Six years later, in 1969, he was working the sound board at a Spanish radio station in Miami, a move that would lead to television and ultimately propel him into office.

Today, Regalado does a morning news program for the Spanish Broadcasting System, and hosts a television news program called El Informativo on Telemiami.

He met his wife, Raquel, during those early days on the radio. They married in 1972 and had three children. Raquel Regalado died nearly two years ago of heart complications.

When she died, Regalado said he briefly considered backing out of the mayoral contest. He stayed in, he said, after urging from his children.

``They said mom would have wanted it.''

Regalado, elected to Joe Carollo's seat when Carollo became mayor in 1996, stepped into Miami politics at the dawn of the city's darkest hour.

That year, after discovery that Miami had blown its budget by $68 million, the state took control of the city's finances, and the fallout triggered the arrest of several administrators and eventually some commissioners. For five years, Miami's budget moves had to be approved by the state.

``It gave me a chilling effect that's stood by me forever when it comes to spending public money,'' Regalado said.

Meanwhile, with his radio and television popularity making him a staple in many households, he easily won reelection four times.

Regalado said he is now focused on three modest goals -- repaving streets in his district, completing a wall at a subdivision called Coral Gate, and building a fire station on West Flagler Street.

His anti-development stance has remained consistent: votes against condos at Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove, a baseball stadium for the Marlins in Little Havana, and a tunnel to the Port of Miami. He questioned plans for a pair of museums and a new park in Bicentennial Park, one of the remaining waterfront crown jewels of Miami.

CONTROVERSY

But his time in Miami and tenure on the commission has come with controversy.

In 1983, while working at a Spanish-language news radio station, Regalado helped raise money for the defense of Eduardo Arocena, later convicted of murder and numerous bombings in what Arocena claimed was an attempt to free Cuba of Fidel Castro.

Asked if he now regrets the fundraising, Regalado says ``no,'' adding that other stations also raised money.

In 1999, the state attorney's office investigated Regalado's controversial use of his city gas card, which was used to buy fuel two or three times a day, pumping twice what his Jeep's manufacturer said the tank holds. ``They investigated for three months and no charges were filed,'' Regalado said.

That same year Regalado's commission paycheck was garnished as the IRS attempted to collect thousands of dollars in taxes he owed.

In a recent debate at the Miami Science Museum, Sanchez pulled at that old financial wound, questioning Regalado's ability to oversee the city's finances at a time of massive budget cutting and escalating pension costs.

``They cleared me totally and absolutely,'' Regalado replied.

Another vulnerable spot for Regalado: He tends to mix up his facts.

At the same science museum debate last month, Sanchez went on the offensive after Regalado said he voted against fat union contracts many blame for Miami's newest financial mess and a $118 million hole that had to be sealed.

Sanchez pointed out that Regalado voted against union contracts in 2003 -- but not the 2007 contracts that helped create a system where eight firefighters now earn more than the city manager. Sanchez also supported that deal.

CAMPAIGN

Regalado has run a campaign linking Sanchez to the current administration and uses the Spanish airwaves to discuss his experience in office, and to say the endorsement of the city's three main unions will make it easier for him to bargain with them.

By the end of September, Regalado had a healthy $200,000 fundraising lead, and posters of him are plastered around the city.

He has secured support from neighborhood associations fed up with rapid development.

``Tomás Regalado has been much more supportive of protecting and preserving neighborhoods,'' said Upper East Side activist Elvis Cruz, whose support helped propel Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff into office.

Sanchez has gained traction in recent weeks hammering away at the unions. ``I don't think that he's got a plan to get this city moving forward,'' Sanchez said.

Plan or not, Armando Gutierrez, a prominent lobbyist helping run Regalado's campaign, said he is confident his candidate's core beliefs will lead him to office.

``I have a lot of friends,'' Gutierrez said, ``and Tomás is the one who always tells it like it is -- even if you don't like it.''