With Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo‘s pending departure from public service to become a Washington D.C. lobbyist — because his relationship with Secretary of State Marco Rubio is suddenly very valuable — there is wide speculation about who might run for the post this year now that it’s become an open seat.
Council President Jacqueline Garcia-Roves will serve as interim mayor until November — which Ladra bets nobody thought about when they made her council president. She is the first female mayor in the City of Progress. But not for long. Nobody expects her to run for the permanent job.
Former Councilman Bryan Calvo — who resigned to run for tax collector, losing in the Republican primary to Dariel Fernandez, who went on to win the general — has become the first candidate to jump into the race. City Clerk Marbelys Fatjo confirmed Thursday that Calvo had submitted an “Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository for Candidates form designating Mayor as the Office Sought.”
Other potentials that have been mentioned are Miami-Dade Commissioner Rene Garcia and Hialeah Councilman Jesus Tundidor. Either or, but not both, because Tundidor will likely run for county commission in District 13 if Garcia runs for mayor.
Garcia did not return calls from Political Cortadito, but he told the Miami Herald, which first reported Bovo’s move, that he was in a wait and see mode. “Until I hear from Steve Bovo directly on what he is or isn’t doing, there’s no point in me discussing what I may or may not be doing,” Garcia is quoted as saying.
Many observers say he’d be an immediate front runner.
Longtime campaign consultant and former Hialeah Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador — who now dedicates herself to a podcast called The Sasha View (with 6.8K subscribers!) — thinks it is highly likely that Garcia, a former state senator, gets in.
“No one remembers county commissioners. Nobody remembers state legislators,” Tirador told Political Cortadito. “This is the time to set his legacy.
“He loves the city. He hates injustices and he loves Hialeah,” Tirador added. “This is the city he grew up in.
“Rene Garcia is an old school politician. And old school politicians care about legacy,” she said.
She also called Calvo a “clown.”
Calvo, who is likely to cast himself as the anti-Bovo candidate, told Political Cortadito that although he lost the Republican primary for tax collector last August, he won in all the Hialeah precincts. “And this was with Steve Bovo sending out mailers and radio adds endorsing my opponent.
“Obviously, it still didn’t make up for other places in the county, but it shows that what I’ve done for three years as councilman resonated with the people.
“I have a track record,” Calvo said.
Read related: Hialeah mayor, councilman clash over tax collector election endorsement
That includes voting against water increases and taxes and getting into an infamous fight with Bovo over the city’s 911 response time. In 2023, Calvo sued Bovo to get records from the beleaguered 911 center (it was dismissed in January of last year).
The deadline to qualify for the Hialeah Nov. 4 election is 5 p.m. Monday, July 28.
If Garcia jumps to Hialeah, the District 13 seat becomes open and there will likely be a special election to fill it. As Ladra said earlier, Tundidor might go for that. But he won’t be alone. Las malas lenguas say that State Rep. Alex Rizo and Miami-Dade School Board Member Roberto Alonso are possibilities. Either, or, because both are represented by David Custin, the political consultant who represents Bovo.
There is also a promised upcoming special election to replace Miami-Dade Commmissioner Kevin Cabrera, who should shortly be approved as the U.S. Ambassador to Panama. State Sen. Bryan Avila is said to be eyeing that one, but so is West Miami Mayor Eric Diaz-Padron, West Miami Vice Mayor Natalie Milian Orbis –who happens to be wife of Cabrera’s office Chief of Staff Manuel Orbis — and Francisco Petrirena, who is the director of the city of Miami’s government relations department.
Let the dominos fall where they may.
Bryan Calvo becomes first candidate to file for November Hialeah mayor’s race added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →