The fat lady has not sung. Not in Cutler Bay, Doral, Palmetto Bay or North Miami Beach.
On Friday, Miami-Dade Elections tweeted a photo of staffers proofreading the ballots for four Miami-Dade municipalities that will have runoffs beginning Nov. 17 after candidates in those elections failed to get a 50% plus 1 majority vote in Tuesday’s election, according to official results.
This sets us up for an election almost every week through Dec. 8! The perfect holiday gift for Ladra!
In North Miami Beach, voters have spoken with a mandate for the three incumbents running. Mayor Anthony “Tony” DeFillipo won re-election with 68.5% of the vote and Commissioners McKenzie Fleurimond and Michael Joseph won with 70% and 65%, respectively.
Happy voters? Or dumb voters? Ladra doesn’t know but suspects the second. You know who knows? Stephanie Kienzle who writes the VotersOpinion.com blog. She has been covering North Miami Beach like a blanket (electric, not fuzzy) for years, this election is no exception, and is sorta like the Ladra of the North.
Go there and catch up now on the six-way race for council Group 3 seat vacated by the term-limited Commissioner Phyllis Smith, where Daniela Jean and Margaret “Margie” Love were the two top vote getters with 35.5% and 19%, respectively, and are now going mano a mano.
In the South, Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay have runoffs on Dec. 1.
Cutler Bay voters also made Councilman Michael Callahan the vice mayor, by a solid majority, 62%. But they split the vote four ways for the council seat in Group 2, which now is a race between Jose Rodriguez, who got 34%, and Suzy Lord, who got 31%.
In Palmetto Bay, Leanne Tellam got 49% of the vote and advances to a runoff with former Village Manager Edward “Ed” Silva — who was forced to resign earlier this year — who got 38%.
“While it is frustrating that #TeamTellam fell only 1% below the 50%+1 needed for outright victory on Tuesday night, I am excited about the month ahead,” Tellam, who has the endorsement of Mayor Karyn Cunningham and outgoing Vice Mayor John Dubois and is being helped by campaign consultant Christian Ulvert, wrote in an email sent Thursday to supporters. “We now have more opportunities to meet our neighbors, share our vision, and learn more about what is important to our community members.”
Tellam, who has been attacked by mail pieces funded by a political action committee, said that she is ready for more attack mailers.
“My friends who have been in Palmetto Bay politics longer than I warn that we are in for more PAC mailers & misinformation, so prepare yourselves (as I have tried to prepare my family & friends),” she wrote.
In Doral, Mayor JC Bermudez won with 68% and Councilwoman Claudia Mariaca handily won re-election with 70% and 63.5% of their field’s vote, respectively. But the four candidates in the Group 3 race split the votes, which sends Oscar Puig and Juan Carlos Esquivel to Round 2 with 44% and 33%, respectively.
That rounds out the runoffs on Dec. 8. And eligible residents in Doral can register to vote through Monday. It’s too late in the other three cities.
Then next year, we have exciting elections in Coral Gables, Miami and Hialeah. The fun never stops!
It’s not over! There are four municipal runoff elections in Miami-Dade added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
