David Richardson jumps ship in Miami Beach to go back to redrawn House seat

Updated: Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson, who was a state representative in District 113, announced Tuesday that he would be stepping down from his city seat to run for state House in District 106, with its newly-drawn boundaries.

He was only city commissioner by default, anyway, running for that after he lost a bid for Congress.

Richardson, whose term was not up until next year, will likely serve through November and it’s unknown whether the city will have a special election or an appointed replacement — which will not be Joy Malakoff this time.

“With re-districting, this is a new district from Miami Beach to Aventura – along the coast,” Richardson wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday.

“About ten years ago I was successful in becoming a State Representative. For the past two years, I have enjoyed serving our local community, and will continue to do so,” wrote Richardson, who was one of the two first openly-gay state reps elected that year (Democrat Joe Saunders of Orlando is the other) and said that community’s interests were not being currently represented.

“I am dismayed at what is going on in Tallahassee nowadays, including the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill,” Richardson wrote, referring to the House bill pushed by homophobic GOP lawmakers that could restrict how teachers and students can talk about sexuality and gender identity in the classroom.

“Maybe it was a coincidence, but during my six years serving in the state legislature I can’t think of even one anti-LGBT bill that passed.

“My days as a public servant are not over, and I think I can make the greatest impact in that arena.”

Richardson was first elected to state House in newly-drawn open seat in 2012. He ran again in 2014 unopposed and won re-election in 2016 with 65% of the vote in a district that is more than 60% Hispanic.

Then Richardson — who had threatened to run for Florida Senate a couple of times — ran for Congress in District 27 after longtime member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen retired. He lost the 2018 Democratic primary to Donna Shalala, who went on to win it and then lose it to Maria Elvira Salazar two years later.

Only after that did he look at the Miami Beach Commission, where he ran in 2019. He got 49% of the vote in the first round and won the runoff against Adrian Gonzalez with a solid 58%. But he also spent almost three times as much — $249,242 against $94,275, according to campaign expense reports.

But most people think his heart is not in it and the Beach was a consolation prize.

Richardson is also Mayor Dan Gelber‘s closest ally, so not only has the mayor lost the majority on the commission — Alex Fernandez, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Mark Samuelian and Steven Meiner are the pro-resident, development wary darlings on the board — but now he loses his best buddy, also. All the mayor has left is Commissioner Ricky Arriola.

So he is going to want to appoint someone.

But former Commissioner Joy Malakoff won’t get the votes this time. Who else could it be? Rachel Pacheco, who both Gelber and Richardson supported hard against Rosen Gonzalez comes to mind. She did make it to a runoff after 3,594 people voted for her.

But appointing her could give Pacheco an advantage as a de facto incumbent in 2023. The best way to avoid that is to appoint someone who’s already served or doesn’t want to serve again. Former Mayor Matti Bower comes to mind. Both she and former Commissioner Michael Góngora could serve the remainder of Richardson’s term without it affecting term limits. And either of them could also hit the ground running, especially Góngora who was there most recently, leaving office last year.

Góngora is also running for mayor next year so some might say it would give him an unfair advantage. But he’s the front runner de facto incumbent in an open mayoral race anyway, no matter what, so he already has an edge.

“I love the city. I’ve run many times because I love the city,” said Góngora, who was first elected in a special election to fill a vacancy by Luis Garcia‘s move to the state House. “I am running for mayor in 2023, but if the opportunity to finish out that term presents itself, I would love to serve.”

The city should just have an election to replace Richardson for a year — which is not really a short time — rather than give anyone the upper hand in the 2023 election by appointing them. There is plenty of time to put a commission seat on the November ballot with the county and state races, so it doesn’t cost the city anything.

Under Florida’s resign-to-run law, Richardson has to resign in June, but it can be effective on Election Day, Nov. 8. He could also resign right now, effective in November. You know, to give people time to campaign.

Commissioner Fernandez told Ladra it was too early to know which way he would lean.

“I don’t have a position now. They both have their pros,” said Fernandez, who, like almost everyone else (Gelber and City Manager Alina Hudak knew), was very surprised.

Ladra can’t imagine what the pros are of appointing someone for a year rather than letting the voters decide. Unless it’s having a pocket vote.

Richardson, who did not return a call for comment, told the Miami Herald that he favored an election.

Dan Gelber

David Richardson jumps ship in Miami Beach to go back to redrawn House seat added by Ladra on February 15, 2022
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