Ladra’s been asleep at her leash a little too long, but we were resting to catch our breath and strengthen up for the busy and exciting year ahead. That doesn’t mean I’ve been totally absent. A good watchdog always keeps one eye open and it’s been tracking people and reading campaign reports.
I had lunch a few weeks ago with Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez, photographed here at a LABA networker last year. Actually, it was the same afternoon he filed, as expected, to run for the mayor’s seat against incumbent Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Because, let’s face it, while there are no less than 14 active candidates listed as wannabes for the part, we are back to a two-man match again. Just like last year. Although this race looks like it’s going to be on a different course, between more similar vehicles and, perhaps, at a slower pace. After all, there’s nobody in this election as colorful as former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina. None of the candidates this time around are facing grand jury investigations and uncomfortable questions about high interest rates on personal loans and Ponzi schemes and unpaid taxes and quid pro quos and a net worth that grew from $800,000 to $8 million during eight years in office.
This time around, Gimenez, photographed here at the June 28 victory party with his wife, will likely be the Daddy Warbucks with the big warchest. While the mayor was outspent 3 to 1 by Robaina last year, he has a big head start and shows he may be on the path to pay more to beat down his longtime nemesis on the dais. Between his campaign account and Common Sense Now, his mai
n PAC (because Ladra can already sniff the multiple PACs in the air that will work on both candidates’ behalfs), Gimenez had collected about $800,000 as of December 31, including money from people who supported Robaina last year (more on that later). You can bet your absentee ballots that he has collected at least another $200,000 since then to hit the million dollar mark. We will know in early April when the quarterly reports for contributions through March 31 are due. Yes, Ladra is panting and drooling. These make for very good reading. Complicated, but good. I love the smell of campaign finance reports in the morning. And in the coming weeks, I will be crunching the numbers and connecting the dots to let you know who is really behind who and why. The bundling has begun.
For now, I will leave you with a few tidbits not reported by the mainstream news sources when Martinez made his big announcement (read: expected media pitch) after he filed his paperwork.
One: Robaina is not running this time. While that has been the general common sense assumption for a while, bolstered by Republican establishment support for Gimenez, the commission chairman smiled and put a nail in that coffin. “He told me he is not running. He is supporting me,” Martinez told Ladra over lunch at La Carretta in Doral. And that also seems to have freed up Robaina’s lead political operative, Sasha Tirador. Say it ain’t so, Joe. But, yes, ladies and gentlemen…
Two: Martinez is considering hiring Tirador and Steve Marin for his campaign. Not that he loves them. “Who am I going to get? There’s nobody left. He has everyone,” Martinez told Ladra, referring to the Gimenez dream team that will likely again be led by Al Lorenzo. Not exactly a resounding vote of confidence for your staff, but I do see his point. He admitted he needs Tirador’s prowess on the AB front, even after Ladra stopped the fork laden with Mahi Mahi in midrise to her mouth and, with her left eyebrow raised, told Martinez – who opted for the churrasco — she would be watching more closely then and with a fined-tooth campaign comb. And on his campaign accounts as well as any PACs because…
Three: Martinez already has at least one PAC of his own, so he’s not out of the gate with zero in the bank. Get It Done, chaired by Pedro Diaz, had collected $57,750 from when it was formed in October to Dec. 31, starting with a $10,000 from Genting Group, the partners that want to bring a high-class casino to downtown Miami. But I suspect there are other PACs forming for the former cop. In fact, there are a couple of new PACs with names that sound like the Gimenez PAC. Common Sense in Florida, formed in July, simply can’t be a Martinez PAC because it’s chaired by Christian Ulvert, who was on the Gimenez team last year. But Common Sense Leadership Coalition, which opened in August with a Tallahassee address and contact (Abby Dupree), could be. Another new PAC chaired by Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, The Future Is Now, was formed by PAC veteran and fundraiser extraordinaire Jose “Pepe” Riesco, who has been a longtime stumper for the brothers Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart and also tried (but failed) to stop the recall of former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez almost a year ago exactly, which led to the eventual Gimenez run and victory. So that one could go either way.
Of course, these PACs and at least a dozen others that are relatively new to the scene could be intended for a number of other races because there are a bunch this year. And the Future is Now PAC was formed on Valentine’s Day, same day that former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla— a Suarez family ally — filed to run for state rep in the newly redrawn district 112, but not against his former chief legislative aide, State Rep. Jeanette Nuñez, who holds that seat now but will have to run in 113 if she wants to stay in Tallahassee (more on all that later).
Like Ladra said, it’s going to be one very busy and exciting (read: fun and crazy) year.
Martinez vs. Gimenez headline busy year added by Ladra on
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