Everybody knew that the Miami mayoral election wasn’t going to be nonpartisan. Not really. Not with these people. Not in these times.
We’ve already seen the attacks. The Republican Party of Florida compared Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, a Democrat, to New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, because that’s a bad thing in Miami. And the Florida Democratic Party call former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez the MAGA mayor, using the tired and emotional phrase coined by President Donald Trump.
But things are now turning positive now.
Read related: Poll has Eileen Higgins in Miami mayoral runoff with Emilio Gonzalez
On Tuesday, Gonzalez rolled out an endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose own relative is one of the 13 candidates. That includes Kenneth James Desantis, who might have been snubbed by “Uncle Ron” because he’s an independent and not a GOP voter. Or maybe he doesn’t even know a member of the fam is running. “I have not spoken to him,” Kenneth DeSantis told Ladra.
The guv cited the former manager’s proven record of service, integrity, and leadership in defending Miami voters’ right to cast ballots this November. Gonzalez sued after the Miami city commission voted to move election years from odd- to even-numbered, in order to coincide with state and national elections, which effectively cancelled this year’s election and extended everybody”s term, by a year. The courts agreed with Gonzalez’s attorneys, that the move violated the city and the county’s charter because they did not go out to a public vote.
“I’m pleased to endorse Colonel Emilio González for Mayor of Miami,” DeSantis said in a statement from the campaign. “With 26 years of military service and experience at both federal and local levels, Emilio has shown his commitment to our nation and Miami. When local officials tried to cancel the election and extend their own terms, a  clear violation of term limits, Emilio stepped up and stopped them in court five times. Emilio is committed to providing property tax relief, strengthening public safety, and reducing government. red tape,” said Governor DeSantis.
Read related: Partisan politics seize hold of Miami mayoral election already with attacks
He bypassed five other Republicans running include Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo,  former Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, Christian Cevallos, Alyssa Crocker and June Savage.
Gonzalez called the governor’s nod both an “honor and a responsibility” that he would take seriously.
“When the political class tried to cancel this year’s election, we went to court and won so Miami residents could vote,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “As mayor, I will bring that same resolve to end corruption at City Hall, restore accountability, and put Miami’s residents—not insiders—first.
“Miami needs a mayor who will stand up to entrenched interests, protect taxpayers, and deliver results,” González added. “That has been the hallmark of my career — from 26 years in the U.S. Army to serving our community here at home. I’m grateful for Governor DeSantis’s confidence, and I’m ready to get to work for the people of Miami.”
On her part, the Higgins campaign delivered a mailer Tuesday that touts her as “The Trusted Democrat.”
Read related: Eileen Higgins qualifies for Miami mayoral race, launches new video ad
On one side, it says “November can e the month we put a stop to the extremist MAGA agenda,” and “Commissioner Eileen Higgins is the ONLY candidate Democrats trust to protect our rights, our democracy and our values.” It also says she will end the “chaos, corruption and MAGA extremism.”

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It’s officially a circus — with 13 clowns crowded under the tent.
Both Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, once allies but now estranged, finally entered the Miami mayoral election Saturday, making good on their threats. They will definitely stand out among the 11 other egos vying for that one chair.
That’s not a ballot. That’s a basketball team.
Read related: Commisioner Joe Carollo files initial paperwork to run for Miami mayor
The candidates officially are:

Joe “Crazy Joe” Carollo – The comeback king who just won’t quit, despite juries, judges, and almost fistfights telling him otherwise.
Alex Díaz de la Portilla – Suspended, scandal-plagued, and still shameless enough to want to come back. Or maybe he’s just creating a situation so contributors can pay for his cell phone and other goodies? Again. Everyone knows that Diaz de la Portilla lives off his political action committee.
Xavier Suarez – The “once and maybe future” mayor, forever chasing the glory days of the ’90s.
Eileen Higgins – The county commissioner who is abandoning her office mid term to scale up.
Ken Russell – The paddleboarding ex-commissioner who left the dais to run for Congress and probably regrets it.
Emilio González – The former city manager who sued the city to get this November election restored after commissioners voted to change election years from odd to even — and effectively cancelled this year’s races for mayor and commission. They’re back on tanks tooth’s guy. .

There are seven more: Laura Anderson, Elijah John Bowdre, Christian E. Cevallos, Alyssa Crocker, Kenneth James Desantis, Michael A. Hepburn and June Savage. But the aforementioned six are going suck all the oxygen out of the room.
Carollo, of course, waited until the 11th hour like the drama king he is. With the clock ticking toward Saturday’s 6 p.m. deadline, the 70-year-old commissioner shuffled into City Hall with wife Marjorie on his arm and an entourage of loyalists in tow. He agonized, he said. He wasn’t sure, he said. It wasn’t an easy decision, he said.
Yeah, sure. Like anybody is really surprised. And anybody who heard his morning radio show on Friday — when he told listeners he had a big announcement on Monday — knew he had made up his mind.
Carollo is termed out and has no place to go. And he needs to be elected so the city can keep paying his legal bills. Ooooh, I bet there’s a mailer in the works with that message. So, by 2:30 p.m., after a staged hour of suspense as the  commission chambers filled up with his supporters, Carollo strutted up to the clerk’s window, handed in his paperwork, and declared this was “the last time” he would run for office. (Stop laughing, Ladra hears you in the back.)
Read related: Eileen Higgins qualifies for Miami mayoral race, launches new video ad
Supporters — including his attorney and longtime enabler, former City Commissioner turned lobbyist Marc Sarnoff, who suddenly became just a “friend” — broke into applause as if they had witnessed a coronation instead of a filing. Sarnoff even predicted Joe would make the runoff, pointing to the turnout in the room as proof he will get votes.
We know he’ll get at least 50 votes, Marc.
And if Carollo was still thinking about it until the last minute, how did his supporters know to show up at the time they did? When did they synchronize their watches? Nobody else came with such a big entourage.
ADLP is likely jealous. He is back, too, qualifying Saturday only a few days after filing his initial paperwork. Diaz de la Portilla is looking for redemption after his arrest in 2023 on public corruption charges, including bribery and money laundering.
If there’s anyone who can turn Miami’s mayor’s race into a rerun of Caso Cerrado, it’s these two.
Carollo’s entry also sets up a juicy ‘90s flashback — a rematch with Xavier Suarez, the same guy who beat him in 1997 before the election was thrown out for fraud and Joe was installed as mayor anyway. Carollo reigned until 2001, when voters finally sent him packing, only for him to resurface in 2017 and make City Hall toxic again.
Read related: How much longer will Miami taxpayers pay for Crazy Joe Carollo’s lawyers?
Since then, the man’s been busy: getting slapped with multimillion-dollar judgments for political retaliation against Little Havana businessmen, stripped of his Bayfront Park fiefdom after accusations of self-dealing, and almost coming to blows with Commissioner Miguel Gabela on the dais. And now he wants to be mayor again — for the city, not for him, he says.
Riiiiiight.
This mayor’s race was already a clusterbunch. Now it’s officially a circus.
Or maybe more like a demolition derby, with 13 cars on the track and a few drivers who probably shouldn’t even have a license.
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Residents at budget hearings urge county to defund
As it scrambled to cover a $402 million budget gap, raised fees and cut corners on some services, the county still found ways to shovel millions into Israel bonds at a time when most of the world is condemning what can only be described as genocide in Gaza.
Many activists and residents want the county to stop funding that conflict. It’s not just activists from Jewish Voice for Peace and other progressive groups putting Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in the hot seat over Israeli bonds. It’s her own son.
Ted Cava showed up to the second budget hearing last week. He didn’t speak at the podium. But he had a black t-shirt that said “Jews say Divest from Genocide” in bright yellow letters and he told The Miami Herald that it has caused a riff in the family. Levine Cava is the first Jewish mayor in the county. “But she’s wrong on this,” Ted Cava told The Herald.
Read related: Miami-Dade passes final $12.9 million budget — sans transit fare increases
While most of the speakers during a combined 10 hours of public comment at two Miami-Dade County budget hearings this month were there to urge for 100% restoration of county funding to community based organization and the arts or beg for no increases in transit fares, quite a few called on the county to divest from the $151 million stash of Israeli government bonds that Levine Cava and commissioners have treated like a patriotic piggy bank.
Just this summer, the county quietly renewed another $20 million in bonds, while telling taxpayers to brace for belt-tightening.
“Unrestricted and unaccountable financial support,” is what activists call it. They argue that every dollar locked up in Israeli bonds could be used here — on transit, housing, infrastructure — instead of underwriting a foreign government’s war machine.
And they’ve got the receipts. Jared Simon of the South Florida Break the Bonds campaign said it’s not just a moral issue, it’s fiscal mismanagement: “That the county decided to further commit tens of millions of taxpayer funds to Israel — at a time when it is unable to fully fund its own budget and Israel, according to the UN, is killing or injuring 100 children a day in Gaza — should strike every resident of Miami-Dade as fiscally irresponsible and morally disgraceful.”
But county hall isn’t budging. A spokesperson defended the bonds as a “worthy investment” that still carry an A rating, even if Moody’s downgraded Israel last year. And Levine Cava has already framed the money as more than just an investment. Remember after the October 7 Hamas attacks? She announced an extra $25 million purchase specifically to “send a clear message that Miami-Dade stands together with Israel.”
The commission backed her up, passing a resolution co-sponsored by Micky Steinberg, Rene Garcia, Anthony Rodriguez, Kevin Cabrera, Danielle Cohen Higgins and Eileen Higgins, praising Israel and condemning Hamas.
At the first budget hearing, Steinberg, Garcia and Rodriguez doubled down on the policy.
Steinberg said the investment is purely a financial decision.
“These bonds have an average yield of 5.01%,” she said at the first budget hearing, adding that they are “investment grade,” and that it has “no budgetary impact” to the 2025-26 budget.
“I do reject the inaccurate and offensive narrative,” Steinberg said, but then admitted that the financial return was not the only factor. “My support is based on the investment quality and support for our ally, the only Democracy in the Middle East.”
She’s not entirely wrong. While there have been some signs of burgeoning democratic political process in places like Tunisia — where it has backslid significantly since the 2011 revolution — and Kuwait, which has an elected parliament but also a freaking king. The region is mostly comprised of authoritarian regimes. But some might include Israel in that, when it comes to Palestine. The government has been criticized by international human rights observers for years about the apartheid and occupation of Gaza.
Now, it’s escalated to genocide. It’ official.
Read related: Madness marathon: Observations from the first Miami-Dade budget hearing
A United Nations commission of inquiry report released last week says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out against Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births. It cites statements by Israeli leaders, and the pattern of conduct by Israeli forces, as evidence of genocidal intent.
But that’s not the only good reason to pull the money out. While Israel bonds historically have been higher risk so higher yield, many credit rating agencies have recently downgraded Israel’s sovereign credit rating. Moody’s cut it to Baa1, with a negative outlook, reflecting heightened geopolitical risk. S&P Global also downgraded Israel from “AA-” to “A+”, citing ongoing conflict and risk of escalation. Fitch likewise lowered its rating. The likelihood is it will slide lower. The outlook is negative.
Israel bonds may also be less liquid than, say, U.S. Treasuries. If you need to sell before maturity, it might be harder to find a buyer or you could have to accept a discount. So there are pros, sure. But there are plenty of cons.
And, of course, the moral issue. It may have been okay before. Tolerable. Maybe. But it’s not okay now.
The mayor insists the decision is out of her hands now that the clerk controls the county’s investments, and she’s stuck to carefully worded statements like, “No child, no human, should ever spend days without access to food.” But those posts haven’t quieted protests that keep dogging her town halls — or her own son’s decision to “take our family disagreement public.”
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava defends new budget, service cuts
Levine Cava was diplomatic when The Herald asked about the unusual family feud: “I know many, many people — including in my own family — who are extremely concerned about the situation, as am I, and exactly how we deal with it. Yes. There are differences, of course.”
Her son told the Herald that it’s a generational split with most Jewish families he knows. That reminds Ladra of most Cuban families she knows — but with the Trump thing.
Miami-Dade is not the only municipality in Florida whose investment policy specifically funnels money to Israel. Since 2016, every time one of these bonds matures, the county just rolls it over. The biggest single check was $60 million in 2020. Now the total sits at $151 million, spread across five active purchases. Of that, $25 million mature in November. Three more next year. And activists say it’s time to break the cycle. They don’t want the county to reinvest that money.
Meanwhile, Palm Beach County holds $700 million in Israel bonds — the single largest investor in the world — and Miami Beach doubled its stake to $20 million last year.
But here in Miami-Dade, the question is sharper: If we don’t have enough to cover the county’s own budget — when we are cutting abuelito‘s meals and closing a senior center and slashing programs and firing people — why are we lending money to another country?
Because let’s be real — that’s the people’s money. All the people. And they want the county to stop spending their money on war.

To learn more about the history, culture and pain of the Palestinian people, follow and subscribe to Pulso Oriente on YouTube.

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Ladra hopes you weren’t planning a peaceful stroll through downtown Miami without a sidearm. Because Florida’s top cop — handpicked by Gov. Ron DeSantis himself — just told everyone to holster up and show it off.
Because that’s what we need in the Sunshine State: more guns.
Attorney General James Uthmeier, a DeSantis loyalist appointed earlier this year who is already eyeing a 2026 run, sent out a memo early last week that reads more like a campaign flyer than legal guidance. In it, he declared that open carry is now the law of the land in Florida — despite confusion, disagreement, and a whole lot of “wait, what?”
He didn’t just whisper it, either. He blasted it out on X with the memo attached, like some kind of campaign launch ad.
“Meaning that, as of last week, open carry is the law of the state,” Uthmeier posted on X, formerly Twitter, with all the confidence of a man who’s never had to walk through Miami Gardens with hardware on his hip.
Florida now becomes the 47th state to allow open carry, which means you can visibly carry a legally owned firearm in plain sight. Only California, Illinois, New York and Washington, D.C., still ban the open display of firearms.
Read related: Mass shooting at FSU elicits ‘thoughts and prayers’ but no real gun solution
This sudden shift comes after a Tallahassee appeals court struck down Florida’s 40-year-old ban on openly carrying firearms. The case dates back to 2002, when an Escambia County commission candidate was arrested for standing on a street corner on the Fourth of July with the constitution in one hand and a visible handgun tucked in his waistband. Two words: Florida man.
He was convicted, but he fought it for two decades until the political winds shifted in his favor.
The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled on Sept. 10 that Florida’s ban didn’t hold up under recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions. It doesn’t line up with “historic firearm regulation.” Never mind that Florida’s own Supreme Court upheld the ban in 2017. Never mind that Ashley Moody, now a senator, defended it when she was AG.
Uthmeier says he won’t appeal because he agrees with the ruling. Is anyone surprised?
And while not everyone agrees that this ruling applies statewide — some legal experts say the ruling could apply only to the 32 counties in the 1st District Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction — top cops everywhere are telling their officers to stop arresting people who openly display firearms. That might be because the Florida Sheriffs Association has advised all 67 sheriffs in the county — which would include Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz — to stop arresting “law-abiding citizens” who want to make sure everybody at Publix sees the Glock in their pocket.
Cordero-Stutz did not answer several calls and texts for comment.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, who has advocated in the past to uphold rights afforded by the Second Amendment, said in a statement last week that the First DCA erred in its opinion.
Read related: Miami-Dade candidates for sheriff talk about guns, gun safety at KFHA forum
“Nationwide, we are seeing harrowing levels of gun violence, marked by assassinations, school shootings, and people being killed in places of worship. This is a moment in history when we need to promote safer environments, not embolden those who could abuse the ruling’s intent to sow seeds of terror,” Fried said.
Florida Gun Law Timeline: From Concealed to Unleashed
1987 – Florida passes its landmark “shall issue” concealed carry law, becoming a model for other states. No discretion: if you qualify, you get the permit.
2002 – Local county commission candidate Stan McDaniels is arrested in Pensacola for open carry while campaigning with a visible handgun and a copy of the Constitution. His case becomes the long fuse that blows up the ban.
2005 – Florida enacts the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, removing the duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense.
2008 – “Take Your Gun to Work” law goes into effect. Employers can’t prohibit employees from keeping legal firearms locked in their cars on company property.
2014 – Florida passes the “Warning Shot” law, granting immunity to those who fire warning shots in self-defense.
2018 – After the Parkland school shooting, Florida raises the minimum age to buy rifles and shotguns to 21 and enacts a “Red Flag” law allowing temporary firearm removal from individuals deemed dangerous.
2023 – Permitless concealed carry becomes legal. No training or background check required to carry a hidden firearm.
September 2025 – The 1st District Court of Appeal strikes down Florida’s open carry ban, citing inconsistency with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. AG James Uthmeier declares open carry legal statewide, despite conflicting interpretations from local law enforcement.
“Historically, the Florida Sheriffs Association, many departments across the state, and leaders on both sides of the aisle have agreed: open carry will make Floridians less safe. The impact of this decision will have negative long-term effects on our communities and further erode Floridians’ trust in one another.”
Uthmeier’s direction of “prudence” — which apparently means letting people walk around with visible weapons — doesn’t apply in a courthouse, school, bar, college campus, or Disney World. Yes, Disney still bans guns. Mickey Mouse may be armed with magic, but he’s not packing a MAC-10.
Private property owners can still ask gun-toting guests to leave, and if they don’t, they can be charged.
In Miami Beach, Commissioner Alex Fernandez presented a resolution last week that would inform private businesses of their right to prohibit customers, employees and guests from bringing firearms onto their premises. They could even posts signs saying as much. The item was not heard because the meeting ran long, but Fernandez could bring it back at another meeting.
Meanwhile, Ladra wonders how many bar fights, parking lot standoffs, or meltdowns at Sedanos will it take before this “guidance” becomes a full-blown crisis?
This isn’t lawmaking. It’s law-by-memo. And it’s happening while DeSantis is busy auditioning for his next role — kingmaker, senator-maker, or maybe just the guy who made Florida the most armed state in the union. This is red meat for his base of gun-toting culture warriors.
So, don’t be surprised if you see one of these “law-abiding citizens” strolling into Starbucks with an AR-15 slung across their chest just because they can.

If you’d like to see more biting commentary on the boneheaded decisions being made in Tallahassee, please consider making a donation today to Political Cortadito. Thank you for contributing to indepnedent watchdog journalism.

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Residents want out of agency’s ‘hostage tax’
The Downtown Neighbors Alliance — which represents about 40,000 people living in Downtown and Brickell — is done playing nice with the Miami Downtown Development Authority and city officials that have mostly ignored them.
Earlier this month, DNA fired off a formal request to Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia to investigate the DDA for waste, bloat and the misuse of tens of millions of tax dollars skimmed from residents under what they’re calling a “hostage tax.”
Read related: Miami, two more Miami-Dade cities may have state DOGE look into books
“For 58 years, Downtowners have been forced to pay this additional tax without ever being given the opportunity to vote on its existence. No other Miamians live under such a system,” said DNA president James Torres, who lost a bid for city commission in 2023 and is gearing up to run again. He has been fighting the DDA tax since earlier this year, appearing before the city commission at almost every meeting begging for relief.
And he’s not wrong. Nobody else in the city has to cough up this special surtax.
The DDA’s extra levy has been hanging around since the late 1960s, when Downtown was emptying out and the city was desperate to “revitalize” it. But now that the area has exploded with towers and taxable property — $32.5 billion worth, DNA points out — the tax just looks like a cash cow for well-connected insiders. People like land use attorney (read: lobbyist) Melissa Tapanes Llahues, who was the interim chair of the DDA after Commissioner Manolo Reyes died and sits on the board. She is also hosted a fundraiser for newly elected Commissioner Ralph Rosado, who is the new chair of the DDA, this past Thursday.
“The racket stays tight while Downtowners remain hostage to double-taxation,” Torres said.
DNA laid it out in a blistering letter that paints the DDA as a bloated bureaucracy where six-figure salaries and PR fluff come before the people who are forced to foot the bill.

Excessive payroll: $3.5 million in salaries, with 14 staffers making more than $100K a year. The top three execs rake in $200K+ each. The median salary in Miami is about $60,000.

Marketing madness: Five in-house marketing gigs worth over half a million dollars combined, including a “Brand Integrity Expert” (¿qué cosa es eso?) pulling down $134,662. Add another $185K for outside spinmeisters at RBB Communications, and suddenly we’re at $736,000 a year just to tell the story.

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