Góngora drops reelection bid; total of 14 candidates qualify for Miami Beach election
The ballot is now set for Miami Beach’s Nov. 2 election, with a total of 14 candidates qualifying Friday to campaign for three commission seats and the mayor’s job.
The biggest wildcard leading up to the qualifying deadline, incumbent Commissioner Michael Góngora, dropped his bid to seek reelection in Group 3 following a judge’s order barring him from running due to city term limits.
Góngora instead filed Thursday to run for mayor in 2023, which he said was initially his plan before his supporters told him to run for reelection. He also threw his support behind the newest Group 3 candidate, Planning Board Member Alex Fernandez, whom Góngora said he had initially recruited to run for his seat earlier this year.
Góngora said he would transfer the more than $200,000 in his campaign coffers to his next campaign.
“A lot of people invested in my race and want to have my voice on the dais in City Hall,” he said.
Fernandez, who filed to run this week, is joined in the Group 3 race by Michael “Mike B” Barrineau, Melissa Beattie and Stephen Cohen.
There were other surprises Friday, with two candidates switching groups. Gregory Branch, who initially filed in
Group 1 before switching to Group 3, jumped back in the Group 1 race. He joins four other candidates in the race, including former Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Adrian Gonzalez, Raquel Pacheco and Blake Young.
In Group 2, a seat held by Commissioner Mark Samuelian, challenger Fabián Basabe entered the race on Friday, giving Samuelian his only competition in the election.
In the mayor’s race, Mayor Dan Gelber is running against four other candidates: Jean Marie Echemendia, Ronnie Eith, Carlos Enrique Gutierrez and Gus Manessis.
In a fundraising email sent after Friday’s qualifying deadline, Gelber told his supporters to “expect this to be a competitive election where no one can stay on the sidelines.”
The last day to register to vote in Miami Beach’s November election is by 5 p.m. on Oct. 4. The last day to request a vote-bymail ballot is Oct. 23. Early voting starts on Oct. 18 and ends Oct. 31.