It’s not even over yet, and already more people have voted in the runoff for the special shotgun wedding election in Miami-Dade District 5 than in the first round when there were twice as many candidates.
Early voting ends Sunday and already, through Saturday, there had been 2,055 ballots cast at the four early voting locations. Voters cast 1,696 ballots during early voting before the May 22 election, where Eileen Higgins and Zoraida Barreido got the top two scores (35 and 33 percent, respectively) to proceed into the runoff Tuesday.
And even though Carlos Garin and former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla got bumped off in the first round, there have already also been more absentee ballots cast this time: With 8,250 just through Friday compared to 7,715 for all four candidates last time.
That means more than 10,300 people have already voted. And does that mean that Higgins is closing the gap?
Common political thought has Zory — wife of former Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, who is running for Congress and timed his resignation to help usher his wife into office — taking Tuesday with 60% of the vote. Ladra thinks it’s going to be closer: maybe 54-46, which would still be an amazing finish for la gringa, a newby candidate nobody heard of before April.
Look, that’s not what Ladra wants, mind you. It’s just what is happening. Miami Herald reporter Doug Hanks tweeted that there were more Republican ballots cast than Democrats, by less than three percent. But the push that Barreiro and her supporters are making at the end is unprecedented among Republicans, who typically focus on absentee ballots.
Yes, Higgins is a good candidate and makes an attractive prospect, even before the Democrats put her on overdrive. She would bring a much needed voice and add checks and balances to the commission. And yes, I do believe those postcards from people outside the district urging Democrat voters to come out have made a difference and narrowed the gap.
But then: (1) This is a district where Hispanic voters have traditionally outperformed for Hispanic candidates; (2) A Barreiro, albeit Bruno, has represented the district for 20 years; (3) Most if not all of Carlos Garin’s votes and ADLP’s votes go Zory’s way.
And then there is (4) The Marco Rubio factor.
That mailer with Marco Rubio’s endorsement — the golden ticket of GOP nods — went not just to super voters, Ladra heard, but also to every single Republican registered in the district. It was really call to action, an effort to encourage Republicans who were going to sit it out, to come out Election Day. If there hasn’t been a robocall already, one is coming.
That means the numbers are just going to keep going up.
More people come out to vote in special Miami-Dade District 5 runoff added by Ladra on
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I’m so glad that voter turnout, along with the union push, proved this article wrong! Higgins won and “La Gringa” proved all the pollsters to be wrong! Good beat evil in this one! A true voice for the working class won!
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Its nice that more people are voting but suspect the usual politically apathetic under 30 crowd and South , Central Americans regardless of age aren’t in that increase .
Those that vote are the EXCEPTION .
Didn’t realize how disgustingly apathetic they were till moving to Miami . No wonder they are ignored .
Dear All:
I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer all of your questions about how much better Mrs. B is than Ms. H but I’ll give it a shot.
First, a basic internet search shows that Ms. H updated her voter registration in 2014 (https://flvoters.com/pages/h106439.html) so it’s safe assume the 4 year estim inate of her living here in Miami.
Now as for Mrs. B, she made very clear points on her priorities: 1) Transit, particularly regarding the Miami-Miami Beach link (which has strong local backing and wide agreement unlike the 836 expansion). 2) Affordable Housing, she has a clear idea what the solutions in terms of incentives are. 3) Fiscal discipline, she said government should be more efficient with our tax dollars and I like that!
You can hear Mrs. B’s presentation here:
http://wlrn.org/post/district-5-candidate-zoraida-barreiro-says-miami-dade-should-be-more-efficient-money
I don’t have a problem with Mrs. B being the wife of the former commissioner because she is qualified by her personal and business experiences. For those who say that Ms. H is qualified because she’s an “outsider” and has “ideas,” or she’s the liberal/progressive/democrat choice we need is just as poor an excuse as dismissing Mrs. B because of her husband. Just compare Mrs. B and Ms. H.
I think Mrs. B has an edge over Ms. H in actually getting things done. And part of that reason are the relationships Mrs. B has cultivated for decades. By comparison, Ms. H promises government by resistance, not exactly promise to get anything done but be the “balance” (whatever that means).
So it’s between someone who promises to promises short term and long term fixes and someone who probably won’t get anything done EVER on the commission. My vote goes to Mrs. Zoraida Barreiro as a result of this reasoning.
It’s all about $$$!!! If the Z doesn’t win that means her husband will not have the support of the local developers who fuel his campaign. So Z loses then her hunsband will not have the cash to fuel his current campaign. Once again crooked politics at its best. Ps. The husbands campaign donated 95k to her capaign to make sure she wins.
Analysis from the ground up. BTW, how many precincts are in both Commission 5 and Congressional 27?
I have a problem with having an incumbent’s wife run for a seat that her husband is vacating, immediately as he’s vacating it. What do we know about Mrs. Barreiro. I know nothing of her, but would be curious to see exactly WHAT she knows about her district, how many people she has helped, reached out to, what she knows the major problems of her district to be. Mind you, I want her to know all this on her own, not by her husband’s extension. If she is clueless to her district, there has to be someone else that can fulfill the above a bit better. In addition, 20 years in one office is way too much. I say TERM LIMITS for all. These are professional politicians that people on the street say perhaps end up not giving a crap about their constituents; only themselves, their contacts, and their wallets. I am not saying this about Mr. and/or Mrs. Barreiro, just professional politicians in general. I mean, perhaps Mr. Barreiro thought he made a difference for his constituents, and maybe he did at times, I do not know. But the system needs to be overhauled with some stricter rules that make the PEOPLE of the district the priority. Has Mrs. Barreiro made herself available for in-depth interviews? Just saying.
Eileen Higgins is the breath of fresh air this county sorely needs. Time to grow up, banana republic!
Actually electing someone from outside the corrupt stagnant same old pool of political families would be a breath of fresh air and bring new ideas and views to the table without the taint of Carlos Gimenez’s “Friends & Family” plan. Barreiro will continue in the same vein as her husband vs. bring something new to the table. Higgins would be like Levine-Cava who has been a reliable vote for her constituents and frankly the entire county.
Why are you so afraid of change? Its time the commission ended its graft, political favors and frankly suffocating grasp on residents and did what they were elected to do: support the will of the people NOT themselves & Comrade Gimenez. I
I hope Higgins pulls an upset. A more balanced commission would serve us ALL better and maybe actually get some things done like restore the penny sales tax to transit and restore the money criminally spent AGAINST not only its purpose but the voters’ will, & fund The Pet’s Trust half a million of us (65% an overwhelming margin) passed in 2012 to stop murdering sentient pets in the shiny new kill shelter by implementing high volume free & low cost spay/neuter clinics for a 5 year period to get ahead of the animal overpopulation crisis. Nothing’s changed. The mayor & kill shelter director continue murdering while lying telling voters the shelter is “no kill” when NOTHING could be further from the truth. (Call Channel 2 and ask when they’ll again be airing ” Political Animals” and watch just how bad the majority of the current commission is with the exception of those newly elected in the past 4 years. The documentary explains in detail how this commission works and it ain’t pretty.)T
The documentary’s unsavory truth about our current commission’s political process is what electing another entrenched political family member will bring: same old lying backstabbing selfish corruption doing their OWN bidding vs keeping their commitment to the people. No offense to Mrs. Barreiro but we all know she will continue reliably casting her husband’s vote. Is that really what you want? Or a commission that listens to and honors OURS which sadly we did NOT have with her husband’s butt in that seat.
Higgins is intelligent and she would give a fresh prespective. Bruno Barrerio was a horrible commissioner responsible for $3 Billion diverted from the taxpayers to the owner of the Marlins. That was Bruno, and Dennis Moss with votes by 6-7 other corrupt or brain dead pols. Z Barrerio would be another loss for taxpayers. (Rubio has been a useless Senator),
I could not agree LESS!
I am an Independent 63 year old Caucasian Male. VOTE RUBIO out and do not elect the cookie cutter wife of former Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, Zoraida!
VOTE for Eileen Higgins
Henry,
Higgins moved here in 2007.
If you don’t think she has solutions you haven’t been listening. Zoraida can’t articulate a position on much of anything, which is probably smart given the large amount of special intersest money fueling her campaign. I know you’ve voted, but sad that you didn’t seem to notice the side by side interviews in the Herald or on Sundial where Higgins took clear stands and presented new policies while Zoraida hedged and must have said “community” at least once in response to every question. Being a part of the community is not a policy.
More of the same from the same name.
I heard a robocall from Marco Rubio and I’m independent Hispanic over 40.
Zoraida already had my vote but it’s nice to hear that someone of Senator Rubio’s stature agrees that Zoraida would represent us well. After all, someone with history and invested here is definitely more reliable than a recently moved here candidate with a campaign message that criticizes a lot but doesn’t offer much in solutions.
This comment would be funny if it didn’t represent the views of the majority. Please tell me what Zoraida has done in the community (on her own). Please point me to the “solutions” she offers because I can’t find them on her website nor does she think it is important to discuss these solutions with the press or debate. Are these the solutions you speak of – https://youtu.be/tZY3p5xRUlE ?
Senator Rubio should be embarrassed, and we will get more of the same…