The Coral Gables library is always one of the top performing polling places during early voting — as well as on Election Day — and, so, attracts lots of candidates and their supporters to urge voters to punch their number on the ballot. And sometimes it can get fun.
Remember when Mayra Joli, running for Gables city commissioner in 2021, had her salsa music booming as she danced on the sidewalk? Well, until the police were called.
Ladra expects some kind of music Monday as well as a boatload of politicos making their pitches and taking their photo ops as they vote or not. This includes Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who will be joined by a group of mayors who have endorsed her: Javier Fernandez of South Miami, Evan Piper of North Miami Beach Charles Burkett of Surfside, Alix Desulme of North Miami and Omarr Nickerson of El Portal. Former Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber will also be arriving in the 10 a.m. DLC party.
Coral Gables Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson will also be there. Mayor Vince Lago is going to skip that party because he’s a Republican with ambition. One might think he’d do something with the GOP frontrunner, Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, but he threw Cid under the bus during a budget hearing last year, so maybe not.
Cid told Political Cortadito that he plans to visit several locations tomorrow and throughout the week.
According to his team, mayoral candidate Alex Otaola will be casting his ballot at about 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Coral Gables library. So does that mean that he’ll just miss La Alcaldesa?
There will be other candidates there, for sure. Attorney Ignacio “Iggy” Alvarez, a 25-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department and a candidate for county sheriff, will also spend some time at the Coral Gables library before traveling on to other polling places.
Voters on Election Day must vote at their assigned precincts, but one can vote at any of the 23 early voting locations and, for some reason, the Coral Gables library, at 3443 Segovia St., is a big draw year after year. Maybe people just want an excuse to go there ’cause it’s so purdy. But there are other places that offer some entertainment along with your democracy. JFK Library in Hialeah is famous for campaign hijinks. But it’s always better when there’s a city election, too.
Miami-Dade Public Safety Chief James Reyes, who is running for county sheriff, will be at the Joseph Caleb Center, 5400 NW 22nd Ave., at 11 a.m. with several of the electeds who endorsed him, including State Rep. Kevin Chambliss, Florida City Vice Mayor Sharon Butler, Miami Gardens Vice Mayor Katrina Wilson, North Miami Beach commissioners Jay Chernoff and Daniela Jean, and Miami Gardens council members Robert Stephens and Reggie Leon.
Perhaps Mayor DLC took all the mayors.
The Westchester Regional Library can also be a good place to see some candidate caravans. But that might not happen until November.
There are a total of 23 early voting locations. They are:
- Coral Gables Branch Library, 3443 Segovia Street
- Coral Reef Branch Library, 9211 SW 152nd Street
- Elections Department main office, 2700 NW 87th Avenue
- Florida International University, Student Academic Success Center, 11200 SW 8th Street
- Historic Garage (former Museum of Science), 3250 S Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33129
- Homestead Community Center, (William F. “Bill” Dickinson Community Center), 1601 N. Krome Ave.
- John F. Kennedy Library, 190 W 49th Street, Hialeah
- Joseph Caleb Center Community Meeting Room, 5400 NW 22nd Avenue – Building A
- Kendall Branch Library, 9101 SW 97th Avenue
- Little Haiti Cultural Complex, 212 NE 59th Terrace
- Miami Beach City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive
- Miami Dade College Kendall Campus, Fascell Conference Center (Bldg K), 11011 SW 104th St.
- Miami Dade College North Campus, Library (Building 2), 11380 NW 27th Avenue
- Miami Lakes Community Center (aka Mary Collins Community Ctr), 15151 NW 82nd Avenue
- North Dade Regional Library, 2455 NW 183rd Street
- North Miami Public Library, 835 NE 132nd Street
- North Shore Branch Library, 7501 Collins Avenue
- Northeast Dade-Aventura Branch Library, 2930 Aventura Boulevard
- South Dade Regional Library, 10750 SW 211th Street, Cutler Bay
- Stephen P. Clark Gov’t Center (Elections Branch Office), 111 NW 1st Street (Lobby)
- West Kendall Regional Library, 10201 Hammocks Boulevard
- West Miami Community Center, 901 SW 62nd Avenue
- Westchester Regional Library, 9445 SW 24th Street
A “secure ballot intake station” — or an absentee and vote-by-mail drop box — will be available and staffed at each of the early voting locations for people to drop off the ballots they get mailed to them and fill out at home.
Early voting is from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. all this week and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Next week, Aug. 12-16, the hours will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and, again, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the 18th, which is the last early voting day. The primary is Tuesday, Aug. 20.
Early voting starts Monday, turns Coral Gables library into a political zoo added by Ladra on
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