But voters can always split this baby
It’s not a huge surprise that Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has come out hard, with mailers and phone calls, for a slate of constitutional office candidates that are all Democrats like her. Four of the five are also clients of La Alcaldesa’s prolific political consultants, Christian Ulvert.
Only Marisol Zenteno, who is running for the second time for Miami-Dade Property Appraiser, this time against former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, has a different consultant running her campaign. The others are all part of Ulvert’s slate:
- Miami-Dade Public Safety Chief James Reyes, running for sheriff against Republican Rosie Cordero-Stutz, a 28-year veteran and currently assistant director at the Miami-Dade Police Department, who is on leave for the campaign.
- Former state rep and Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson, running for tax collector against Republican Dariel Fernandez, a marketing professional and community council member who speaks really bad English. And, no, it’s not just an accent.
- Former State Sen. Annette Taddeo, running for Clerk of Courts and Comptroller against the appointed incumbent, former state rep Juan Fernandez-Barquin.
- And former State Rep. JC Planas, an election attorney for various politicians, running for Supervisor of Elections against State Rep. Alina Garcia, who left her seat at the GOP’s behest to try to secure this seat for the Republican Party.
La Alcaldesa’s favor is coveted because she won her own race in August against six other candidates without needing to go to a runoff. She enjoys widespread support, of course among Democrats but also among Republicans, with whom she has built a bunch of bridges. It is just smart to think that her endorsement — and a recent mailer was paid for by the Florida Democratic Party — will help others.
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava crushes challengers in re-election
But some voters have expressed to Ladra that they feel this is just too close for comfort. Too cozy. It looks like we’re-not-a-gang-we’re-a-club. Nobody wants every constitutional officer — all of whom are supposed to be independent — to owe the mayor anything. Reyes, in particular, is seen as a puppet because Levine Cava handpicked him to the job of public safety chief just months before he announced his candidacy. That made it seem planned.
But if you don’t want to just give Levine Cava a county cabinet, you don’t have to go all the way to the dark side. The best thing to do might be to split them up. Say, vote for three DLC pals and against two others. Or some such combination.
You don’t know how to choose? Here, let Ladra give you some assistance.
The first rule: Do not sacrifice Planas. Again, DO NOT sacrifice Planas.
Garcia is a nice enough lady. Okay, depends. But she is also a one-time boletera who has worked her way up the ranks of the GOP through jobs with Republican scumbags like former Congressman David Rivera, former and disgraced State Sen. Frank Artiles and Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo. And, more importantly for this contest, she is an election denier.
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She is a blind Trump cult member who has not and will not say that the 2020 election was won fair and square by Joe Biden. She probably believes that the Jan. 6 insurgents are patriots who should be pardoned.
We can’t put a onetime boletera in the elections office. So, Planas is a no-brainer. He’s not necessarily a DLC cult member, either. He’s independent in the sense that he owes her nada. And he’s a nerd who loves rules and knows election law better than the palm of his hand. His idea of a fun night is reading case law reports and consulting Westlaw. And Ladra just doesn’t think he would bend the rules for anyone.
Like Planas is perfect for this post, Richardson is perfect for the tax collecting position.
A CPA by profession, a former auditor at the U.S. Department of Defense, a man who has exposed government waste at the highest levels, Richardson earned the nickname “the budget guy” in the legislature. While the tax collector doesn’t raise or lower taxes, he will have the opportunity to find inefficiencies and cut waste, which Richardson has done before. He’s good at it.
Besides, Fernandez is beholden to the same Trump cult loyalists as Garica, and that includes Sen. Marco Rubio, Congressman Carlos Gimenez and Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo.
If you’re going to vote against Christian Ulvert on the ballot do it with one of the other three candidates: Reyes, Taddeo or Zenteno. But first know that Cordero-Stutz and Fernandez-Barquin are also gang members. Cordero-Stutz is with the Trump Gimenez Locos and Fernandez Barquin is with the DeSantis Devils. So it’s not like they’re completely independent, either.
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The safest bet is to vote against Zenteno. She’s already lost once, four years ago to Pedro Garcia. Tomas Regalado, who seems to have steered clear of corruption claims during 100 years as Miami mayor, is nobody’s puppet. His campaign is run by his daughter and sons, like always, with consultant Miriam Almer simply serving as the conduit for producing materials and content. Google Almer. Nada. Which is another good sign. The worst thing you could say about Almer is that she once worked with former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora.
So there you have it. If you must vote against Christian Ulvert, please don’t take it out on Planas and Richardson. They need to win.
Take it out on Zenteno. Or Taddeo, who can always run for something else.
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Dear Millie, thanks for your response to my response. Of course you are special!
But you are also wrong, and I don’t want you to sound like the crazy rightwing people who make assumptions that are wrong about me. So let me clear this up. I have not worked for the Regalado “for years.” LOL. I worked with Raquel Regalado in her 2016 against then Mayor Carlos Gimenez, because, well Gimenez. I just did communications and messaging. But, as many people know, she did not continue with my communications services in the runoff. I got her to the runoff, but did not work the runoff campaign. She sort of fired me. So why on Earth would I still be indebted to her? Those accusations are so of base you lose credibility. And you give fuel to those on the other side who say the same thing. No seas tonta útil.
In fact, the fact that I still like Raquel and support her against Cindy Lerner should say a lot about her — she is efficient, smart, dedicated, wrong on some votes but we can’t have it all — and Cindy Lerner, who is rude and likes to govern by committee and does not seem efficient. Maybe I would not vote for Regalado if there were a better candidate. That’s right, it’s my district. So I do have skin in the game, but not the skin you so insultingly infer.
By the way, I worked for Lerner, too. Right after leaving the Herald she hired me to do some messaging and communications. Am I indebted to her? See how ridiculous you sound?
By the way no. 2, every Ulvert client in the constitutional races is currently advertising in Political Cortadito. Because there are a lot of readers who are engaged voters, not because I am going to support them. As is clear. WTF, Millie?
Next thing is that Zenteno is in the DLC “cabinet” as seen in the mailer sent by her. La Alcaldesa has endorsed in every constitutional race. That is the point. So that is why Marisol was in the “eeny meeny miny moe” bunch. You are right that she is not a Culvert client. So that should be considered in the elimination game. But I also said that there were other potential sacrificial lambs. For me, the only MUST HAVES are Planas and Richardson, for obvious reasons.
FYI, I probably would have voted for all five, or four of the five of these people (including Zenteno) — before she endorsed them. That now suddenly makes me uncomfortable. What I cannot believe is that it doesn’t make you uncomfortable.
Love, Ladra
Dear Elaine,
I’m so honored that you chose to respond to my comment. I haven’t seen you respond to many reader comments before, so I feel special 🙂
As I mentioned, Marisol Zenteno is more than qualified for the Property Appraiser position, not only because she has been a certified property appraiser for over two decades, but also because she has worked in Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser’s office for almost 10 of those years and also has proven administrative experience.
Her opponent claims that “he knows people” in Tallahassee as his reason for running. He has not idea what the nuances and laws for property appraising are, so I guess he wants to trust the lobbyists and Republicans he knows in Tallahassee who have been in the majority for over 20 years and voted in favor of raising property insurance rates for Floridians to today’s sky high levels to tell him all about appraising the value of our properties. Really?
Finally, your premise that voters need to choose who they vote for based on who their political consultant is or not, is seriously flawed. Voters care about the candidate’s experience, track record, and ability to do the job with honor and ethics, and this describes Marisol Zenteno #75 on the ballot.
BTW, as you said, Christian Ulvert is not her consultant, hasn’t been her consultant, and does not manage Marisol Zenteno’s campaign, so I don’t know why you’re lumping her in on your bizarre “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” candidate recommendations. Could it be that your comments are tainted because you have worked for the Regalados for years? Inquiring minds want to know.
Abrazos,
Millie
Early voting started today October21 at 33 locations throughout Miami-Dade County, Monday through Sunday, 7am to 7pm until November 3rd. Voters can check their closest Early Voting location at the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections website https://www.miamidade.gov/elections/library/early-voting/2024-11-05-general-election-early-voting-schedule.pdf. Go vote!
I don’t disagree with a lot here, but Clerk of the Courts is an easy choice. Juan Barquin has made huge improvements to the Clerk’s office since he came into office. It is running much better than before, both on the court side and recorder side. He has really made an effort to make things easier for people and professional. Plus, he is an attorney. Taddeo is running because she wants to run for something .It is inexplicable that the Clerk of Courts is not required to be a member oft the Bar. Taddeo has zero experience with the Court System or Recording System or as Comptroller. Barquin is a good safe bet for a position that should be non-partisan anyway, and he has not shown any bias towards any way or another in his term so far.
Just by looking at State Rep. Alina Garcia, you can see the crud coming out of her. She looks and talks as fake as they come. A real trumponian, with an opinion of her own. I would rather eat my ballot that vote for her or cordero for sherrif.
I’m sorry Ladra, but Marisol Zenteno is just as qualified to be Property Appraiser as Richardson and Planas are for their respective positions. She has decades of appraisal experience while Regalado has ZERO. He’s never appraised a property in his life, but because he held office in Miami for twenty years that makes him qualified? Absolutely not. Zenteno is ready for this office on day one. We don’t need to keep recycling the same politicians over and over. Marisol Zenteno is a fresh voice on the dais and I will be voting for her as the next Property Appraiser.
Generally agree with your analysis, but not sure that the best way to stick it to The Man is to vote AGAINST the only Democratic county candidate not in the pocket of The Man.
The democrats will eventually reach the same conclusion about Planas that republicans did. Same clown, different uniform.
The only thing you forgot to mention is that you endorsed the other Regalado for commissioner. Gee, I wonder why that is? You give Richardson credit for his experience but not Zenteno. It seems you are just hell bent on voting against Ulvert and you want to take that out on qualified candidates who have spent the last 2 years of their lives dedicating to running for office. You should be excited to have a newcomer run. Why continue with a dynasty that has not served the people? Sorry, Ladra. I choose to vote against your recommendations.
Dear Millie. It is nice to hear from you again.
I like Marisol Zenteno. I think she is likely a very good and knowledgeable appraiser. But this job is going to be more about administrating and political advocacy, no? I think Regalado is good for that, too. They may be even.
But the point is that it is an exercise like in any reality show where you have to vote someone off the island. If you had to make a choice, there is no ifs or buts, you HAVE to pick one person from the DLC cabinet to vote off the island, who would it be if not Zenteno?
Give me your pick. I dare you. Don’t take the easy way out.
Love, elaine
Worst part of having DLC up to her nose is that Dade county fixed income middle class retirees will not get property tax relief from her as she needs to continue to spend tax money all over
Voting against Marisol Zenteno is reckless and self defeating! She’s a highly experienced 20-plus year certified and licensed property appraiser. She’s also currently a senior level property appraiser at the county office, and will be an independent voice to ensure properties are assessed accurately, and errors in assessment can be corrected fast so property owners are spared from losing their homes, or paying incorrect taxes.
Tomas Regalado knows NOTHING about property appraising and claims he’s qualified for the job “because he knows people in Tallahassee”… Whaaaat the….?!! He even falls asleep in candidate forums- almost fell out of his chair at an American Legion candidate event, and it was only 7pm.
We need to stop recycling elected officials just because they receive large donations or have name recognition. Look at their credentials and experience in the jobs they seek and elect QUALIFIED, EXPERIENCED professionals like Marisol Zenteno, who is both knowledgeable and knows how to do the job, and doesn’t owe anything to wealthy influence peddlers.
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