Matti Herrera Bower was on her way to continuing her historic stint as Miami Beach mayor Tuesday night, holding a large lead against two opponents as votes were tallied.

Commissioner Jerry Libbin also appeared headed for a second term, while races for two vacant commission seats remained tight and were likely on their way to a Nov. 17 runoff -- with no candidate near the 50 percent mark needed to win an election outright.

In the race for Group 3, the most heated of the four city races, former Commissioner Michael Góngora was poised for a runoff.

His opponent, though, remained unclear, as candidates Gabrielle Redfern and Alex Fernandez were neck-and-neck late into the evening.

``I guess the big question at this point, since my opponents are so close together, is who will end up in a runoff against me,'' Góngora said.

Bower handily won reelection, with roughly three of every four votes being cast in her favor.

``I'm very happy that the voters have honored me again with their votes and faith,'' Bower said from Cafe Avanti, where she celebrated her election win.

Bower, 70, became the city's first woman and first Cuban American to serve as the city's mayor when she won the post in 2007. Since then, the economy has soured, and Bower entered a 2009 election season on the heels of a tough budget season that saw escalating pension costs and dwindling property values drag down the city's finances.

But Bower held a sizable lead throughout the night over Laura Rivero Levey and Raphael Herman, and by 9 p.m., with only half the precincts reporting, supporters were leaving her election party confident athat she had handily won reelection.

Despite losing, Levey -- an education activist who filed to run against Bower with just minutes before the city's qualifying deadline -- said she had no regrets.

``I'm really glad that I did it. I don't know if I want to do it again,'' she said.

Commissioner Jerry Libbin held a substantial lead over political newcomer Oduardo ``Oddy'' Segui, who was dogged by allegations of check kiting while on the campaign trail. Segui has said his candidacy was his first and his last political venture.

WEAK SHOWING

Tuesday's voter turnout was, as predicted, low.

Half of the candidates running in the election gathered at Miami Beach Botanical Garden toward the end of the day but found themselves largely outnumbering the few voters who straggled in to cast their ballots.

``This is the slowest I've ever seen,'' said Dona Zemo, a 65-year-old volunteer who stumped for Group 2 candidate Sherry Roberts outside City Hall.

The Group 2 race seemed destined for a runoff Tuesday night.

Candidates Jorge Exposito and Maria Mayer were neck-and-neck, with Roberts lagging in third.

In the Group 3 race, former Commissioner Michael Góngora also appeared headed to a runoff.

Góngora's opponents, former Bower aide Alex Fernandez and property manager Gabrielle Redfern, were in a nail-biter.

Fernandez, who traded sharp political barbs with Góngora, was at Avanti with Bower as the remaining precincts were tallied.

``This is a living, proving, testament that every vote matters,'' he said.

Redfern, largely ignored and outspent by her rivals, relished the possibility of squeaking into a runoff.

``I'm sure they'll be very surprised,'' she said.

ALSO ON BALLOT

Miami Beach voters also had four ballot questions to decide, and with results still coming in, appeared to have approved measures advocating for ethical government, and creating stricter regulations for land sales and transfers in the city.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@