Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez seems to have struck campaign gold.
All he had to do was announce in January that the long whispered rumors were true and he was, indeed, going to ignore the advice of those who said “wait” and run for mayor now, not later, and the coin started to rain down on him like he has the Midas touch or something.
Suarez, son of former Miami Mayor and Miami-Dade Commissioner “Mayor Sir” Xavier Suarez, has raised almost $1 million since February, according to campaign finance reports filed earlier this month.
“I’m very proud of it,” Suarez told Ladra Friday evening after another fundraising event ended.
He credits his success raising funds to his “army” of supporters and longtime relationships with people “who see me as someone who can promote the city for business.”
And, he says, it is a sign of discontent with the current incumbent Mayor Tomas Regalado.
“There’s no confidence in the current mayor and the lack of leadership people see,” Suarez said.
Notably, Suarez has collected more than twice as much as Regalado, who reported a total of just under $415,000, which he has collected since last summer, having been fundraising at least six months longer than Baby X.
Sure, if you look at just the candidate campaign reports at the city clerk’s office, it will look like Regalado has a little more, even though he’s been stumping for nearly a year, with $321,373 collected since July to Suarez’s $258,797 in donations since Februrary. But each candidate also has a state-leve PAC behind him, in order to collect more monies from special interests and parties with something to gain and spend it on attack ads they can later say were not from their campaigns.
The Serving Miamians P
AC for Regalado has a total of $93,200 — but that was a marathon drive done in less than two months. The Future is Now PAC — which Ladra keeps thinking is something daddy told Baby X to encourage him — has been collecting for a little more than a year and reported a total of $718,912. Maybe father does know best sometimes.
If you do the math, Suarez has a kitty of nearly $978,000 and is poised to break the million dollar mark — probably did by now.
So, who is feeling so generous in this race?
On the Suarez side, we have the high-flying PAC sponsors — $50,000 given by Midtown Properties, owned by Alex Padilla (Suarez is chair of the Midtown Community Redevelopment Agency) and $25,000 by a firm owned by the son of Cuban American National Foundation founder Jorge Mas Canosa. There are also $10,000 a piece donations from lobbyist Ron Book, who is working hard to have the Dolphins stadium public financing bill passed in Tallahassee, attorney and former Miami-Dade Democratic Chairman Richard Lydecker, Manny Medina — who can afford it after selling Terremark to Verizon for $1.5 billion — a company connected to the Truestar airport wrapping firm and a company called Toi Post owned by Luis Lacau.
There are numerous $5,000 gifts, including two from companies tied to builder Armando Codina. And in the silver, $2,500 category, we have the likes of political consultant Steve Marin and Miami -Dade School Board Member Carlos Curbelo, former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and WastePro. Lobbyist Brian May gave at least $5,500 in four checks to both the PAC and the candidate. But he’s not really a bundler. Examples of bundlers are Aventura area developer Manuel Grosskopf, who gave at least $13,000 (and probably more, the flow charts are not finished) in 26 bundled $500 checks, Coral Gables investor Miguel Fernandez with at least $9,000 in 18 separate but bundled checks to the candidate’s campaign and Miami Beach real estate investor Alejandro Capo with another $6,000 in 12 bundled 500 checks (to which many of the same people donated $500 maximum contributions to). Ladra was only able to find $1,000 from the Munilla brothers, but I’m going to have to spend the weekend reading through the thick report.
Suarez, who frowns upon Regalado’s ties to the maquinita illegal gambling industry and contributions from the license holders, also took at least $5,000 from Genting, the company that wants to build a resort casino downtown, and at least $17,500 from the owners of Magic City Casino on both the PAC and candidate campaign finance reports.
“There’s a huge distinction. In the case of Magic City Casino, they are the largest employer in my district,” Suarez told Ladra Friday night, adding that they have a longtime relationship with Regalado also and had supported Manolo Reyes, Baby X’s opponent, in 2009.
As for Genting, he said, “They are a company that’s made a massive investment in our city. Their contribution is small by comparison,” Suarez said. “For them, having strong leadership in the city they’ve made such an investment in is important.”
Among the electeds, besides his dad who gave $250, Baby X got $500 from State Rep. Michael Bileca and $100 from former Miami Beach Commissioner Nancy Liebman. He also got a $500 check from John Courier, who tried but failed to unseat Sen. Gwen Margolis.
Backing Regalado is billionaire car salesman Norman Braman (even though he helped the Senior Suarez get the county commission seat) who gave $10,000 to the Serving Miamians PAC and also 14 of the maximum $500 checks, for another $7,000 (found so far) to his campaign account. Coconut Grove developmer/investor Pedro Martin and a company called Plaza de Isaias Maria Mercedes that Ladra could not find in sunbiz.org, each gave $10,000 a piece. Developer Marty Marguiles gave $5,000, as did Turnburry Associates CEO Jeffrey Soffer (who has dated Elle McPherson and survived a fatal helicopter crash that killed the two other passengers last year), the Greenberg Traurig lawfirm and Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz.
Crazy enough — or maybe sane enough to cover their bases — Brian May and the Munillas also gave to Regalado’s campaign, $500 and $2,500 respectively. The Capo brothers, who own the El Dorado Furniture chain, also pitched in another $3,000 between the six of them (though maybe there is a cousin or son colado there). The Galbut family of the midtown Miami area also gave $4,000 in eight checks reported in Regalado’s older campaign reports. And the owner of Jensen’s Liquors gave at least but probably more than $5,000 in multiple checks from multiple stores.
Campaign consultant Roly Marante, who runs things for Miami-Dade Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa when she’s on the ballot and is working on Hispanic outreach for the Miami Dolphins stadium financing referendum, also gave $500.
Among the electeds that gave to Regalado, however, are Cutler Bay Mayor Edward MacDougall, who is vocally opposed to the Dolphin stadium public financing deal, and Coconut Grove Mayor Monty Trainer (oh, well, he isn’t really elected, but almost), each giving $250.
But that’s just a taste, dear readers. Because Ladra still has to go through more than 250 pages of candidate campaign contrubution and expenditure reports as well as the nearly 300 contributions they have between them in their PACs, look up the business names, connect the bundles to each other, and so on, and so on, and so on.
And then the candidates have at least two, possibly three more finance reports to submit beforethe November election.
Anyone want to bet now that Baby X approaches the $2 mil mark?
Mayoral monies make Francis “The Future” Suarez Midas added by Ladra on
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