Online poll on Miami’s mayoral race has ADLP competing

• Tweet
• Sumo

• Tweet

If former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla runs for city of Miami mayor, he could make it into a runoff with Commissioner Francis Suarez.

And if he jumps into the commission race instead, the Dean will hit the ground as the front runner.

These are the findings of a tiny, very unscientific poll done online by a political operative using Survey Monkey. Is it science? No. Is it interesting? Absolutely.

Pedro Diaz, who is running the commission campaign in District 3 for Alex Dominguez, sent the three question survey to insiders and influencers who are not necessarily voters in the city of Miami — lobbyists, fundraisers, gatekeepers, decision makers and the like. 

Baby X will be happy to learn that he came out on top in the mayoral question — “If elections for City of Miami Mayor were held today, whom are you more likely to vote for?” — with 31% of the 368 responses. But Dean DLP was not too far behind with 27 percent.  The survey had former Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado, who is rumored to be jumping into the race, in third place with 23% and Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo, who is termed out and expected to run also, in fourth with 19%.

Read related story: Will she or won’t she? Raquel Regalado rumors are rampant

Diaz de la Portilla has not filed any paperwork and only came into the picture last month after residents in Little Havana got a postcard in the mail from him wishing them a happy holidays. It doesn’t have a political disclaimer. “Whatever is beautiful, whatever is meaningful, whatever brings you happiness… May it be yours this holiday season and throughout the coming year,” it says, and it is signed by Alex Diaz de la Portilla “and family.”

But many seem to think ADLP — who became active on twitter in 2015 and last year to campaign for his brother and for Sen. Marco Rubio to get the GOP nomination (see photo with Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, left) — would run for Carollo’s commission seat rather than mayor. After all, Baby X and his dad, Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez, went out on a limb to endorse and support Miguel DLP against newly-elected Jose Javier Rodriguez in November’s race. Alex typically rewards that kind of loyalty and support for either of his brothers.

And the Carollo seat in his core base of Little Havana is an easier win — unless Tommy Regalado, the mayor’s son, runs as he has indicated to some that he might. But that depends on whether Raquelita runs for mayor. Ladra doubts both siblings would run at the same time.

Carollo’s open seat has already attracted a clusterbunch of candidates. Five have opened accounts and started to campaign, including Diaz’s client Dominguez — who ran for state rep and property appraiser already — and Zoraida Barreiro, wife of Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro.

Another Diaz poll has Dean DLP leading that race, with 39% and Dominguez, who has been campaigning for months, trailing with 34%. But that poll — this time by telephone and with a sample of 589 actual District 3 voters — only pitted them against two also-rans, Alfonso Leon and Miguel Soliman (17% and 10%, respectively), because Barreiro and Daniel Suarez, a longtime civilian police watchdog, had not yet filed any paperwork when it was done in early December.

The Dean told Ladra in a text message Monday that all the rumors are just that. “I am not running for anything and the ‘mailer’ is a Christmas card,” he texted.

“Now I have to be a grinch like you guys?” Us guys is the media.  “Bah humbug!”

But c’mon! A Christmas card is something you send friends and family, not voters you don’t know! Sometimes there’s a funny family picture on it. Usually, there’s a hand signed note. That wasn’t a Christmas card. That was ADLP staying relevant with his core constituency — like he does with the birthday cards he sends to seniors in public housing. They don’t have to say anything political to be politically motivated and beneficial.

“I am not running for anything at the moment,” he repeated. Key words: At the moment.

Maybe the Dean is getting ready for 2018 and thinks he can take the state House seat back from newly-elected Rep. Nick Duran. Or maybe he plans revenge against J-Rod, who beat his brother Miguel in November after beating Alex himself in the House 112 race in 2012.

But Ladra has to believe (read: hope) he is running for something someday.

And we can dream of an election cycle with a Suarez, a Carollo, a Regalado, a Barreiro and a Diaz de la Portilla on the same municipal ballot, can’t we?

  Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Alex Dominguez, Francis Suarez, Frank Carollo, Raquel Regalado