State Rep. Kionne McGhee will run for the Miami-Dade County Commission seat in District 9 this year that is vacated by the term-limited Dennis Mo
ss. In fact, he’s the hand picked successor.
McGhee hasn’t filed any paperwork and didn’t call Ladra back Sunday, but he was publicly endorsed by Moss Saturday at the Richmond Heights Community Development Corporation Founders breakfast and had told a Miami Herald reporter days earlier that he would back the state rep, who becomes the fourth elected or former elected for sure (there might be five) running for an open county seat due to term limits, approved by voters in 2012, forcing five of the seven commissioners whose terms are up this year to step down.
Read related: Republicans enter House races against Richardson, McGhee
Former State Sen. Rene Garcia, the first to file paperwork, is running in District 13, where Commissioner Esteban Bovo is termed out and most likely running for mayor. Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert is running in 
District 1, where Barbara Jordan sits now. And former Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado, who lost a bid for mayor in 2016, has officially changed her next race (again) to a bid for District 7, where Xavier Suarez sits now while he runs for mayor, too. The three of them have already opened campaign accounts and filed paperwork.
Because open seats create opportunities for non incumbents, three other candidates have also filed paperwork to run in District 9: They are Pastor Mark Coats of Grace of God Baptist Church in Miami, which is affiliated with Grace Christian Preparatory School, Community Councilman and activist Johnny Farias and attorney and activist Marlon Hill, Southridge High Class of ’88. According to the latest campaign reports, Coats has raised $24,415, Farias just under $5,000 and Hill filed in February so his first report is due in March.
Read related: Tales for Tallahassee: Quick observations from Dade Days
Farias, the only candidate Ladra could reach on Sunday, said he was staying in the race, even though Moss had already publicly endorsed McGhee.
McGhee is a Democrat who was first elected to the state House in 2012 to fill 
the seat vacated by Dwight Bullard, who was elected to the Senate. Gosh that seems like such a long time ago. He was able to defend his seat in 2014 against a female Hispanic Republican who didn’t put up much of a campaign and last year he was unopposed.
When he first got to Tallahassee, he turned his desk around so that it did not come between him and his guests. I expect that same kind of accessibility at the county level, where he has been South Dade’s principal champion for rail and not really fast buses. Ladra fully expects that to be the gist of his campaign.
State Rep. Kionne McGhee runs for District 9 county commission added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
