State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez just threw his hat into the ring for the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s race — el otro dia, como quien diga — and already he’s whooshed past the two front running candidates that were, up to now, pretty neck and neck as far as monies 
collected.
That’s because Gonzalez is bringing his $115,000 treasure trove from Hialeah Council campaign, which aren’t available online (because it is Hialeah, and they’d rather not) but will have to be made available at the county level at some point. The total, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed this week and available online at the county website, is $116,000 after he added $1,000 from Miami Beach attorney Mojdeh Khaghan.
I guess that’s the only support he can get outside of Hialeah? Because, yeah, he only announced a couple of weeks ago. But he’s been talking about it privately with people for months.
He’s also spent $22,000 already, but there are no details on those expenditures so it looks like they were in the Hialeah campaign.
And former Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia pulled ahead of newbie perennial candidate Alex Dominguez, with $76,000 and $51,000 raised respectively, as of May 31. Garcia also still has more cash in hand heading into the crucial end game. Dominguez has spent $30,000, but he says that includes his $$6,700 qualification fee, which only Garcia has also paid, and a pre-paid $15,000 TV and radio media buy. Because you can’t win this countywide race walking door-to-door, which is what Dominguez has gotten good at from his two previous failed bids for state House and city of Miami commission.
Related story: Will Eddy Gonzalez jump into Prop App race? Ladra says sí
There are four other candidates on the ballot for the property appraiser, which never looked sexy until former State Rep. Carlos “C-Lo” Lopez-Cantera turned it into a vehicle for the Lt. Gov. nomination. But everybody knows it’s a three-man race between, left to right, Gonzalez, Dominguez and Garcia.
But Gonzalez really ought not to get even close. “Here Comes Hialeah” — the nickname he proudly told Ladra fellow legislators gave him — has no place in the property appraiser’s office and is only looking for the next best thing since he is termed out of office this year and you just know he’s going to lose his no-show job without an elected title. The next best thing being mayor of Hialeah, which is the only job Gonzalez really wants. He was scared out of the running in 2011 when former Mayor Raul Martinez jumped in and was scared to run against Jose “Comeból” Caragól, who despite his gruff style and sexually inappropriate campaign materials in the past, enjoys wide popularity among Hialeah voters (especially las viejas verdes).
The other possibility is that the same people who benefited from C-Lo’s short stint in that office — and las malas lenguas say it was another friends and family plan — are going to support Gonzalez and hope for the same kind of, um, favor.
The fact that the defacto president of the Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation has a fat account is likely no surprise to anyone. Garcia said that he expected it, but that this is not an election Gonzalez can buy.
“He may have a lot of money, but he has no experience whatsoever,” said Garcia, who last to C-Lo last year, but only in absentee ballots.
Eddy Gonzalez has quick cash in property appraiser race added by Ladra on
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