Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Zapata drew his first challenger this week 
when a man named Felix Lorenzo filed against him.
And he’s running an anti-incorporation campaign.
Lorenzo, 75, told Ladra that he decided to run so that he could block the incorporation efforts of two areas in District 11 that want to become their own municipalities.
“I disagree with the intent to create two cities in our area. At one time, it was three. Now it’s two. But I don’t see any benefit to have any city in this area,” Lorenzo said.
“I’ve been going to the meetings for two years and I haven’t seen a strong support for it,” Lorenzo said about the community meetings for incorporation. “I decided to run because someone has to do something,” he said. “Many other people are too busy. I decided to take my chances.”
Lorenzo retired from pharmaceutical sales in September. He also has a realtor’s license. He ad his wife, Aleida — who is also now his treasurer — owned a company called Designa Inc., until they closed it in 2011. He filed the first paperwork — designating a campaign account and treasurer — on Monday.
Some sources believe he’s a plant, coerced to run against Zapata by someone else (read: State Rep. Frank Artiles, Zap’s longtime nemesis).
But it might very well be a three-way race. Rumors abound that the wife of former Miami-Dade Chairman Joe Martinez, who represented the same district before he ran for mayor unsuccessfully inn 2012, is going to pull a Hillary and jump into the ring.
Didn’t work for Teresa Sarnoff, wife of former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, in Miami. But it worked for Mickey Steinberg, wife of former State Rep. Richard “Sext Me” Steinberg in Miami Beach. So who knows how that may play out in District 11.
Zapata raised just over $26,000 in November, bringing his total to $29,500.
Juan Zapata draws anti incorporation challenger for 2016 added by Ladra on
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Ladra don’t worry he will have plenty of completion, you can bet he’ll bring back his ringer “Munioz” who’s he’s set up with a Zoning Board position since 2012. Yes the same Munioz related to Dade county Dog Pound Director Munioz who couldn’t handle the Miami Heat Procument Contract in 2012 and got set by your Golden Boy at the Dog pound. Surprised you or the Dog Lovers at the Kendall Association of bright minds never went after that. Or maybe Zap will bring in a girl against Joes Wife, he’ll probably hire the same one he paraded during his 2012 race claiming she was his wife, girlfriend, Fiancé, or MCM meal ticket. Seems none panned out for him, we all knew they wouldn’t she probably got hold of his play girl magazines in his briefcase. And their went his MCM ticket, Golden boy ride. We all see what happened after, the Marono ride ended also but that’s when the personality disorders shined thru, I am just sitting back waiting till he and Gboy really go at it, I think Kathy is the only one keeping those two from bringing this whole place down and shinning a well deserved light at Recent Dade hidden politics.
We shall see, 2016 will be so fun!
Zapata seems to have lost his way a bit. He’s sharp and an independent voice but seems to have become frustrated in his current role a la Marco Rubio. Instead of running against the mayor, he seems to have done the political calculus and decided it is too tough a climb. So instead he just tosses grenades to the mayor and his staff while trying to cut out a new fiefdom for himself.
I strongly disagree with west end becoming a city!
OOps! I was reading the Raquel article and somehow this comment ended up here. Oh well, Zapata is another one who needs to GO in 2016 as he does NOT listen to his constituents. No one wanted ‘West End’ yet he persisted. He said ‘Zevin Auerbach was a marketing genius.’ Yes, he was. He worked for me as a marketing director for a shopping center developer, and then I worked for him as an AE at his first agency, The Ad Team. Zevin was brilliant but NOT ALWAYS. Not everything he created was successful and West End certainly is not to the community living there. Vote for someone who LISTENS TO YOU!
Maybe he’ll start campaigning from his classroom seat at Harvard. Zapata is so out of touch with his own community. He needs to go
I know several people who live in Mr. Zapata’s district and have never seen the guy. Flyers only come around when he’s running. No updates directly to the citizens of his district, no visits, nothing. Maybe that’s just how commissioners do
things these days (i.e., Communicate, get to know District neighbors and their needs.
I’m not happy that the majority of my neighbors, spanning the entire district 11, were unaware that the name West End was being overlaid on us. It’s unfair to any believer in the democratic process.