needs to be investigated. Because the whole thing could have been set up by political operatives pre-empting Flores’ future electability. Think about it. She would be a formidable fundraiser and supremely viable 2020 candidate for mayor. And you know there is a long list of people already eyeing that job for themselves. County commissioners Esteban Bovo and Xavier Suarez are just the most obvious.
So then wouldn’t this be political extortion? It is not sexual harassment but it is, at the very least, political harassment, which is just as bad if not worse. If the intention here is to run someone out of office, in other words silence Braynon or Flores or, worse, coerce them to vote a particular way — or to push a particular bill through committee — then this entire smear campaign should be investigated as a crime. Even if it was Artiles behind it, the voters in Senate District 40 — where he intends to challenge Sen. Annette Taddeo (never thought I’d be typing those words) this year, believe it or not — deserve to know the lengths to which Magilla Gorilla will go to avenge his detractors.
Who paid that investigator for the video and whoever built the website? Was it Artiles? Was it the NRA? Was it someone else? Shouldn’t we find out?
Ladra calls on the FLDE and Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the creation of the website and the video tape that implicated the two legislators. After all, today it’s Flores and Branyon, but tomorrow it could be another senator, a state rep or your friendly, local city council member being strongarmed by the NRA or some solid waste company or gaming giant. Ladra sees a whole cottage industry exploding if there are no consequences.
Not for Flores and Braynon. But for whoever could be extorting them.

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Ladra has mixed feelings about the results of the Miami commission runoff.
On the one hand, there is dread for the people of Miami who now have Commissioner Crazy Joe Carollo to deal with. But on the other hand, Political Cortadito has four more years of fun ahead, as well as perhaps more national appeal even. The political blogger is thrilled. The government watchdog and justice seeker is somewhat disappointed, to say the least.
Why? Some people believe that Carollo is the uncorruptable whistleblower type that Miami needs. But Ladra has seen him evolve in the last few years, supporting people like Doral Mayor Luigi Boria and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and all the inside deals both of those politicos entail. You can bet that this gives the Gimenez friends and family — who helped Carollo in this campaign and were front and center at the victory party — a new express lane in their governmental welfare pursuits.
Read related story: Joe Carollo implies alliance with brother, Bruno Barreireo, in mailer
Don’t be surprised if you see one of the county mayor’s children get a job in the city. My money is on Barby Rodriguez-G, the daughter-in-law with the water and sewer job, the one who isn’t hooking up with a former senator in Boston hotel rooms (that we know of anyway).
Carollo won pretty easily. He had 56% of the vote with just the absentee ballots counted shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday. Because of low turnout, it was a 280-vote gap that Alfie Leon, the former policy advisor for Commissioner Frank Carollo, could make up…but didn’t. By the time early voting was counted, that gap grew to 336 votes. Election Day couldn’t save Alfie.
While he closed the gap with 117 more votes on Election Day than Crazy Joe, it wasn’t enough. With 16 of 17 precincts reporting at 8 p.m., Carollo still won with 52% to his 48%.  The last precinct would have to be the biggest and in Leon’s own neighborhood for him to come back from this. And it’s certainly not a mandate for Carollo. But still comfy enough that he’ll be insoportable from the get-go.
Who am I kidding? Ya esta insoportable.
On his way to become the protagonist and maybe run for mayor against Mayor Francis Suarez in 2021 — because you know that’s the end game, right? — we can rely on Carollo to make news on the regular. We probably don’t even have to wait for commission meetings. The Miami Herald should give David Smiley a raise and an intern.

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Former Miami Mayor Joe Carollo, in a runoff Tuesday for his brother’s city commission seat, dropped a mailer Friday that indicates he is being endorsed by both his brother, Commissioner Frank Carollo, and Zoraida Barreiro, another commission candidate — and wife of Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro — who came in third in the Nov. 7 election.
But it doesn’t look like a real endorsement and actually stinks of fake news.
The mailer doesn’t explicitly say that that his brother and the Barreiros support Carollo. Instead, it uses photographs of the families and really vague language that certainly leave that impression.
“The Barreiro and Carollo families are united to keep working together in our community,” reads the front, with pictures of the Barreiro family and Frank Carollo’s family flanking a photo of Joe Carollo and his wife.
The other side of the mailer, paid for by the Miami Firefighters political action committee, says “Years of service to the community cannot be forgotten. While others just finished moving to our area promising villas and castles, the Barreiro and Carollo families have a long tradition of working for our community.”
Read related story: It’s Alfie Leon and ‘everybody and their mothers’ vs Joe Carollo in runoff
Carollo was forced into a runoff with Alfie Leon, his brother’s former policy aide, after he failed to get more than 30% of the vote. He already got the endorsement of the two last place finishers, Alex Dominguez and Jose Suarez. But they didn’t even get 10% combined. A nod from Zoraida Barreiro, who got 20%, (and, by extension, Commissioner Bruno) could certainly give him an edge over Leon. And he needs it because everybody else is working against Crazy Joe.
Calls and texts to Commissioner Bruno Barreiro were not immediately returned. But he had told Ladra earlier this week that he and his wife would not be endorsing or supporting Carollo.
Freddy Delgado, president of the Miami firefighters union, did not immediately return a call and text from Ladra. He might be dodging all journalists because of the four firefighters that got fired for harassing a black colleague.
It is entirely possible that the picture of the Barreiros and their two children, as well as the photo of Frank Carollo’s family, was used without their explicit permission. The mailer’s language is vague and general enough and it doesn’t say they are endorsing him, although it does say they are “united,” but, since it is in Spanish, that could mean that they are both involved in helping the community — not that they do it together.
Certainly one would think that if Carollo had the official Barreiro seal of approval, the campaign and/or the firefighters PAC would put that out front and center and use more specific words, like “endorse” and “support.”
So this looks like an intention to fool the voting public.
Unless both Carollo’s brother and the Barreiros are — wink, wink, nod, nod — helping him without explicitly saying they are helping him by just looking the other way. After all, if they were not supporting him, one would also think that Commissioner Barreiro — who is running for Congress and could have made a deal — would not wait to say so.

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Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz will launch his re-election campaign in Doral Thursday with the mayors of five cities in his district who are supporting his bid.
Doral Mayor Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, Hialeah Gardens Mayor Yioset De La Cruz, Virginia Gardens Mayor Spencer Deno and Medley Mayor Roberto Martell will host the kick-off and fundraiser for Diaz, which starts at 5:30 p.m. at The Flats Apartments at CityPlace, 3555 NW 83rd Ave., on the 6th floor.
But wait. There are six cities in District 12.
Conspicuously missing from the list is Orlando Lopez, the mayor of Sweetwater, which is where Diaz cut his political teeth as a city commissioner and was then mayor in 1999 before his first run for county office in 2002. There’s some bad blood there. It’s why Diaz tried to get Lopez recalled earlier this year. No invite for him.
Read related story: Sweetwater race results are a loss for Miami-Dade’s Pepe Diaz
Sweetwater has always been a city divided by factions. Diaz, who is aligned with the anti Lopez faction, has said he only supported the recall, which was allegedly a citizen-led effort. But Lopez sued successfully to stop it — the recall was based on his multiple absences from meetings, which is not a requirement of the mayor’s job per city charter — and a consultant working for the political action committee, Providing Effective Government All Residents, admitted in testimony that the first person to contact him about it was the commissioner. It was reported in Diario Las Americas. But other sources have confirmed that Diaz was behind the petition drive.
Diaz also supported candidates against Lopez and the Lopez faction in May’s election, even though he learned that he doesn’t have as much influence as he’d like in his old stomping grounds, where even his brother-in-law, former Commission Chairman Jose Bergouignan, was kicked out of office.
So, there’s bad blood there. In fact, Ladra would be surprised if Lopez doesn’t find someone to run against Diaz, who is more vulnerable than ever because of his DUI arrest in Key West last year? Imagine that mugshot on campaign mail!
Read related story: Commissioner Jose ‘Pepe’ Diaz arrested on DUI in Key West
“Pepe is the one who sponsored the recall effort against me. If there is any candidate that runs against him, I would glaly support and help them,” Lopez told Ladra Wednesday. “I’m hoping somebody comes out of the woodwork.”
But who? The only viable name that people have brought up in recent years is Bermudez — and obviously he is not running for the county seat at least until Diaz terms out. Not if he’s  hosting Thursday. And nobody else has raised their hand. It’s too bad that Doral Councilwoman Ana Maria Rodriguez is running for state rep (more on that later) because she would be a titan against the incumbent.
Diaz has never really been challenged. He coasted into office in 2002 with 85% of the vote against M. Lina Pumariega, whoever that is. Then he was re-elected automatically when nobody filed to run against him in 2006. In 2010, Heather Pernas got 24% with $600 to his $325,550. She obviously did not campaign at all — and still got one out of every four votes.
And then the Pet’s Trust people put someone up against Diaz in 2014 because they felt betrayed. He said he would respect the vote of the people, who approved a massive spay and neuter program for strays by 65% of the vote, and then did nothing when Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez ignored the mandate. Marjorie Figueira got 27% of the vote without really any kind of absentee ballot operation or publicity and only $2,093 to his $363,595.
There’s a pattern here.
So we know already that just anybody will automatically get 25% of the vote as a protest against Diaz. Not a bad start. Imagine if the candidate has a little more money. Add to that the Pets Trust supporters and the DUI thing and the fact that the incumbent has been there 16 years and Sweetwater voters se estan cansando de el and you’ve got the best chance to make a change next year on the county commission right there in District 12.
Even with five city mayors behind him.

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