Madeline Pumariega, executive vice president and provost at Tallahassee Community College, was raised in Hialeah. She went to Miami Dade College and later became president of the Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. And now she’s coming home to MDC as its new president — the first female president of the largest and most diverse community […]
Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava beat her colleague on the dais to become the next county mayor — making history as the first woman elected to the position, the second most power political job in Florida. Levine Cava won with 54% of the vote, an 8-point lead over Commissioner Esteban Bovo, according to the Miami-Dade […]
Another Diaz de la Portilla lost to Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins Tuesday night. Not by as much as many thought he’d lose, but by enough to wound the dynasty. Again. Maybe that’s why Renier Diaz de la Portilla showed up drunk to a candidate forum weeks ago: He saw the writing on the wall. No […]
None of the new Miami-Dade County commissioners elected Tuesday are really new to public office — or to us. With all the votes save some absentee ballots counted, the Miami-Dade Elections Department reported that former Miami City Commissioner Keon Hardemon, former Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado and former State Rep. Kionne McGhee won their […]
When Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez endorsed Esteban “Stevie” Bovo for county mayor, political observers raised an eyebrow. When his son, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, endorsed Renier Diaz de la Portilla in the Miami-Dade District 5 race, we did a double take. On Wednesday, former Mayor Alex Penelas — who came in third in the first […]
State Rep. Cindy Polo is not taking anything for granted. The freshman, elected two years ago in the wake of the high school shooting in Parkland, is fighting to keep her seat against the Republican challenge from Tom Fabricio, an insurance defense attorney who believes in conversion therapy and is, apparently, the GOP’s choice to […]
Miami-Dade has a few things that are common in many dark and dirty political campaigns: Dark money (read: untraceable) is one of them. Attack mailers are another. And the quita-y-pon committees that remove an opponent’s yard signs and replace them with their own. Well, it looks like Alex Rizo — the Republican running to replace […]
Not only hasn’t Miami-Dade Commission candidate Cindy Lerner — who, we already established, will say anything to get elected — apologized for verbally abusing a number of Pinecrest residents when she was mayor, she has doubled down and claimed it was an isolated incident with the wife of a nemesis councilman that has been taken […]
Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla is expected to return Sunday from a trip to Sarasota where he reportedly stayed at a $400-a-night golf resort and met with with Florida Senate President Bill Galvano at his family’s annual golf tournament to talk about Miami’s redistricting plan. Sources told Ladra that DLP left Thursday in […]
The four Miami-Dade Commission races provide voters with the first opportunity in decades to redefine the dynamics on the board with at least three newcomers. And, hopefully, not all four. As folks get ready for early voting to start on Monday — filling out absentee ballots over the weekend to take with us — Ladra […]