Former State Sen. Annette Taddeo announced Monday that she would run for Miami-Dade County Clerk and Comptroller against Juan Fernandez-Barquin, a former state rep that was appointed to the job by Gov. Ron DeSantis last June.
This completes campaign consultant Christian Ulvert‘s dance card for 2024. He’s got all the five of the big countywide races on his watch. Let’s call it the Ulvert Slate:
- For Mayor: La Alcaldesa Daniella Levine Cava again
- For Sheriff: Miami-Dade Public Safety Director James Reyes
- For Supervisor of Elections: former State Rep. JC Planas
- For Tax Collector: former Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson
- For Miami-Dade Clerk: Annette Taddeo
Ulvert is gonna be a busy guy. And 2024 is going to be a lucrative year for him and his team.
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But is it wise? In 2020, Ulvert was so busy with the history-making mayoral race won by Daniella Levine Cava and defending Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins‘ seat from Renier Diaz de la Portilla, that he lost one of the most important races on the ballot: Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez‘s re-election, which was thwarted by a spoiler plantidate who was a GOP voter before he registered as an NPA to rig the race. Ulvert might have known sooner about Alex Rodriguez — who pleaded guilty to accepting illegal campaign donations and lying on campaign documents and agreed to testify against former Sen. Frank Artiles — if he was paying more attention.n
Is Ulvert taking on more than he can chew — again?
Ulvert has always represented Taddeo and helped her become the first Latina Democrat to serve in the Florida Senate when she won a special election in 2017, finally, after years of losing in other races. She was re-elected to a full four-year term a year later. In 2022, Taddeo was convinced to run for congress against Maria Elvira Salazar, who trounced her with 57% of the vote. Last year, she lost a race for Florida Democratic Party chair to Nikki Fried.
Taddeo said in a statement that she would seek “to follow in the tradition of the late Harvey Ruvin, who served as our County Clerk with honor and integrity for three decades.
“We need public servants who will put our county residents first versus special interests or political agendas” Taddeo said. “Our Clerk is a vital role in local government, ensuring that transparency, accountability, and accessibility in our justice system is strong.
Read related: State rep’s move to county clerk ‘and comptroller’ could expand the role
“And now with the addition of Comptroller, I will be laser-focused on protecting our residents’ tax dollars and committed to being a steward of our $11.7 billion budget.”
Taddeo, whose World War II veteran father was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in Colombia, owns and operates a translation service called LanguageSpeak, which has been named one of the Top 100 Small Businesses in Florida and one of the Top 500 Small Businesses in the United States.
“With three decades of experience running her own business and a proven track record of public service, Annette is a tireless advocate for hardworking Floridians who deserve better representation,” her announcement reads.
Annette Taddeo for Miami-Dade clerk fills out Christian Ulvert’s dance card added by Ladra on
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