Second chance runoff would be good in Miami Beach race

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Let’s not write Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora off just yet. The nail-biter election in that city just drew a recount.

While millionaire mayoral candidate Philip Levine may have won 50.48 percent of the vote Tuesday, the narrow margin called for an automatic recount after the provisional votes counted today did not push him toward 50.5 percent he needed to avoid it.

The Miami-Dade Elections Department expects to have the recount, which starts at 1 p.m., done by 4.

And while everyone expects Levine to still come out the winner, recounts were invented for a reason. The law provides a double check on wins that are so close, where just a few votes counted wrong could make a difference.

So could a couple of weeks.

And that is why Ladra prays that Levine’s total falls to under 50 percent so that we can all benefit from the next two weeks of information and further debate before a second round.

And to anyone who says Gongora can’t raise the funds he needs after his primary performance to outdo Levine in a round two, I only have two words: Remember Robiana.

Former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina also outspent all his opponents and came out leading in the first round with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez in second place. Robaina, who still had tons more money and started with 30 points or so over Gimenez,  also thought he could win without a runoff. But he didn’t. And, boy, did things change for him in two weeks time.

We all know how that ended up.

Two weeks is a long time in this business. It could provide a window to focus attention on a race that didn’t get enough coverage before the primary.

It’s enough time to cast doubt on Levine’s motives and a spotlight on the special interests behind him, like the Fontainebleau Hotel people who were against the convention center plan approved by the commission and have donated tens of thousands to Commissioner Jonah Wolfson‘s PAC, and his handlers, lobbyist David Custin and attorney JC Planas.

There are also a couple of other reasons why Gongora could win a second round.

One is that Steve Berke, the candidate who came in third, stood next to him at the Miami-Dade Elections Department Friday, ready to endorse the commissioner in a round two.

But probably the most important is that there would be a much shorter absentee ballot campaign. Remember, Levine’s victory margin widens significantly with the ABs that went to him. But absentee ballots would not go out before next week. And the last time people voted absentee, it was before he started acting like a horse’s ass: kicking journalists out of press conferences and bullying bloggers and residents who do not support him.

“It’s not like last time when there were many many weeks for them to work the absentee ballots,” said Gongora, who, like Ladra, is also crossing his fingers.

“I think in the final days leading up to the election, factors about this campaign — the bullying and intimidating residents, bloggers and media sources — that got out and I think that impacted the race,” Gongora said. “None of those stories went out before the absentee ballots.”

He also points to “unusual circumstances” — like the fact that more people voted to decriminalize marijuana or increase the voter threshold for the modernization of the convention center than they did for Levine.

“It’s a real nail-biter,” Gongora said. “I think it would be a good thing for the residents to have a second chance to let them decide.”

Ladra thinks so, too. That’s why we lit a candle to Cachita last night.

  Miami Beach mayoral race, Michael Gongora, Philip Levine