UPDATED: Former Miami-Dade Commisioner Juan Zapata has dropped out of the county mayoral election after realizing that a countywide race was more difficult than he thought.
He posted his exit on Facebook around 9 a.m:
Dear Friends,
Regrettably things did not come together the way I would have liked and that a campaign of
this magnitude requires. I still strongly believe that County Govt has failed its residents by not preparing this community both for the challenges and opportunities that we have today. It is my sincerest hope that the next Mayor and future Commission truly transforms County hall and brings back a true sense of public service, public value and public good.
Thank you to all those who helped and supported our ideas for the future of Miami Dade County. It has been an honor and true privilege to have served this community in multiple capacities. I am forever grateful to the many people who helped and contributed to the success of those opportunities.
He signed it Zap.
Zapata — who did well at a debate earlier this month at the Manuel Artime Theater (more on that later) — was lagging in fundraising with just over $40,000 in his campaign account, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.That’s peanuts compared to Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava ($543,000), Alex Penelas ($778,000), and even Esteban Bovo ($191,000). And that doesn’t count their political action committees which puts them, and Xavier Suarez, over or close to $1 million. Penelas has $2 million in his PAC.
Read related: Daniella Levine Cava gets $230K in first mayoral campaign month
But just three days earlier, Zapata was on Actualidad radio saying that the 
county needed massive reform and that he was the guy to do it. It was an hour long “debate” with Commissioner and fellow mayoral candidate Xavier Suarez — sorta, and I put debate in quotes because they agree on 99 percent of everything. Suarez even said on the air that he would welcome Zap on his commission.
“It would be nice to have him back,” Suarez told Ladra Friday. “I highly respect Zapata. When he was on the commission, he was a stick in the mud in terms of voting against misspending in the budget. He was a good member of the ‘opposition’ and an early member… even earlier than myself.”
That’s true. Ladra called him Zorro when he became the only commissioner to ask obvious and legitimate questions about the misspending and no-bid contracts to cronies of Mayor Carlos Gimenez and multiple studies done on everything. He was once the voice of reason.
But there is hope that Zorro could ride again.
Read related: ‘El Zorro’ Zapata rides again, kills $62 million in gifts to ‘insiders’
Zapata could run and win a smaller commission campaign. He has done it before. Especially against someone people don’t like. No, I am not talking about Commissioner Joe Martinez, who took that seat back in 2016 after four years out of office, because Zapata chose not to run.
Zapata lives in Brickell now. Qualifying rules require that candidates live in 
the district for six months before qualifying, which is March 26 through June 9. Zap says he has lived there since April of last year. And he might be the perfect challenger for Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who nobody likes and who won her seat in a special election where the two other Hispanic candidates destroyed each other and ignored her. Zoraida Barreiro , Bruno Barreiro’s wife, was so damaged from the ugly attacks from Alex Diaz de la Portilla — who is now taking over the city of Miami — that it followed her to the runoff and Higgins won.
Las malas lenguas say that the Republican Party has been trying to recruit a 
candidate for this contest for months. It is a non partisan race, officially, but these county seats are becoming more partisan every day and Higgins is progressive enough on the dais that Republicans want her gone. They have reportedly talked to former Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo, early on, and former county commissioner Bruno Barreiro, who lost the Republican congressional primary in 2018.
Las malas lenguas also say that Barreiro is polling. He better include Zapata in that poll.
Even Levine Cava thinks Zapata can be a relevant threat.
“Juan Zapata cares deeply about our community and has done much good to make it a better place,” she told Ladra. “I respect him greatly and know his voice will continue to shape our future.”
Alas, Zapata himself told Ladra that he had no current plans to run for commissioner. He wanted to run for mayor because he says the commissioners are left in the dark. He remembers being a commissioner and he didn’t like it.
“The commission is a body where people think they know what they are talking about but they are unwilling to make the necessary changes and are lied to by staff,” Zapata said. “As mayor, I would have fired that staff.
“I would have loved to kick-ass at County Hall and make it really productive with a $6 billion budget that is being wasted,” he said, adding that it wasn’t just the fundraising handicap. “This isn’t gelling the way I need it to gel for me to be focused the way I need to be focused,” Zapata told Ladra.
Still, he wouldn’t totally discount it after a little encouragement and begging on my part: “You’ve planted the seed,” he said.
Ladra predicts that the next to drop out of the race will be Commissioner Jean Monestime. He has only raised $35,000 and he isn’t termed out yet. He probably has polls or data that show he can’t win countywide either. Ladra thinks he will stay put rather than losing his seat.
The mayoral matrix is in flux.
Juan Zapata quits mayor’s race, but Zorro could ride again in District 5 added by Ladra on
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