Miami-Dade Mayor, Commissioners raise $1.7 mil plus in three months

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the seven incumbent commissioners up for re-election raised more than $1.7 million between them in the first quarter of the year, according to finance reports filed this week. This includes the $635,185 raised between them in their respective campaign accounts and another $1 million plus in political action committee funds.

About of a third of last quarter’s take is for the four candidates who are as of yet unopposed.

Levine Cava led the campaign hauls with her best quarterly ever, and her best report total since she kicked off last March, with almost $206,000 in her campaign and $651,300 to her Our Democracy PAC for more than $850K in total in just three months. Her whole haul is over $3.9 million since last year.

There are five people running against her but only two are considered viable, and the might be generous (more on that later). One is Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, who reported raising $45,480 in the last quarter for a total of $150,696 in his campaign account and $34,000 in his PAC, the People’s Voice. And the other is podcaster and activist Alex Otaola, who has raised $233,849 primarily in small donations from all over the country.

In District 1, Commission Chair Oliver Gilbert raised $176,500, including $113,500 for his PAC, Common Voices. Contributions include $35,000 from lobbyist and land use attorney Felix Lasarte‘s PAC, Miamians for Sensible Government, $10,000 from Tallahassee lobbyist Paul Bradshaw, $10,000 from duty-free moguls Leon, Simon and Jerome Falic, $8,000 from “developer” Ralph Garcia Toledo and another $2,000 from Garcia-Toledo’s development partner and political consultant Jesse Manzano.

Many of the same real estate interests donated to his campaign account, which also saw some small bundles: $5,000 from developer Howard Cohen‘s Atlantic Pacific Community Builders — developing the mixed use Atlantic Station on county-owned land near the Lyric Theater in Overtown — $5,000 more from the Falic brothers, $4,000 from Miami Dolphins and Hardrock Stadium owner Stephen Ross and $3,000 from Versailles owner Felipe Valls.

Gilbert’s expenses for the quarter include $21,000 to consultant Dewey Knight and $17,000 to fundraiser Brian Goldmeier. And he hasn’t even had a challenger come in.

In District 3, Commissioner Keon Hardemon — facing a challenge from former district commissioner Audrey Edmonson — has raised $197,550, that we know of. Ladra is not certain she has counted all his PACs because he and his family have quite a few. Hardemon reported $23,350 in his campaign account — about half of which are real estate investment and developer interests. His quarterly takes also include $62,500 in his Do Good political committee, which has raised a total of $242,000 since July, and $112,000 in his All Miami-Dade committee, which has reported a total of $487,000.

Among the largest donors to Keon are developer Michael Simkins with $50,000, Jorge Perez and his Related related companies with $45,000, developers Victor and David Brown with $40,000, developer Jorge Mas with $35,000, lobbyist Alex Heckler with $18,000, developers Gaetano and Ignazio Caltagirone with $15,000 and real estate developer Matthew Rieger, real estate investor Edward Easton, Sunny Isles-based developer Humberto Ortiz, the owners of Safewrap for airport baggage and LCOR Incorporated, a Pennsylvania-based real estate development firm, who each age $10,000. The Falic brothers, Chris Korge and lobbyist Brian May each gave $5,000.

Edmonson reported having raised a measly $21,333 in the first quarter, according to her report.

In District 5, Eileen Higgins, who doesn’t have a challenger either, reported raising $270,760 between her campaign account and her PAC, Rebranding Politics, which raised $112,000 just in the last quarter to add to the $454,000 she raised last year. Large donors include Jorge Perez of Related Companies, who gave $30,000, Atlantic Pacific’s Cohen who shelled out $20K and Wynwood developer Mana Moishe, who gave $10,000.

In District 7, Raquel Regalado has the second biggest haul for the quarter, after La Alcaldesa, with $218,292 reported between her campaign account ($113,292) and her PAC, Citizens for Excellence in Miami-Dade Government ($105,000). Developer Jorge Mas was the largest PAC donor with $12,500, followed by the Caltagirone family of developers with $10,000. Among those giving $5,000 were transportation developer NV2A Group and Terra’s Jason Gilg.

Regalado is facing a rematch with former State Rep. and Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner (more on that later) who has reported raising $27,500 more in this last quarter, for a total of $129,286, of which $50 is a loan to herself.

In District 9, Kionne McGhee is, remarkably, unchallenged as of yet. He reported only $29,600 raised in the first three months of the year for a total of $64,400 in his campaign account. He collected another $56,267 for his committee, 1 South Dade, which collected more than $700,000 last year. Did Ladra mention he is unopposed? The largest contributor in the last quarter with $15,000 was VSGS Facilities, which apparently operates a soccer stadium in Weston.

The largest donor with more than $30K is a PAC hilariously called South Florida Accountability Project because it is a black hole of dark money. Other large donors to the 1 South Dade include developer Tom Cabrerizo and lobbyist Eric Zichella, each with one $25,000 check, developer Russell Galbut with $15,000 in separate $1,000 checks from different companies, developer Sergio Pino with at least $13,000 doing the same.

In District 11, Roberto Gonzalez is facing his first challenge, having been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill the seat vacated by Joe Martinez when he was arrested on public corruption charges in 2022. A onetime state rep candidate (lost to Juan Carlos Porras), Gonzalez raised $107.851 the last quarter 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, reported collecting another $69,700 for a total haul this quarter of $176,951. The total total haul so far is more than $700,000.

A lot of Gonzalez’s 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 and $10,000 from Mario Ferro, the owner of several shopping strips.

Gonzalez faces a challenge from NPA candidate Bryan Paz-Hernandez, who reported raising $2,910 through the end of the quarter but provided Ladra with a spreadsheet that had 29 more contributions just this month for a grand total of $6,555.

Finally, in District 13, former Sen. Rene Garcia is another unchallenged incumbent (that makes four). Still, he raised $139,550 this quarter between his campaign account ($48,500) and his committee ($91,050). The big contributors include real estate investor Martin Caparros with $20,000, lobbyist Mike Llorente with $10,000, and Jorge Mas with $10,000.

The next reporting deadline is not until July 11 for the next quarter’s transactions. The first round in the non partisan county races is the Aug. 20 primary.

campaign financing, Elections 2024, Miami-Dade elections, PACs

Miami-Dade Mayor, Commissioners raise $1.7 mil plus in three months added by Ladra on April 14, 2024
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