With less than a week before Tuesday's runoff elections, Gabrielle Redfern has at least one obstacle to overcome if she is to win the Miami Beach City Commission seat: money.

As of the last campaign finance reports, filed Oct. 29, the transportation activist had less than $3,000 to spend -- compared to the $70,000 at the fingertips of her Group 3 opponent, former Commissioner Michael Góngora.

``The voters of Miami Beach haven't contributed significantly to her campaign,'' Góngora said shortly after a recount confirmed that Redfern would be his runoff opponent. ``Where there is a contribution there is a vote.''

Redfern on Monday acknowledged the difficulties of getting her message to voters without holding a bundle of cash.

But the candidate said she isn't overly concerned about the financial dichotomy between her and Góngora, who garnered about 900 more votes during the Nov. 3 general election.

``The city recognizes my hard work, ethical campaigning and that I have a great reputation,'' she said.

Plus, Redfern already beat out Alex Fernandez, who outspent her by about $100,000 leading up to the Nov. 3 general elections.

And should Redfern upset Góngora despite a major financial deficit, it wouldn't be a first. In Miami Beach politics, more money doesn't necessarily lead to more votes.

In 2007, Matti Herrera Bower won a first term as mayor despite being outspent by more than $200,000 by then-Commissioner Simon Cruz.

Góngora, then an incumbent, lost a reelection bid himself despite outraising Commissioner Ed Tobin by about $60,000.

This year, Bower and Commissioner Jerry Libbin far outraised their opponents and won easily.

Mayoral hopeful Laura Rivero Levey and Libbin's opponent, Oduardo Segui, lacked name recognition as political newcomers.

In this year's races for the vacant Group 2 and Group 3 seats, candidates who spent the most money won the least votes in the Nov. 3 general election.

Fernandez spent about $112,000, yet came in third with 2,137 votes, meaning each vote cost him about $52.

Sherry Roberts, who ran against Jorge Exposito and Maria Mayer for the seat of termed-out Commissioner Saul Gross, spent nearly $110,000 but garnered only 1,735 votes.

Break down the money she spent, and each vote cost Roberts' campaign about $63.

Exposito and Mayer will face off during the Nov. 17 runoff.

By comparison, Redfern, who said she placed thousands of calls and walked door-to-door, spent about $6,300 and garnered 2,158 votes -- a cost of about $3 a vote.

Redfern may have been aided during the general election by a bruising fight between Góngora and Fernandez, a luxury she won't have now that Fernandez is out of the race, said Casey Klofstad, a Miami Beach resident and an assistant professor of political science at the University of Miami.

But Klofstad said that while money remains important in local elections -- think bilingual fliers, and platforms targeted at voters who aren't particularly informed about the inner workings of the city -- campaign fundraising deficits can be overcome.

``While money is critical in elections, it is less so in local elections,'' he said.

``You don't have the huge amount of overhead that you have in running a statewide campaign or national campaign. Money goes farther in a locality and the advantages of having a ton of money as a candidate don't buy you as much on a local level as they would on a state or national level.''

Redfern said her small war chest may lead opponents to overlook her candidacy, but voters should not.

``I think everybody else thought I was [the underdog] because of money,'' Redfern said.

``I always thought I would be successful.''

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