Two of the three candidates in the special election for Florida House seat 118 to replace State Rep. Juan Alfonso Fernandez-Barquin — appointed Miami-Dade Clerk and Comptroller by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June — will meet and greet Kendall voters Thursday night. But the Republican is sitting it out.
Mike Redondo, the frontrunner and best funded candidate — $226,000 as of the last campaign finance report, with more than $62,000 from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee — probably thinks he has nothing to lose by skipping the meet and greet sponsored by the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Association.
“Try as I might, I could not get him to commit until after the voting had started,” said KFHA President Michael Rosenberg. “We wanted to do it before. We even asked if he could do a telephone with the endorsement committee,” Rosenberg said. But it was a no.
It brought up shades of Anthony Rodriguez, the Miami-Dade Commissioner who snubbed the KFHA and even the Miami Herald screening. So if it worked for Rodriguez, why not again?
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Redondo did not return a call to his campaign phone. But he is the early favorite in a race where two other Republicans dropped out. It could have something to do with Redondo getting the endorsement of next year’s House Speaker Daniel Perez. Or with Fernandez-Barquin thrashing the 2022 Democrat with more than twice as many votes (68% to 32%).
That Democrat is the same Democrat in this special election: perennial candidate and former Community Council member Johnny Farias, who, so far, hasn’t reported a dime of support from the Florida Democratic Party. They are probably prioritizing their resources and, let’s admit it, Farias is a long shot.
Farias has raised $76,208 and the only real bundles are about $3,000 from other people named Farias and $3,000 from contractor Antonio Duque. There are some notables who believe in him. He has a $500 check from former Mayor Alex Penelas and a $1,000 contribution from South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez.
The “independent” or NPA candidate, Francisco “Frank” de la Paz used to be Republican, according to a WPLG Local 10 report by Glenna Milberg, who is on the lookout for other plantidates like Alex Rodriguez, who was paid by Frank Artiles to run for state senate to steal votes from Jose Javier Rodriguez. De la Paz, whose reports show he hasn’t raised a dime since he opened his account in August — filing four minutes after Farias — has a post office address, no website, no social media presence and he missed a This Week in South Florida appearance with the other two candidates.
He is acting like a shill.
Read related: Three candidates run in special election for House District 118 in Kendall
“I am not a spoiler, nor would I ever play that card,” he tells Milberg. But he’s not convincing.
Both de la Paz and Farias confirmed they would be at the KFHA forum beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Kendall Village Civic Pavilion (called the “little house”) across rom Regal Cinema, 8625 SW 124th Ave.
The election is Dec. 5.
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