Esteban Bovo solidly wins his second place prize job: mayor of Hialeah

Pobre Hialeah.

They were Esteban Bovo‘s second choice. But one year after he lost the race for Miami-Dade mayor, the former county commissioner — whose political career began on the Hialeah council — voters chose him over four others to be the next mayor en la ciudad que progresa.

The city might have to come up with a new nickname.

Political observers were pretty sure that there was going to be a runoff in Hialeah not because it was a five way race but because Bovo and former Council President Isis Garcia-Martinez draw from the same base and former Mayor Julio Martinez — who thinks he’s Donald Trump’s go-to guy in Miami-Dade — should have drawn more than 2% with 426 votes.

But Bovo — who boasted endorsements from Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, campaigning with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez on Election Day — trounced her with a 37-point spread, 59% to 22%. Even if Francisco Godo, the magazine guy, hadn’t run and Garcia-Martinez got all his 3,642 votes, she still would have been almost 5,000 votes short of Bovo’s total of 13,058.

I guess the “sapingo” comment didn’t hurt him as much as some thought it would. Heck, it’s Hialeah. Maybe it helped him. Bovo got 4,400 Election Day votes. Not that he needed them. By the time he got 6,473 vote-by-mail or absentee ballots and 2,185 ballots in early voting, he had already won.

Ladra hopes none of the ABs found their way to the elections department via the trunk of a campaign staffer’s car. Remember, Bovo was the one whose district staffer was caught stuffing ballots into her baúl in 2012.

He did have more money to spend. Bovo raised $521,176 by Oct. 28 and spent a reported $482,230. That’s just his campaign account. He raised another $550,920 for his A Better Hialeah PAC since March, spending $359,545 of it as of Oct. 28. That’s more spent than the $338,030 that Garcia-Martinez reportedly raised for her campaign account.

The Hialeah mayoral race was always the insurance plan for Bovo as he ran for county mayor. But even there, about 30% of the people thought that Daniella Levine Cava was a better choice.

In a scary specter of what’s to come, Bovo granted a short TV interview after his victory Tuesday and said he planned to turn to current Mayor Carlos Hernandez and former Mayor Julio Robaina — known loansharks — for guidance in running the city. The Hialeah mayor, who gets paid $190,000 a year, runs the day to day operations, negotiates with labor, prepares the budget and represents the city in Washington and Tallahassee.

Seriously, dude? You were a county commissioner and a state rep before that and you need those hoodlums to hold your hand?

So expect more of the same. The same abuse of power. The same cronyism. The same political retaliation. The same inside deals. The same secret, shady shit. The same ol’, same ol’.

Councilman Oscar de la Rosa, who is Bovo’s stepson, said he would resign from his seat if Papi won the mayoral race, which means that Steve-O will get a chance try to bring a lackey onto the dais to do his bidding either by appointment or special election.

Pobre Hialeah.

Esteban Bovo, Isis Garcia-Martinez

Esteban Bovo solidly wins his second place prize job: mayor of Hialeah added by Ladra on November 3, 2021
View all posts by Ladra →