Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables

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Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
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It was over in Coral Gables in about 15 minutes.

After months of campaigning and negative attacks, it only took the first results that trickled in after the 7 p.m. closing of polls Tuesday to know that Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson won re-election with comfortable margins their opponents would never bounce back from.

Lago, who is now on his third term, got more than 55% of the vote in the mayoral race next to Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who got almost 38%. Michael Anthony Abbott‘s nearly 7% of the vote wouldn’t have made a difference. Anderson did even better, with more than 58% of voters returning her to office over architect Felix Pardo, who got a little more than 37%, and Laureano Cancio, who got 4%.

Anderson’s strong support was the biggest surprise for many on Tuesday, seeing as how she had seemingly lost a lot of her base as far back as two years ago when she became what many call Lago’s luckiest lackey. Ladra is going to go out on a limb here and say that maybe people found Pardo to be a little pushy.

Did anybody notice that 52 more people voted in the mayor’s race than in the vice mayor’s race? What’s up with that?

The turnout for Tuesday’s city election was more than 29%, which is more than the 20% that participated in the 2023 election — where there was no mayoral race because Lago had no opponent — and more than the almost 29% that participated in 2021, where there were three contentious races, like now.

If the votes are a referendum on Lago and his administration, and many said this election would be, then the mayor may have just gotten a mandate. And if we thought he was an arrogant jerk before, he is really going to be insufferable now. Insoportable.

Read related: What transparency? 22 reasons NOT to vote for Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago

“The city has spoken, the residents have spoken. Your mayor is back,” Lago said in a short clip on the A Day In Miami podcast’s instagram account. His election night watch party was to be at Wolfe’s Wine Shoppe on Miracle Mile, and the video captures his friends and campaign workers high-fiving it and yucking it up in the background.

“Thank you for your support. Thank you for your trust in me. It’s an honor to serve you for the next two years,” Lago says.

So, what happened? Some people were shaking their heads Tuesday night, flabbergasted that the results would be so lopsided. They expected it to be closer. Ladra is among them. People were given hope by the outcome of the 2023 election, when the two underdogs funded and supported by Lago and his loyalists lost to Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez.

But those two seem to have benefited from the mayor’s absence on the ballot two years ago. And it was a wrong move by Menendez and Pardo to lean so heavily on the anti-Lago vote and the positive reaction they got when they were door-knocking.

Lago pulls. How else could anyone explain the 47% pole position enjoyed by Richard Lara, Lago’s handpicked candidate in the Group 3 race, going into the runoff with attorney Tom Wells, who was the anti-Lago candidate. Folks agree Lara is a lousy pocket vote candidate. Worse than Alex Bucelo, someone said.

If Lara wins, then Lago will have scored the trifecta (more on that next).

Also, Menendez could not get above the flood of messaging Lago paid for with a hefty campaign treasure chest. According to the latest campaign finance reports, tracking contributions and spending through April 3, Lago had nearly half a million in his campaign account (including a last minute $1,000 from former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who is now a lobbyist for billboards). He also spent another half a million from his political action committee, Coral Gables First, since January of last year.

Read related: Fundraising for Coral Gables election slows, incumbents count on max gifts

And that $467,000 or so spent by the PAC is only through December. The next report, for the first quarter of 2025, is due later this week. Ladra is willing to bet it doubled.

The Lago campaign was organized and relentless. A drip, drip, drip that started more than a year ago and ended in a barrage that was not about how great a mayor he has been for the past four years, but rather how bad a choice Menendez would be after having voted for commission raises and the hasty firing and hiring of a city manager or two and against a tiny tax break and inspector general. The text messages, mailers, emails and social media posts were almost daily. Like a hammer.

And Menendez, while he blew those issues out of the water in live forum events and wherever he spoke, was not able to counter Lago’s messaging across to more voters. The former assistant Miami city attorney turned real estate agent raised a mere $41,000 in his campaign account. Lago likely spent more than that just on text messages. And how do you message against a “101% raise” headline anyway? It’s complicated.

Menendez also has a PAC, The Coral Gables Way, with zero funds raised as of the end of December and a report that is also due later this week. But Ladra suspects it will not be much. Because he could not amplify his message.

Tuesday evening, the one-term commissioner — he beat Bucelo then won a runoff against Javier Baños with 52% (a 358 vote margin) in 2021 — thanked his family and volunteers at a small gathering at Burger Bob’s, er, Birdie’s Bistro, “not just for being here, but for your friendship, your support, for being such an important part of my life.

“Tonight is not an end,” Menendez said. “It’s just a continuation of what we’ve all done, which is give back to our community, serve our community. It’s not about the politics, it’s about how we can make the lives of others better. And that’s why I ran. And that’s why I was a commissioner. And that’s why you all supported me in this campaign.

Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago camp uses Jesus image to hit Kirk Menendez

“As they say, God has a plan. And what that plan is, I’m sure will manifest itself sooner or later.”

Menendez said he would likely stay involved in the city as a non-elected.

“The result is not what I think any of us thought. We saw a path forward that we all wanted the city to go. I think that path is still there. It will always be there. And we don’t lose hope. We stay working together, making sure our voices are heard… for a better Coral Gables.

“Not a better Coral Gables for some, but a better Coral Gables for everyone.”

Certainly, Wednesday will see a better Coral Gables for Vince Lago and Rhonda Anderson.

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22 Responses to "Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables"

  9. Tuesday was a sad day for the City of Coral Gables.
    How uninformed or uncaring (or paid off) can our voters be? Smells like something is rotten in Denmark and the City Not So Beautiful.
    Lago says he’s bringing back civility? What a freaking joke! He’s the one who made it disappear two years ago with his arrogant and narcissistic personality and his treatment of Ariel and Melissa from day one! Lago is disrespectful, dishonest, and associates with the wrong crowd…Alex de la Portilla, Joe Carollo, Francis Suarez, and lauds felons like the deceased Jorge de Cardenas. Need I say more?
    Leave his marital unfaithfulness aside, but it certainly says something about his character and lack of morals.
    Rhonda is most definitely his luckiest lackey. The general population has nothing but complaints about her lack of following through on her campaign promises of 4 years ago. She sold her soul to the developers and to Vince, she has facilitated the overdevelopment that is engulfing our city (although she claims she’s protected us against overdevelopment…yeah, right) and talks down to the commissioners she doesn’t like and dresses down employees at commission meetings. If she does that in public, her treatment of employees in private must be scary.
    As to Pardo: To “go out on a limb” and say that maybe people found Pardo to be a little pushy is laughable, if it weren’t such an asinine statement. Pardo was running for the betterment of the city, has contributed 40 years of service to the city on so many boards and committees that Rhonda isn’t even aware of all of them (and he was even appointed to one by Rhonda herself), and is truly concerned about the neglect to historic city structures, the lack of police and firefighters, and the massive projects being granted all kinds of concessions by Rhonda with no regard for the absence of infrastructure to support them. (She must be getting paid royally by those developers!) What you describe as “pushy” could be more objectively and accurately described as passionate protection for a city he loves.
    Pardo can’t be bought or bribed. His decisions and intentions are always in the best interests of the city.
    Big mistake voting for Rhonda over Pardo.

    Lago is dragging her around by his coattails, and if she doesn’t let go, he’ll drag her down even farther than she already sank.

    Reply

  11. The better candidates won for a simple reason…..Gables residents know political hacks when they see them. Speaking of hacks….this “,cortadito” seems a little on the sour and bitter side……Mr. Lara’s election to the commission will rebalance Gables government to where it should be … VOTE!

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  12. … lago’s $1,500,000 of lies led to a sad outcome… kirk got more than a third of the vote spending just $40,000… makes you wonder why people spend millions… because they are making more on the other side!!! now lago spent all that money… developer friends will want payback… stop the corruption!

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  13. I walked by Wolf’s wine shop last night while Lago’s celebration was ongoing
    Among the attendees I saw Joe Carollo smiling from ear to ear. Frightening!

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  14. this election was so weird in that no one knocked on my door. I’m usually mobbed by campaigners pre-election. everybody must have been either complacent or lazy this time around.

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  15. Sure! Here’s a more polished and assertive version of your message while keeping your tone and key points intact:

    —

    As a super voter and Coral Gables resident, I believe Jay Spieler got it right. Your dismissive characterization of Commissioner Rhonda Anderson reflects short-sightedness and clear favoritism. Speak with Commissioner Anderson, and you’ll find someone who can articulate—clearly and in depth—the history, current dynamics, and potential solutions to the city’s most pressing issues. She knows Coral Gables from North to South, East to West. She’s steadfast, informed, and open to dialogue. Your portrayal says far more about your perspective than it does about her leadership.

    –

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  17. It is clear now, that when residents go and vote in a larger turnaround, the activists lose.

    Ariel, Kirk and Castro had gotten their way, so far, depending on residents not showing up for elections.

    But when residents show up, it is clear that they are against self approved massive compensation increases for the politicians, and the appointment, without due diligence, of cronies in the city government.

    Reply

  18. Thank goodness Claudia Miro lost. Lost again we should say. Coral Gables and South Florida already have too many scammers as elected officials. Francis Suarez and that creep Marc Sarnoff look for every trick to rob taxpayers.

    Reply

  22. “Anderson’s strong support was the biggest surprise FOR MANY on Tuesday, seeing as how she had SEEMINGLY lost a lot of her base as far back as two years ago when she became what MANY call Lago’s luckiest lackey.” [Emphasis added]

    I absolutely LOVE your rigorous objectivity! YOU are not the one demeaning the woman or her record: it’s just those darned nameless MANY who SEEMINGLY have little use for her.

    Rhonda Anderson is just plain lucky that her MANY naysayers turned out not to be so MANY.

    Reply

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