On the one side, you have a liar and an empty suit and a one-term commissioner abandoning his seat.
On the other, you have two sitting commissioners, a former 16-year public servant who served as both commissioner and the mayor, the police, the 
firefighters and, for good measure, SAVE.
“Ralph Cabrera and I have many things in common: We both were elected to the city commission, have a proven record of service to our residents and support the renovation of historic Coral Gables High School,” Thomson says in a Cabrera email.
Read related: Coral Gables voters return Raul Valdes-Fauli, send two to runoff
“But most of all, we both have a strong love for our City Beautiful. I know that, as he has in the past, Ralph will work to preserve the values of our community. That’s why I endorse him for Coral Gables Commission.”
In the same email, Lago is quoted as to why he supports Cabrera.
“I am familiar with Commissioner Cabrera’s past service to our community 
and know he is someone who clearly understands the character and charm of our city. He has a deep understanding and passion for making Coral Gables the best in Miami-Dade County,” Lago says.
“I also know him to have a proven track record of fostering new ideas and achieving many important quality of life initiatives,” Lago continues. “I am confident he will work with our commission to ensure transparency and inclusiveness of our government’s activities, decisions and vision.”
Read related: Florida Bar investigates candidate Jorge Fors for homestead fraud
Jorge Fors has former interim city manager Carmen Olazabal, who came in third with 2,196 votes in the April 12 election — and who, as usual, said nothing of importance or substance — and former Mayor Jim Cason, who did 
nothing but cut ribbons in the six years he sat in office.
“Jorge Fors is committed to protecting our quality of life and will bring to the community a fresh perspective that will keep Coral Gables moving forward,” Cason says in an email that will likely arrive as a mailer in mailboxes this week with absentee ballots.
He might still have some pull with the older Cuban voters, particularly in North Gables, where Fors is also campaigning as the anti-annexation candidate, going completely against the city and the police chief recommendation to bring Little Gables into the fold.
The tax cheat also has Commissioner Frank Quesada, who, las malas lenguas, say handpicked him before he knew about his homestead exemption fraud, so that his campaign manager would stay in business.
Read related: Coral Gables candidate Jorge Fors had illegal homestead exemption
Quesada told Ladra that it did not matter to him that Fors had claimed an illegal homestead exemption for eight or nine years on a Little Havana condo he did not live in.
“I’ve known Jorge a long time and we’ve had cases together, he’s a great guy,” Quesada texted me last month before the first round. “When he discovered the homestead issue, he resolved it.”
Except he “resolved it” in January, after he had filed to run for office and after 
Ladra started sniffing around. In fact, las malas lenguas say that Quesada was told Ladra was sniffing around by someone and alerted Fors to it.
Fors might say it was an unintentional mistake, but it is a mistake then Fors made eight or nine individual times, as property owners have to claim their homestead exemption by March 1 every year.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia would endorse Fors. Or Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle, whose office is looking into mystery mailers attacking Cabrera that were not sent by the political action committee on the disclaimer.
The war of endorsements is on in Coral Gables commission runoff added by Ladra on
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