Diaz de la Portilla wins in Miami, and Rosen Gonzalez loses in Miami Beach upset
Miami voters on Tuesday revived the political fortunes of Alex Diaz de la Portilla, electing the former state senator by a wide margin to an open commission seat on a night that delivered mixed results to former office holders.
In Hialeah, former council member Luis González lost to Jesus Tundidor, a former member of an appointed city planning board. The city’s other council race saw candidate Jackie Garcia-Roves beat community activist Milly Herrera. The results were a split decision for Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernández, who endorsed González and Garcia-Roves.
In Miami Beach, former commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez lost her runoff against first-time candidate Steven Meiner in a hard-fought contest that attracted heavy spending from outside groups. The race was one of three runofffs in Miami Beach, with former Florida lawmaker David Richardson and incumbent Ricky Arriola easily winning their City Commission elections.
The results marked the official end of Miami-Dade’s off-year election season, as a smattering of voters from three of the county’s largest cities picked winners in contests that were too close to be resolved on Election Day earlier this month. Runoffs were called for races where no candidate took more than 50 percent of the vote on Nov. 5, extending the elections another two weeks.
Turnout was about 13 percent for the runoff elections across three cities, with roughly 24,300 voters casting ballots, according to results posted by Miami-Dade Elections.
Here’s a look at the results from Tuesday’s three municipal elections:
MIAMI
Diaz de la Portilla won the only contest on the ballot for Miami on Tuesday, after incumbent Ken Russell won his election outright on Election Day with about 60 percent of the vote.
The former Republican lawmaker beat his opponent, auto parts retailer Miguel Angel Gabela, in the District 1 race by more than 20 points. The resounding win came after three losses, twice in attempts to return to Tallahassee and last year’s bid for an open seat on the Miami-Dade commission.
Diaz de la Portilla replaces term-limited Willy Gort. The seat’s turnover will be of particular interest to David Beckham and partners, with Gort being a reliable No vote to the venture’s plans to build a mall, commercial center and soccer stadium on what’s now a city golf course. Diaz de la Portilla has not said how he will vote.
HIALEAH
In Hialeah, the elections offered a scorecard for Hernández, the city’s top administrator and most powerful politician. His slate of four City Council candidates included one winner (Oscar De La Rosa) and one loser (incumbent Lourdes Lozano) on Election Day, and the wide margin in the runoff results kept him even.
Tundidor was ahead of González by nearly 30 points in the Group II race. García-Roves had a lead of about eight percentage points in the Group III race over Herrera.
MIAMI BEACH
Rosen Gonzalez had the most votes coming out of the Nov. 5 primary, bolstering her status as the perceived front runner for the city’s Group IV commission seat. She gave up the seat last year to run in the Democratic primary for Congress and her appointed replacement, Joy Malakoff, opted not to seek a full term.
But when all the votes were tallied Tuesday night, Meiner had won by a comfortable margin of about eight percentage points. Meiner won his spot in the runoff by just two votes on Election Day, beating out third-place finisher Michael Barrineau after a recount.
Rosen Gonzalez outspent Meiner by about $150,000 but was the target of repeated attacks from political committees. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber endorsed Meiner, a lawyer with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The other Miami Beach races were more predictable, with victories going to the better-known candidates who took the most votes on Election Day. Richardson, a Democrat who served in the Florida House until last year, won with a 15-point lead over restaurateur Adrian Gonzalez for the Group VI seat and Arriola won by about the same amount over challenger Raquel Pacheco for the Group V seat.
Election results
MIAMI
District 1
✓Alex Diaz de la Portilla: 61%; 2,784 votes
Miguel Angel Gabela: 39%; 1,796 votes
-----------------------
MIAMI BEACH
Group IV
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez: 46%; 3,798 votes
✓Steven Meiner: 54%; 4,427 votes
Group V
✓Ricky Arriola: 58%; 4,578 votes
Raquel Pacheco: 42%; 3,343 votes
Group VI
Adrian Gonzalez: 42%; 3,394 votes
✓David Richardson: 58%; 4,677 votes
-----------------------
HIALEAH
Group II
Luis Gonzalez: 35%; 3,728 votes
✓Jesus Tundidor: 65%; 6,795 votes
Group III
✓Jackie Garcia-Roves: 54%; 5,552 votes
Milly Herrera: 46%; 4,730 votes
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 9:26 PM.