The Women’s Republican Club of Miami Federated will have a forum next week for the Miami mayoral candidates — but the two Republican women in the race, June Savage and Alyssa Crocker, haven’t been invited.
Savage isn’t just Republican. She’s a dues-paying members of the club.
“There’s no excuse,” Savage told Political Cortadito. “Imagine advocating for conservative women and only inviting elite men. Appalling advocacy, that’s for sure.”
The club responded to Savage by telling her that the invite went only to the candidates who are polling over 5%, which is the same criteria used by the CBS Miami and Downtown Neighbors Association debate last month. So, did the WRCMF do their own poll? Or did they get DNA’s poll?
Read related: Alyssa Crocker: mother, advocate, fighter — and Miami mayoral candidate
Savage asked for the poll and calls the rationale a “bullshit meter.” So, Ladra can’t help but like her.
“No one knows who paid for it. No one got to see it,” she says about the poll. “And I know numbers go up and down within a week. I know Ken 
Russell‘s numbers are up, for instance.” That’s solid hearsay based on his performance at the DNA debate.
“All Republicans should be invited,” Savage said of the Republican club’s event Oct. 20, adding that all the Democrat candidates — that would include super long shot Elijah John Bowdre — were invited to the Coconut Grove Democratic Club’s forum earlier this month. “Why are we any different? Because we have more corruption on our end?”
It’s not just a problem for now, Savage says. “This will change the landscape of future grassroots candidates for years,” she said.
She’s not wrong.
Savage is also upset for Crocker, who is a black woman Republican. “This would be a fantastic way to promote to our daughters and sons that you don’t have to be white to run for office, that you don’t have to be a man,” she told Ladra.
Emails and calls to Aida Zayas, the president of the WRCMF, were not returned. Megan Pearl, the club’s secretary, responded in an email: “We give a platform to Republican candidates irrespective of gender because our mission as reflected in our mission statement is to elect Republicans to office. In this instance we decided to limit the size of the panel to afford our members time to hear those candidates polling at over 5% answer more questions.”
That’s not exactly what it says on the organization’s website, under the “Our Mission” area: “WRCMF nurtures a robust network of women in South Florida who produce results in elections. We commit ourselves to advance the participation of Republican Women in all areas of the political system and are dedicated to encouraging and empowering women of all ages and backgrounds. Our goal is to strengthen the Republican Party and work to influence the crucial issues that face our community, state, and nation.”
Keyword: Women. It’s in there twice. No matter.
“We’ve had prior panels with large numbers of candidates and we felt given how this election has been on and off, and is quickly approaching, it would be the in the best interest of our members to get the maximum time to hear those candidates with the best chance of winning,” Pearl said. “Accordingly, we invited those candidates who are registered republicans and polling over 5%.”
Read related: June Savage: The uninvited guest who won’t stay quiet in Miami mayor’s race
Cut out the two Democrats in the top — Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins and former Miami Commissioner Russell — and the lone independent, which is former Miami-Dade Commissioner Mayor Sir Xavier Suarez, and that leaves us with three 
men standing: Commissioner Joe Carollo, former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, and former city manager Emilio Gonzalez, who, las malas lenguas say, already has the club’s support.
Gonzalez told Political Cortadito that he thought the women should be invited.
“If you’re going to have a women’s Republican event and there are women Republican candidates, I think all Republicans should be invited,” he said, adding that he does not have an inside track. “I don’t know anybody there.”
Savage said she contacted State Rep. Alex Rizo, the past chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, and that he also found it troubling and said she should be included. A spokesman for the representative called Ladra to and said no such thing was said. But it makes one wonder, why on Earth would he not want to call the Republican club instead and demand that Savage and Crocker be invited?
The club has a week to course correct. The event starts at 6 p.m. Monday, October. 20, at Bay 13, 65 Alhambra, in Coral Gables, which is outside the city of Miami, where there are probably lots of places they could have held this event and drawn more actual voters.
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MAGA Cult in Miami. Women hate women…”
Lol no fan of MAGA but they could not care one iota if a woman candidate or a man as long as the person has what they are looking for .
Dear Marie in the Gables. Too bad you can’t vote in Miami, huh?
I did believe the candidate this time. It would be outrageous for her to make up a statement by a state representative and former chair of the Miami-Dade GOP, right? So that’s why I still don’t know that he didn’t tell her that in private. It would not be the first time an elected says one thing in private and another thing entirely in public. Or lied. I did say that she said, he said. People can believe what they want, knowing what they know about each person. As you did.
As far as throwing a dig at the representative, I still believe — no matter what was said or not said between them — that it is legitimate to ask why he did not stand up for a Republican. Rizo and/or his office read that story and the reaction was to call me and say that he did not, actually, stand up for her. He could have easily called the club and said, ‘Hey, you should include her.’
Thanks for reading.
Love, Ladra
I am confused as to why a minimum of three versions of this article have been posted, yet you have not printed it as a correction or drawn attention to the fact that you changed it. Especially when you claim to be a truth seeking journalist and are damaging the reputation of an elected official by misattributing a quote to them. You took the candidate’s word for what an elected official said and were forced to change the article when contacted to refute your claims. You again changed the article to further throw a dig at Alex Rizzo instead of leaving your original correction. Additionally if you want any proof that June Savage was dishonest about what Alex Rizzo said, look at what she commented on the WRCMF page a week prior to speaking with you. It is the exact quote she attributed to Alex Rizzo a week later. This is shameful behavior and just goes to show why this candidate has such abysmal polling numbers. Perhaps your next expose can focus on her lies.
Don’t pay attention to crazy June Savage, in Coconut Grove not even the neighbors like her, why do you waste your time talking about her? Come on Lara, you’re much better than this, not a good content .
This is not about color, or if you are a man or a woman, or political party, anyone can qualify, many do it just to give importance to their resume and June Savage is one of them, she is a crazy person who knows nothing, when they ask her questions the answers are meaningless, As for Alissa Crocker, as I understand it her father died in a negligent manner and she wants to avenge her father’s death by trying to change some laws… June in the last fundraiser report that the Miami Herald released, has $1,470 and you should already know that she is not very popular, with that money it is not even enough to send 1 set of postcards, Alissa has $970, we all know you need to have a lot of money to run decent campaign, please, please, Why waste time with these candidates, a debate with so many is impossible and the best thing is to choose the top 5 or 6 to have a debate, I would think that the best thing is to take the top 4. Don’t give more publicity to these 2. Don’t waste any more time.
MAGA Cult in Miami. Women hate women…
I agree, 13 people is too many for a debate, maybe a two debate series? (and could you publish the campaign financial reports which are generally a pretty good barometer of how successful candidates are at running their campaigns?)
Mrs. Savage is rude and nasty. Goodbye.
Aida & Megan made a mistake! They have time to make a correction.
Those two women would have been useful in smoothing out the animosity on stage. They should have been seated between the men. 💥
Otherwise, expect another round of Mexican free-style wrestling (lucha libre)!
What an embarrassment to the Women’s Republican Club of Miami Federated! Please invite these two women or consider a name change.
Being Black is irrelevant , Republican will vote for a candidate who is Black and no problem in any way but here in Miami if you are Cuban that in itself is a HUGE political advantage because IMO most Cubans are ethnic voters .
Being a woman is also irrelevant but not being a woman , women might disagree with me but when I WAS a Republican I never met anyone who cared less about any of that .
Who knows what happens in politics behind closed doors but doubt being Black / Woman played a role .
Same tired line who I voted for Kamala Harris used but she lost due to border and plenty saw it coming .
Strange. I think the female candidates should be invited. After all, the public is fed up listening to lies from Joe Carollo, Alex Indicted DLP and Ken Russell. Maybe Emilio Gonzalez can brag about his endorsement from Medicare fraudster and MAGA member Rick Scott?
It shows you what even Republican women think of women – just a convenient adage to discard at the drop of a dime. “Values”?