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The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How Miami's city commission gave themselves an extra year in office without voters' permission
Candidates for local office in Miami have been prepping mailers, gathering volunteers, raising money and hitting the street for the last year, with voters expecting to see a robust campaign to replace the city's term-limited, scandal-chased mayor. Last week, Miami's city commission told those voters they'll have to wait an extra year. In a 3-2 vote, the commission changed the city's election bylaws to push the municipal races back to 2026. Commissioners said they made the change in the name of cost savings and increased voter engagement when higher-profile races for Congress or the presidency may be on the ballot. But they gave themselves an extra year in office without asking voters for permission first. And in a moment when the underpinnings of democracy appear to be cracking in America, a cavalier attitude toward an election seems ominous to some Miami residents. 'What worries people about this is, we don't want to give the guy in the White House any ideas,' said John Jackson, a Miami resident and former political operative. There's no real mechanism to try something like this at the federal level, he said, 'but it still kind of makes people a little worried. I don't know anyone on any side of the aisle – Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal – who just thinks that this was a good thing'. Florida attorney general James Uthmeier sent Miami's mayor a warning letter on 26 June, telling the city that the proposal to change election dates without asking permission from voters first violates the city and county's charter and the state constitution. Miami is home 'to thousands of patriotic Cuban Americans who know better than most about regimes that cavalierly delay elections and prolong their terms in power', Uthmeier wrote. 'The City of Miami owes to its citizens what the law requires.' City leaders could have avoided this problem by placing the question on the ballot and accepting a shorter term if voters chose to hold future elections on even-numbered years, said Michael Hepburn, a Miami mayoral candidate. 'The city of Miami is actually still scheduled to have a election this year for other ballot referendums,' Hepburn said. 'So what they're doing is actually just stupid, because you literally still gonna have people come out this year on November 4 and vote for, like, three other questions on the ballot.' By structuring the change this way, however, it permits the city commissioner, Joe Carollo, and the Miami mayor, Francis Suarez – both term-limited – to remain in office for an additional year. Hepburn said he thinks Juarez wants to use the extra year to his advantage. 'He's started thinking about how he could stay in office and use his current office to parlay that into his next office. He may be running for governor next year. He may be running for US Congress. Who knows? But he'll be able to do it from the office of mayor, which just helps him.' Hepburn and other candidates have either filed lawsuits or are awaiting the actions of the attorney general in response to the ordinance change. 'The decision by city leaders to arbitrarily extend their terms by a full year without voter approval is exactly why so many are up in arms by the chaos and dysfunction of our city government,' said Eileen Higgins, a Miami-Dade county commissioner running to become the city's next mayor. Instead of extending current elected terms, Higgins said she would support shortening a new mayor's term by one year and moving the election to 2028 to achieve optimal voter participation. 'That's why I believe moving forward with the planned elections this November should have been the only decision. More troubling, a run-off in December 2026 will only cost taxpayers more money and result in lower turnout than this year's planned election.' The mayor's office did not respond to requests for comment. 'I support and encourage participation in the electoral process,' said city of Miami commissioner Christine King. 'Voting is the single most important act one can do for their country and in this instance our community. In the city of Miami, voter turnout is historically low for odd numbered year elections. My vote in support of moving our elections to even numbered years was a vote for democracy.' The argument for on-cycle elections makes sense to students of civic participation. Suarez defeated his challenger 21,479 to 3,166 in the 2021 off-year election. In a Miami referendum about residency requirements for the Miami mayor in 2024, with Donald Trump facing Kamala Harris as the marquee matchup at the top of the ballot, 127,460 people cast a vote, more than five times as many voters. 'The upshot is that on-cycle elections … are generally viewed as a win for democracy,' said Matthew Nelsen, an assistant political science professor at the University of Miami. 'On-cycle elections ensure that the media attention and campaigning that comes along with a national midterm or presidential election will also trickle down into local races.' Commissioner Damian Pardo, the author of the election change, argued that holding municipal elections on off years is a form of voter suppression. 'The reason behind this is to boost voter participation,' he told local media. 'When we realized we actually had potentially three votes to get this done, we moved forward. When we can take reform, we take it.' Nonetheless, the commission chose not to let voters make this change. 'Ideally, the voters would have had the ability to vote on this,' Pardo said. 'However, given the situation in this context, where we had the opportunity to pass it … in order to give the voters what they want, you might actually undermine them by putting it to a vote, because by the time that time lapses, you may no longer have those three votes.' Two of the three commissioners who voted for the change – Pardo and King – are Democrats. 'If they can move it, why not the president?' said Marion Brown, a candidate challenging King in the election that the commission postponed. 'Let the president move it, let the governor move it, let everyone in the election do the same thing.' The third commissioner, Ralph Rosado, is a Republican, as is the mayor. Municipal elections are technically nonpartisan in Miami. 'Our county mayor is Democratic. Miami's mayor is Republican. But none of that really matters, because politics is just weird here,' Jackson said. 'To me, it was just entrenched politicians who said 'well, gonna save money and we're gonna raise turnout'. But the reality is, they're term-limited, and now they get an extra term.' Politics in Miami tends to protect a group of four or five politically-powerful families at the expense of the public interest, said Marisol Zenteno, president of the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade. 'People are very irritated. They don't trust in the system. They feel that it's the same people manipulating it and that it's pretty much the same people winning all the time,' she said. 'Voters are just disillusioned.'
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How Miami's city commission gave themselves an extra year in office without voters' permission
Candidates for local office in Miami have been prepping mailers, gathering volunteers, raising money and hitting the street for the last year, with voters expecting to see a robust campaign to replace the city's term-limited, scandal-chased mayor. Last week, Miami's city commission told those voters they'll have to wait an extra year. In a 3-2 vote, the commission changed the city's election bylaws to push the municipal races back to 2026. Commissioners said they made the change in the name of cost savings and increased voter engagement when higher-profile races for Congress or the presidency may be on the ballot. But they gave themselves an extra year in office without asking voters for permission first. And in a moment when the underpinnings of democracy appear to be cracking in America, a cavalier attitude toward an election seems ominous to some Miami residents. 'What worries people about this is, we don't want to give the guy in the White House any ideas,' said John Jackson, a Miami resident and former political operative. There's no real mechanism to try something like this at the federal level, he said, 'but it still kind of makes people a little worried. I don't know anyone on any side of the aisle – Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal – who just thinks that this was a good thing'. Florida attorney general James Uthmeier sent Miami's mayor a warning letter on 26 June, telling the city that the proposal to change election dates without asking permission from voters first violates the city and county's charter and the state constitution. Miami is home 'to thousands of patriotic Cuban Americans who know better than most about regimes that cavalierly delay elections and prolong their terms in power', Uthmeier wrote. 'The City of Miami owes to its citizens what the law requires.' City leaders could have avoided this problem by placing the question on the ballot and accepting a shorter term if voters chose to hold future elections on even-numbered years, said Michael Hepburn, a Miami mayoral candidate. 'The city of Miami is actually still scheduled to have a election this year for other ballot referendums,' Hepburn said. 'So what they're doing is actually just stupid, because you literally still gonna have people come out this year on November 4 and vote for, like, three other questions on the ballot.' By structuring the change this way, however, it permits city commissioner Joe Carollo and Miami mayor Francis Suarez – both term-limited – to remain in office for an additional year. Hepburn said he thinks Juarez wants to use the extra year to his advantage. 'He's started thinking about how he could stay in office and use his current office to parlay that into his next office. He may be running for governor next year. He may be running for US Congress. Who knows? But he'll be able to do it from the office of mayor, which just helps him.' Hepburn and other candidates have either filed lawsuits or are awaiting the actions of the attorney general in response to the ordinance change. 'The decision by city leaders to arbitrarily extend their terms by a full year without voter approval is exactly why so many are up in arms by the chaos and dysfunction of our city government,' said Eileen Higgins, a Miami-Dade county commissioner running to become the city's next mayor. Instead of extending current elected terms, Higgins said she would support shortening a new mayor's term by one year and moving the election to 2028 to achieve optimal voter participation. 'That's why I believe moving forward with the planned elections this November should have been the only decision. More troubling, a run-off in December 2026 will only cost taxpayers more money and result in lower turnout than this year's planned election.' The mayor's office did not respond to requests for comment. 'I support and encourage participation in the electoral process,' said city of Miami commissioner Christine King. 'Voting is the single most important act one can do for their country and in this instance our community. In the city of Miami, voter turnout is historically low for odd numbered year elections. My vote in support of moving our elections to even numbered years was a vote for democracy.' The argument for on-cycle elections makes sense to students of civic participation. Suarez defeated his challenger 21,479 to 3,166 in the 2021 off-year election. In a Miami referendum about residency requirements for the Miami mayor in 2024, with Donald Trump facing Kamala Harris as the marquee matchup at the top of the ballot, 127,460 people cast a vote, more than five times as many voters. 'The upshot is that on-cycle elections … are generally viewed as a win for democracy,' said Matthew Nelsen, an assistant political science professor at the University of Miami. 'On-cycle elections ensure that the media attention and campaigning that comes along with a national midterm or presidential election will also trickle down into local races.' Commissioner Damian Pardo, the author of the election change, argued that holding municipal elections on off years is a form of voter suppression. 'The reason behind this is to boost voter participation,' he told local media. 'When we realized we actually had potentially three votes to get this done, we moved forward. When we can take reform, we take it.' Nonetheless, the commission chose not to let voters make this change. 'Ideally, the voters would have had the ability to vote on this,' Pardo said. 'However, given the situation in this context, where we had the opportunity to pass it … in order to give the voters what they want, you might actually undermine them by putting it to a vote, because by the time that time lapses, you may no longer have those three votes.' Two of the three commissioners who voted for the change – Pardo and King – are Democrats. 'If they can move it, why not the president?' said Marion Brown, a candidate challenging King in the election that the commission postponed. 'Let the president move it, let the governor move it, let everyone in the election do the same thing.' The third commissioner, Ralph Rosado, is a Republican, as is the mayor. Municipal elections are technically nonpartisan in Miami. 'Our county mayor is Democratic. Miami's mayor is Republican. But none of that really matters, because politics is just weird here,' Jackson said. 'To me, it was just entrenched politicians who said 'well, gonna save money and we're gonna raise turnout'. But the reality is, they're term-limited, and now they get an extra term.' Politics in Miami tends to protect a group of four or five politically-powerful families at the expense of the public interest, said Marisol Zenteno, president of the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade. 'People are very irritated. They don't trust in the system. They feel that it's the same people manipulating it and that it's pretty much the same people winning all the time,' she said. 'Voters are just disillusioned.'
Washington Post
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Miami postponed its 2025 elections. Why did the city do it?
Miami commissioners late last month voted to postpone the city's November election until 2026 despite warnings from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and state attorney general James Uthmeier that they not delay the election without getting voter approval.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Despite controversy, Miami moved election date. One candidate has already sued
A lawsuit filed Monday is challenging last week's controversial Miami City Commission vote to postpone the city's upcoming November election to 2026. The 41-page complaint by Miami mayoral candidate Emilio González argues that the decision to move the city from odd- to even-year elections effectively granted Mayor Francis Suarez and city commissioners an additional year in power without the consent of voters. 'The commissioners unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade Charter, and the City's Charter expressly prohibit,' the lawsuit alleges. 'Reminiscent of regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, or Cuba — the very places so many of Miami's people come from — those in power, while in power, forced upon those voters what they think is best for elections going forward — and secured for themselves additional time in power, without a vote of the electorate. That cannot stand.' Representatives for the city did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday, but City Attorney George Wysong has defended the election change as appropriate and legal. Suarez could still issue a veto on the controversial measure but would have to do so within 10 days of last week's city commission vote on June 26. However, that seems unlikely; the Herald previously reported that Suarez was working behind the scenes to push the even-year change. Proponents of the measure, including its sponsor, Commissioner Damian Pardo, have argued that aligning elections with national races will boost voter turnout and prove a boon for democratic participation. But opponents have accused city officials of pursuing a self-serving extension of their terms. Florida's governor and attorney general both warned the city not to change the election date without first asking voters in a ballot referendum. 'Attorney General James Uthmeier has already warned that this violates the law, and Governor Ron DeSantis has strongly supported that position,' retired U.S. Army colonel González, a former Miami city manager, said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. 'Disenfranchising voters undermines our democracy and robs citizens of their voice at the ballot box.' Ahead of last week's vote, Wysong defended the legal and ethical grounds of moving this year's election to 2026 to align with federal elections. 'Somebody is gonna get that extra year, whether you do it now, or next year, or two years from now,' Wysong said at the June 26 meeting. Ultimately, Commissioners Pardo, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted in favor of the measure, which passed by a vote of 3-2, with Commissioners Joe Carollo and Miguel Angel Gabela voting against the change. In an interview Tuesday, González said commissioners had only offered 'nonsensical, bogus justifications' for the change. 'I've never sued anybody in my life and I've never run for public office so this is all new to me,' González told the Miami Herald. 'But I've spent my adult career as a U.S. Army officer serving around the world promoting and defending democracy — only to find I now have to promote and defend democracy here in my hometown.' 'I'm a real stickler for process and procedure,' González added. 'This isn't a campaign publicity stunt. I'm filing this as a voter.' While González is the first to sue, other candidates who planned to run in the November 2025 election have been critical of the change as well. 'Miami voters want new leadership in the city. For them, these elections cannot come soon enough,' mayoral candidate Ken Russell, a former city commissioner, told the Herald. 'Commissioners enriching themselves and violating their own term limits erodes voter trust.'
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
It's official: Miami cancels November election, postpones it to 2026
With less than five months to go before Miami residents were scheduled to head to the polls to vote on a new mayor and city commissioners, the city of Miami has postponed the upcoming November election to 2026 in a move that critics have described as a 'power grab.' On Thursday, the Miami City Commission voted 3-2 to move the city from odd- to even-year elections — a change that its proponents said will drastically increase voter turnout. But the decision also comes with fine print. As a result, the city's elected officials will get an extra year in office. That includes Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo, who are both term limited. Suarez, a former city commissioner, will get a 17th consecutive year in Miami City Hall, and Carollo will get a ninth. Commissioners Damian Pardo, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted in favor of the election date change, and Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela and Carollo voted against. READ MORE: Miami mayor is lobbying behind the scenes for proposal to skip November election Pardo, the item's sponsor, has argued that changing to even-year elections is a much-needed reform that will significantly increase voter participation while also saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in election costs. But some have questioned whether the city actually has the authority to change the election date without voter approval. The city charter states that municipal elections take place in odd years, and charter changes require voter approval. READ MORE: State says Miami can't move city election without voter input. Who's right? During the public comment section of the commission meeting Thursday, some residents said they believed the proposed change should be put on a ballot for voters to decide. 'This commission is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons,' said Rammel Guzman, 49, who told the officials they were reminding him of the kind of autocratic rule that drove him to immigrate to the United States. 'I was born in Venezuela, and in 1999 the constitution was reformed by Chávez, and even he put it to a vote — we need to do better than that.' Morningside resident Sandy Moise agreed, telling the officials: 'Commissioners should not be voting to cancel elections and give themselves and the mayor an extra year in power. That's not a democracy, that's voter suppression.' Other residents said that changing to even-year elections would strengthen democracy by encouraging more voters to turn out. Branden Jones, 34, said that keeping the current election schedule was tantamount to voter suppression. 'It plays on the ignorance of so many individuals in our communities,' said Jones, a pastor. 'If we want more civic engagement, why not allow everything to be on the ballot when we know most people are coming out to vote?' Pardo shared a similar sentiment as he urged the commission to pass the proposal. 'Voter participation goes from an estimated 10% to 15% — to 60% or 65%, and that is huge,' Pardo said. And he argued that commissioners should act quickly. 'If we wait for another cycle, another election, for other people to show up, we may never have this chance again,' Pardo said. But Carollo disagreed, arguing that the measure had broad appeal and could easily be passed in the future. 'If this is such a slam dunk where everybody wants it, why are you afraid to wait?' Carollo said, adding that he agreed with an opinion by Florida's attorney general that the commission did not have the authority to change the election date. 'We all know that if this passes today, it will wind up in the courts,' Carollo said. Several declared candidates have questioned and criticized the election date change. Mayoral candidate and former City Manager Emilio González has called the move 'a power grab to stay in office' and said that city of Miami voters 'have been disenfranchised.' 'We are outraged by City of Miami elected officials who, despite warnings from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier that canceling the November 2025 Miami election would violate the law, persist in this action,' he said in a statement Thursday. ' … This illegal act by the City of Miami elected officials will not stand!' Eileen Higgins, a current Miami-Dade County commissioner and another candidate for city of Miami mayor, also responded Thursday. 'City leaders' decision to extend their terms by a full year without voter approval highlights the dysfunction in our government,' Higgins said in a statement. 'While I support moving city elections to even years to boost turnout, bypassing voters was wrong.' A third mayoral candidate echoed that sentiment. 'Even year voting is a good thing,' said Ken Russell, a former city commissioner, 'but this is the slippery slope of bad government — where you have good intentions, but you start bending the rules to get there.' Russell, who filed to run for mayor in March, said the decision should have been left up to voters, not the commission. 'The emoluments clause in our charter precludes any commissioner — or the mayor — from voting to enrich themselves,' Russell said. 'This vote today, giving themselves an extra year — it's also giving themselves an extra $100,000 in salary.' Earlier this month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a written opinion saying the city does not have the authority to move the election date without voter approval in a ballot referendum. In a post on X, Gov. Ron DeSantis concurred with Uthmeier. But City Attorney George Wysong has publicly disagreed. 'We believe we're in good standing with the Florida Constitution,' Wysong said Thursday before the commission, laying out an argument refuting the state attorney general's opinion. 'We believe it's legal and consistent with Florida law,' Wysong said, pointing to what he said was a precedent set by the city of North Miami, which recently changed its elections to even years. That decision was challenged in court and went up to the Third District Court of Appeals, which affirmed a lower court's ruling that the city had the authority to make the change. Wysong also argued Thursday that the proposal was not a self-serving measure for the commission. 'No matter how you slice it, if you move the dates of the election, somebody is gonna get an extra year,' Wysong said. 'This doesn't necessarily benefit anybody.' Thursday's vote could cause a major shakeup to the city's political landscape. So far, 18 people have filed to run for one of the three open seats in November: mayor, District 3 commissioner and District 5 commissioner. Carollo, who previously served as mayor in the '90s, has long been teasing another run for mayor, but he has yet to officially file for the race. Political insiders have said the election date change could deal a blow to a Carollo candidacy, as he could face an uphill battle getting elected to a citywide seat when voter turnout is higher. The election date change also clears the way for another Pardo reform measure. Last week, the City Commission voted to direct the city attorney to draft legislation that would create lifetime term limits for elected officials. The item needs to come back to the commission for final approval, at which point it would be sent to voters on the November ballot — now in a special election since the main election has been postponed. If voters pass the lifetime term limits proposal, elected officials in Miami will be limited to two terms as mayor and two terms as commissioner for their lifetime. While Pardo has argued that the measure has widespread support, it will also face an opposition campaign from those invested in keeping term limits as-is. As it stands now, elected officials in the city are limited to two consecutive terms as mayor and two consecutive terms as commissioner, but they can return after sitting out for one term.
