Three School Board races moving on to November
races for MiamiDade County School Board will continue on to November.
Four seats out of nine were on this year’s ballot (not counting the District 1 seat, which incumbent Steve Gallon won automatically facing no challengers). But of those four seats, three incumbents chose not to run again.
That invited qualified candidates to swarm in and help lead the fourthlargest school district in the nation.
The School Board of Miami-Dade County controls a $5 billion budget and oversees 392 schools, 345,000 students and 40,000 employees, the largest workforce in the county. They are in charge of matters beyond education, including overseeing the awarding of contracts to local and minority businesses. Many School Board members go on to higher political office.
Each of its nine members represents a section of Miami-Dade County, and each has an equal vote. Board members serve four-year terms.
It was an election field slated to head to the Nov. 3 runoff election, sure to get higher turnout with the help of the 2020 presidential race.
Voters in parts of MiamiThree
Dade County whittled down 17 candidates in four races for Miami-Dade, sending six candidates off to three runoff elections.
One familiar face is returning to the ninemember dais. Incumbent Lubby Navarro dominated District 7, which includes Kendall and a large swath of Southwest Miami-Dade County.
DISTRICT 3: LUCIA BAEZ-GELLER AND RUSS RYWELL HEAD TO RUNOFF
In a competitive race to take over Martin Karp’s seat, Miami Beach Senior High language arts teacher Lucia Baez-Geller emerged as the front-runner.
She described her lead as a dream. With 85 out of 87 precincts reporting, she won 27.52% of the vote, or 10,111 individual votes.
“I’m feeling great,” she said. “Very excited very happy for the support. ...It’s been absolutely amazing. The whole process, the journey has been absolutely rewarding for me.”
The November runoff election for District 3 will be a face-off between two highly effective Miami Beach Senior High teachers. Rywell received the second-most amount of votes, earning 25.90% of the total vote and 9,517 ballots.
“I’m excited that my voters thought me worthy of the runoff and I’m looking forward to winning the election,” said Rywell. “I want a teacher to sit on the board so I’m happy one of us will be the eventual winner.”
Three other candidates competed for the District 3 seat, which extends from Aventura down to the beaches and includes a slice of downtown Miami.
Joshua Levy, a lawyer, came in third place with 22.83% of the vote, or 8,304 votes. Raquel BildLibbin, a psychologist, won 13.11% of the vote, or 4,767 votes, and social worker Marcela GomezBogomolni earned 10.60%, or 3,854 votes.
DISTRICT 5: MARA ZAPATA, CHRISTI FRAGA HEAD TO RUNOFF
Christi Fraga and Mara Zapata were in a tight battle all night for the District 5 race. Susie Castillo’s former seat envelops Doral and Miami Springs.
With 79 out of 93 precincts reporting, Doral’s vice mayor, Fraga, won 38.75% of the vote, total