Big state, county elections to be primed by small town races

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Happy New Year everyone. Yes, 2014 promises to be pretty exciting, politically speaking. Maybe not as exciting as 2012, but certainly more fun than 2013.

We have the slew of state races in November, including the governor’s race, the Congressional contest in District 26 that will be watched throughout the nation, and six Miami-Dade county commission seats up for grabs.

But even before we get into the full swing of campaigns this spring and summer, we got smaller elections nipping at our heels.

First comes Florida City, where the longest serving elected in the 305 — Commissioner Roy “RS” Shiver will be seeking to serve for half a century, since he was first elected 49 years ago.  That election is Jan. 28.

Runoffs would be in February, when we also have what looks like a real feisty election in South Miami, where former Mayor Horace Feliu, who was defeated after some cockamany sting in which he took a late campaign contribution in the parking lot at City Hall, plans a comeback as a commissioner and Commissioner Valerie Newman is challenging her longtime nemesis, Mayor Philip Stoddard.

In March, there are elections in Surfside and Hialeah Gardens, the stepsister of the City of Progress, and you can bet that the Hialeah hoodlums and State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez — who is termed out and has no race of his own, except the one for his successor (more on that later) — will be involved in keeping the incumbents in power.

April showers bring elections in Bay Harbor Islands and West Miami, as well as any runoffs needed in Surfside. May may bring us a runoff in Bay Harbor but then it’s a drought until the August primary, which will share the ballot with municipal elections in Key Biscayne and Miami Gardens. Then we jones for another two months until November, when we have our buffet.

In addition to the six county commissioners who face re-election — and all of them have filed documents to run again — we have a plethora of judicial races, a few Miami-Dade School Board elections and a bunch of little cities with races of their own: Aventura, Cutler Bay, Doral, El Portal, Medley, Miami Lakes, North Bay Village, Opa-Locka, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest and Sunny Isles, as well as runoffs in Key Biscayne and Miami Gardens.

Ladra is going to have to start doubling her vitamins before Halloween.

  Horace Feliu, Philip Stoddard, Valerie Newman