If you were still pretending this Miami mayoral runoff was about potholes, policing, or parks, bless your heart. Porque no, mi amor.
The race between Emilio González and Eileen Higgins has officially ripped off the mask, and what’s underneath is the same old Miami power struggle with a twist. Usually, the developers and the Republican machine are on the same side. Not this time. Not the way these two campaign pushes have landed this week.
It continues to be a partisan fight, with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson throwing her hat — which one, is anyone’s guess — in Higgins’ corner and Gonzalez wrapping himself in the GOP flag like it’s a weighted blanket. His campaign proudly blasted out a 
press release announcing Congressman Byron Donalds’ endorsement — completing the “GOP Governor Hopeful Pokémon Collection.” Donalds’ support adds to endorsements from Gov. Ron DeSantis, House Speaker Paul Renner, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins. and makes sense after the two were seen chumming it up at the Republican Party of Florida’s Lincoln Dinner last week.
Then President Donald Trump endorsed Gonzalez on Truth Social on Sunday. Of course, he spelled his name wrong.
“It is my Great Honor to endorse Emilio T. Gonzales to be the next mayor of the Beautiful City of Miami,” Trump posted. “As the former Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and a brave U.S. Army Veteran, Emilio strongly supports our incredible Law Enforcement, Military, and Veterans, and knows the Wisdom and Courage it takes to ensure LAW AND ORDER.”
Also, he wants that library in downtown Miami.
Ladra gets the feeling that if another Republican sneezes near the Miami River, Emilio’s camp will probably send a press release calling it an endorsement.
Donalds, who also has Trump’s endorsement for Florida guv in 2026, declared on X: “Emilio, you are the candidate to lead Miami into the future.” This from a guy whose district is two counties away and whose Miami knowledge comes from one or two fundraisers on Brickell.
Team Gonzalez pitched this as “rare and important alignment.” Ladra agrees it’s rare — because it’s not normal to turn a nonpartisan city election into the GOP state convention. But Team Gonzalez is betting that Miami voters want a Fox News mayor.
Or at least that enough Republican abuelos will turn out in a low-turnout runoff to make it work.
Read related: Eileen Higgins heads into partisan Miami mayoral runoff with momentum
And while the colonel climbs the GOP tree, Higgins is hosting a bonfire for developers, who are hoisting her on their shoulders like she was the Queen of Density.
A fundraising invitation for her mayoral campaign went out this week and, even in a town where developers are always lurking, this one raised eyebrows. And hackles. And blood pressure.
The invitation to Monday’s mega contributor even features Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin Tapanes, Adler Properties, Sara Adler, Jose González (no relation to Emilio), Jonathan Riaffe, Integra Investments and Nelson Stabile. Basically everyone who shows up anytime a zoning map is being set on fire.
Many of the fundraiser hosts for Monday’s lunchtime powwow at the Brightline station — so on brand, right? — are tied to two of the districts most criticized groups, the Miami Downtown Development Authority, where Higgins had served as Vice Chair, and the Morningside Civic Association, which has been on board with Damian Pardo‘s sidewalk project, which an attorney for other residents say has sidestepped the proper process.
Developers love the DDA. Land use lobbyist Melissa Tapanes is on the board. Critics, led by Downtown Neighbors Association President James Torres, say it has been a double-tax on residents and ignored sanitation and security issues while handing out subsidies to multimillion multinationals like Halloween candy.
Read related: Eileen Higgins: An engineer who wants to run Miami like a well-oiled machine
And the MCA, which is ruled by a bunch of Morningside residents with developer ties, has been pushing for a sidewalk project that may apparently be moving forward against the wishes of many residents who say the proper process has been ignored. Members of that board are on the host committee.
That’s right. The same group of insider board members who work in large development firms, including Integra and Adler, and who have been aggressively promoting a controversial right-of-way construction plan that affects residents’ properties, trees, drainage and environmental protections are hosting a major fundraiser for a mayoral candidate.
“When you connect those dots, the pattern becomes clear: the political machine pushing disruptive construction onto residents is 
the same machine lining up behind the candidate developers want in the mayor’s office,” resident Brian Hollenbeck told the Floridian Press. “For many of us, that overlap is not a coincidence; it is the whole story.”
The RSVPs are made to Greg Goddard, former finance chief for both Charlie Crist for Governor and Hillary Clinton’s Florida effort. He could use a win, huh? And one must “select a contribution option” — either a $1,000 check paid to her campaign or “unlimited funds” to her political action committee, Ethical Leadership for Miami.
There’s something about the word “unlimited funds” and “ethical leadership” that just sounds like they don’t belong in the same sentence.
So what do we really have in this election?
On one side, we have Gonzalez, wrapped in endorsements from MAGA celebrities, conservative power players, and Republican kingmakers. On the other, Higgins is being anointed by the development elite, backed by Republican insiders who only cross party lines when zoning variances are at stake.
Read related: Emilio Gonzalez will ‘clean up’ Miami — but he was there when it got dirty
It’s not left vs. right. It’s power vs. power.
And Miami voters are stuck in the middle like a speed bump on a developer’s renderings.
When Ladra looks at this race, she doesn’t see candidates. She sees interests, yelling over each other, waving checks, tugging on campaign collars like toddlers fighting over a toy.
Gonzalez, who was the one who sued to make sure this election happened — after the current mayor and commissioners tried to push it off for a year — wants voters to believe he’s the savior of “common-sense conservatism.” Higgins wants voters to forget she’s the developers’ favorite rubber stamp.
But one thing is clear: Both campaigns are answering to someone. Only one of them will eventually have to answer to voters.
And we’ll find out on Dec. 9 whether Miami picks the GOP’s chosen one or the developers’ chosen one.
You can help to get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
A GOP hugger vs. a developers’ darling — Miami’s mayoral race just got defined added by Ladra on
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[…] Read related: A GOP hugger vs. a developers’ darling — Miami’s mayoral race just got defined […]
@Ed Vidal. But Miami has had Republican mayors for decades and yet blatant corruption has festered during that exact time. I prefer a woke progressive governing than another corrupt Republican who loves pedo Trump (weird how much of you guys live pediphiles all of a sudden).
Also here from the future, Higgins won by a large margin. So I guess many voters like me, who dislike woke politics, still prefer that over pedophilic conservatism.
[…] find a friendly Miami City Hall now that Eileen “Build More Housing” Higgins is mayor. Her campaign was heavily funded by development interests and she doesn’t have the best track record in that department, even voting in favor of […]
Emilio Gonzalez was the City Manager of Miami who was brought in by Francis Suarez to help Suarez’s client, a dude from Cuba, steal 90 acres of Melreese Park. Gonzalez helped the Cuban steal the park then Suarez threw him to the curb. Has anyone noticed Suarez has not endorsed Gonzalez?
Emilio is MAGA. We saw what a shitty job Emilio did when he was City Manager for 2 years. He would show up late and leave early. Some weeks he would not show up at all. When he did show up he took 3 hour lunches. Emilio pushed killing Melreese Park! Emilio is complaining about a massive crane in his backyard. But he never showed up at PZAB to oppose a massive high rise on top of his home. Tone deaf.
[…] Read related: A GOP hugger vs. a developers’ darling — Miami’s mayoral race just got defined […]
Emilio Gonzalez said if elected he will not give up his day job working for a California company. Francis Suarez did the part time thing and that led to him selling his influence to developers and scammers. Oh, and Frannie increased his Net Worth from negative to $17 Million. Hmm.
I am definitely going to vote for Eileen Higgins. I would never vote for a big MAGA Trump supporter like Emilio González. He has been endorsed by the worst governor we have ever had in Florida, the homophobic gerrymanderer Ron DeSantis, by the terrible Ted Cruz, by the cowardly Trump enabler Rick Scott, and by other MAGA Republicans. I don’t want to have anything to do with the MAGA insurrectionist cult of Trump. Remember what happened on January 6, 2021. We must never forget that!
I personally worked with Emilio when he was City Manager. He is like Art Noriega but with common sense. He stood up to Loco Joe and that cost him his job.
We all know what Higgins would bring to the City. She will turn it into a County fiefdom just to do Levine Cava’s bid for total control. She is nothing but another White Liberal Karen. Her looks say it all. I wish I lived in the City to vote for Emilio.
Agree with Letterman … the recent endorsement by Trump of us lowly Miamians is just a ploy cause he wants the Freedom tower handed over to him for his presidential library. It will just. be a cream pie in the face to all Miamians that MDC gives up valuable land to a politically polarizing cause.
Full disclosure … I came from Cuba as a little boy with only a stuffed cat as my only belonging, processed through the Freedom Tower in 1970 .. like the Cuban Ellis Island. My name is somewhere in those immigrant rolls in the Freedom tower. If MDC donates it to the Trump library it will further divide this city and it will be an additional slap in the face from my alma mater, as I am an alumni. They will lose my support as an alumni for sure, and I hope millions of other MDC Alumni will take pause in their donations and support… not because it’s Trump, but because it would be a political leaning donation of land and real estate that was to be the benefit or all Miamians. … free of politics.
Plus … where is the library going to park the Qatari 747 ?? Across the street next to the Museum
Can’t wait to fill that oval for Higgins.
To Ed Vidal.
Emilio Gonzalez stated that if elected, “I will keep my current job working for a California company”. Gonzalez watched Francis Suarez travel around the world on the taxpayers dime. So Gonzalez is just another MAGA grifter who let all decisions be made by others behind closed doors.
The Mayor of the City of Miami does not vote on zoning/development decisions. The mayor has the power to veto bad zoning decisions of the Commission.
In a recent forum, both candidates said the permitting process was broken, which raises the cost of housing. Developers apparently believe an engineer who knows how to make things run is more likely to fix the problems in city hall than the former city manager.
Trump wants the $100 MILLION vacant lot on Biscayne Blvd that was owned by the students and taxpayers of Miami until the scared shitless President of Miami-Dade College and its cowardly board gave the land to DeSantis who promptly gave it to Trump – for free. No money changed hands. Miami-Dade College will have to beg for $100 Million somewhere else. Trump will use developer Dezer to build another high rise with shock – the Trump name on the parking platform. Sleazy Melisssa Tapanes will be his lobbyist. Emilio is pure MAGA Cult. Taxpayers get screwed and Emilio will help ICE and Homeland Security deport Cubans to El Salvador.
It also looks like Carollo (Joe) is lurking around Higgins as well!? Looks like he will never go away!!
We will have to choose between the “lesser” of two evils for mayor is how it seems! It is very discouraging ..you Ladra are the only voice I trust to shine the light on these “candidates” and I thank you for it!!
Nancy Bolt
This race is between;
1. A conservative Republican administrator who will bring integrity and accountability to city government; and
2. A woke progressive Democrat who is a puppet of real estate developers!