AB scam surprise: Dems did it! But other shoe still hangs

AB scam surprise: Dems did it! But other shoe still hangs

Guess what? Democrats are getting better at the absentee ballot fraud that has been traditionally owned by Republican candidates in South Florida. Jeffrey Garcia, longtime political strategist and now disgraced former chief of staff for Congressman Joe Garcia, resigned Friday amid an AB fraud investigation and took responsibility for feloniously generating hundreds of ghost absentee […]

Francis ‘The Future’ Suarez gains steam, support team

Francis ‘The Future’ Suarez gains steam, support team

With six months left until the Miami city election, the mayoral race is picking up some speed and urgency. There have been fundraisers and multiple TV and radio interviews. This week, three of the four other Miami City Commissioners said they are backing their colleague, Commissioner Francis “The Future” Suarez in his run against incumbent […]

Re-Newed Francis Suarez video nixes casino shots

Re-Newed Francis Suarez video nixes casino shots

Miami Commissioner Francis “The Future” Suarez posted another video on YouTube Wednesday in his campaign to unseat Mayor Tomas Regalado. Or, rather, re-posted an updated old video. The Suarez camp edited an earlier video about progress and cut out stills of Genting’s planned muti-million dollar casino resort that they wanted to build in downtown Miami. […]

Carlos Curbelo jumps into, changes Congressional contest

Carlos Curbelo jumps into, changes Congressional contest

Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos Curbelo finally came out of the political closet and announced he has a “congressional exploratory committee” and an imposing “finance team” working on his long-rumored run for U.S. Congress in what many state Republicans apparently view as the opportunity seat in 2014. Less than two weeks after Cutler Bay Mayor […]

Boletera’s notebooks may script AB fraud cover-up

Boletera’s notebooks may script AB fraud cover-up

The recent stories in the Miami Herald about the notebooks kept by Hialeah boletera Deisy Cabrera, who was arrested last year carrying dozens of ballots during the mayoral election, have reaffirmed what most of us already knew: That she was paid by candidates and/or their campaigns to pick up absentee ballots from voters, many of whom […]

Mama Mia! Sweetwater mayor’s mami keeps her seat

Mama Mia! Sweetwater mayor’s mami keeps her seat

The vote tally seems like a mandate for the mayor’s mama: Sweetwater Councilwoman Isolina Maroño won the seat she was appointed to in her first election and by a landslide. Beating activist Deborah Centeno 72 percent to 28 last week is vindication for both the councilwoman and her son, Mayor Manny Maroño, who were both […]

Sweetwater race could hinge on absentee ballot margin

Sweetwater race could hinge on absentee ballot margin

Voters in Sweetwater will choose today between an incumbent commissioner who is also the mayor’s mama and an activist and political neophyte running mostly on an anti-nepotism, anti-corruption campaign in the only contested race in the city election. Or maybe they already decided. A little more than 1,100 of the 1,800 absentee ballots requested have been […]

Doral update: Councilwoman calls cops on Joe Carollo

Doral update: Councilwoman calls cops on Joe Carollo

As Ladra types this, Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz is arriving at the city’s police station to file a harassment information report on City Manager “Crazy Joe” Carollo after another reported outburst with her and her “illegal” intern. She drove over from City Hall in a caravan after Carollo “stomped” into a conference room where she […]

Doral’s dysfunctional drama just keeps on coming

Doral’s dysfunctional drama just keeps on coming

Many suspected Doral was doomed to a downward spiral when Mayor Luigi Boria bought his election and then hired his campaign man, former Miami Mayor “Crazy Joe” Carollo, as the city manager. It is unsure, however, if anyone expected the slide to be quite so steep. Or so swift. The once-sleepy town of hard-working and/or […]