Miami-Dade District 11 candidates have vast contrast in campaign contributions

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In the Miami-Dade District 11 race, campaign finance reports filed this week show that incumbent Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez — appointed in November of 2022 to fill the vacancy created by the arrest of Joe Martinez on public corruption charges — has raised more than 16 times as much as his only opponent so far, a schoolteacher who announced he would run for the seat in late February.

But that’s only if you count his campaign account. When you bring his political action committee into it, Gonzalez has raised more than three quarter of a million dollars since January — so it’s 117 times what’s been collected by Bryan Paz-Hernandez, who has only been campaigning for five weeks.

Gonzalez raised $107.851 for his campaign account, mostly in maximum $1,000 checks. Only 18 of the 119 contributions are for less. His PAC, America First Florida First, has collected another $663,000 this year — $570K just since May. Like one might expect with an incumbent county commissioner, a lot of his contributions come from lobbyists, developers, real estate interests and property managers. At least $93,000 came from other PACs.

Big donations include:

• $21,000 from Daniel and Nicholas Valdespino of Secure Wrap
• $20,000 from developer Lewis Swezy
• $20,000 from duty free moguls Simon, Jerome and Leon Falic
• $17,500 from lobbyist Brian May
• $15,000 from the Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach
• $12,500 from gasoline mogul Maximo Alvarez
• $10,000 from Mario Ferro, the owner of several shopping strips

The Secure Wrap and duty free contributions are especially interesting (read: troublesome) given that Gonzalez has taken to calling the Miami Executive Airport (formerly the Kendall Tamiami Airport), “my airport.”

Meanwhile, the average donation to Paz-Hernandez, who used to be president of the West Dade Democratic Club but is now an NPA, was $119. But that includes almost $4,000 he raised so far in April that are not reflected in the campaign report, which tracks transactions for the first quarter, through March 31 only. He has $2,960 officially reported, but he shared a spreadsheet with Ladra that shows he has 29 more contributions just this month for a grand total of $6,555. So he’s gaining steam.

“I’m incredibly proud of the money I’ve raised because I’m a first time candidate and because who it has come from,” Paz-Hernandez told Ladra. The occupations listed by donors include teachers like him, students, non-profit leaders, clergy members and retired seniors.

Read related: Kendall teacher challenges Miami-Dade D11 Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez

“They represent a wide range of life paths. I’m proud of that diversity,” Paz-Hernandez said. “Additionally, almost all my donors actually live in Miami-Dade County, unlike the donors from my opponent.

“My campaign is people-led and grassroots.”

The Gonzalez campaign is not. It is run by professional campaign consultant David “Disgustin'” Custin, who has also worked for Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez and former House Speaker Jose Oliva, as well as several of their lackeys. He’s a go-to for the state GOP.

As such, Gonzalez has gotten contributions from all the usual suspects — lobbyists and contractors, etc.

“What does that tell you about what his priorities will be,” Paz-Hernandez asked rhetorically. “Who is he going to listen to? The people of District 11 or his corporate sponsors?

“The people who give to my campaign are not expecting anything from me except what I promised,” he said. That includes working to get a Metrorail extension and a new code of ethics for county commissioners, among other things on his platform.

  Bryan Paz-Hernandez, District 11, Miami-Dade elections, Roberto Gonzalez