Voters in Miami-Dade District 7 were reminded Wednesday about former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner‘s sometimes stormy disposition.
Lerner, who is running again for county commissioner against incumbent Raquel Regalado, has famously lashed out at residents — losing her temper, shouting, cursing, banging her gavel, rolling her eyes and walking out of the village meetings in a huff.
In one meeting, she threatened to “have it out in the back room” with someone.
“Who’s Cindy Lerner trying to fool,” the mailer asks on one side. “Does Cindy Lerner think for one minute we forgot? Cindy Lerner had a pattern of verbal abuse, not just one single incident,” it says on the other.
Read related: Cindy Lerner had a pattern of verbal abuse, not just one single incident
The mailer quotes a Miami Herald story with some of her best, or worst, lines:
- “You know what, sit down,” she told a resident.
- “God damn it,” she yelled, banging her fists on the dais.
- “I’m not putting up with this shit,” she said, walking out.
Even Political Cortadito is cited in a 2020 story where she is quoted as saying, “If you open your mouth one more time…” and “If you don’t like the way I talk to you or anybody else, let’s have it out in the back room.”
Those clips were strung together in a web video released during the 2020 race by the same name, which Lerner lost, after getting into a runoff with Regalado, with 49% of the vote, a 1,300 vote difference. Was it the video? It sure didn’t help. People remember it today.
But Lerner’s outbursts are so infamous, that she herself made a video addressing it last year to kick off this campaign. Like, she’s not embarrassed at all.
Read related: Cindy Lerner makes it official vs Raquel Regalado in 2024 Miami-Dade race
In the two-minute message, she tries to infer that she lost her cool because she was fed up with the corruption in Miami-Dade. But all her example cases — Joe Carollo, Francis Suarez, Vince Lago, Alex Diaz de la Portilla — happened after those episodes. And, more importantly, Lerner wasn’t yelling at politicos in those meetings. She was yelling and disrespecting residents. Voters. Constituents.
Us.
While the web video of her yelling and screaming has gotten 1,800 views, her own video trying to explain it has gotten about a third of that.
The mailer that arrived in Kendall homes on Wednesday may be an old hit against Lerner, but it was paid for by a new political action committee, Defending Democracy in Miami-Dade, which filed paperwork July 2 and hasn’t reported any transactions yet. So, we don’t know who’s paying for this piece. Raul Miro, Jr., of North Miami Beach is the chairman and treasurer.
But it has to be on Regalado’s behalf.
There’s another candidate in the race, but Richard Praschnik loaned himself $18,000 of the $22K he’s raised and Ladra doubts that it’s him putting this mailer out.
Mailer drops in Miami-Dade District 7 race — a hit on Cindy Lerner’s temper added by Ladra on
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