Who are the candidates running for Miami-Dade County Commission seats in 2022?

Miami-Dade County government will have a power shift at the end of 2022, with term limits forcing the retirement of the last batch of incumbents in office 10 years ago when voters adopted new rules capping commissioners’ time in office.

Elections for the 13-seat board in charge of countywide tax rates, transportation, sewer services and public works occur every two years and alternate between even- and odd-numbered districts. Terms last four years.

The two-term limit Miami-Dade voters approved in 2012 did not apply to prior years on the board, so the first forced exits hit incumbents in 2020 during that cycle’s elections for odd-numbered districts.

Five incumbents in even-numbered districts must leave office in November, setting up a wide-open contest for seats that incumbents have held for as long as 29 years, with the most junior of them elected in 2010.

County offices are nonpartisan, and all candidates run in an Aug. 23 primary. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the primary vote, the top two finishers face off in a runoff on Election Day in November.

Here’s a look at the Miami-Dade County Commission races for 2022, with about a month to go before the June 14 noon filing deadline for candidates.

District 2: Currently held by Jean Monestime, in office since 2010

This is the most crowded race so far, with six candidates filed to represent a district that includes parts of northern Miami and surrounding cities and neighborhoods, including North Miami Beach and North Miami.

The candidates to replace the term-limited Monestime are: Wallace Aristide, former principal of Miami Northwestern Senior High; Marleine Bastien, founder of a Haitian-American charity, the Family Action Network Movement; Philippe Bien-Aime, the mayor of North Miami; Josaphat “Joe” Celestin, a former North Miami mayor; William Clark, a retired county paramedic and community activist; and Monique Nicole Barley-Mayo, who ran for Miami-Dade mayor in 2020.

District 4: Currently held by Sally Heyman, in office since 2002

This coastal district covers the northeastern corner of Miami-Dade, including parts of Miami Beach, and nearby municipalities. For now, there’s only one contender to replace the term-limited Heyman: former Miami Beach Commissioner Micky Steinberg.

District 5: Currently held by Eileen Higgins, in office since 2018

Higgins doesn’t face reelection until 2024, but news broke on May 1 that she planned to give up her seat this summer to run in the Democratic Party for Congressional District 27. That race would have triggered a Higgins resignation under Florida’s resign-to-run law. But on May 11 Higgins announced she had changed her mind on a Congressional race and would remain on the commission.

District 6: Currently held by Rebeca Sosa, in office since 2001

This race to represent West Miami and suburban areas from Miami International Airport down to South Miami underwent a formal shake-up Monday.

That’s when the leading candidate, Rep. Bryan Avila, a Republican from Miami Springs, confirmed speculation that he was dropping his District 6 bid to run for state Senate instead.

Other candidates began filing their own papers as word spread of Avila’s likely departure once the Senate District 39 seat opened up with incumbent Manny Diaz Jr.’s departure to become Florida’s education commissioner.

Candidates to replace the term-limited Sosa are: Kevin Marino Cabrera, a lobbyist with Mercury and a former state director for Donald Trump’s 2020 Florida campaign; Dariel Fernandez, a Miami-Dade Republican Committee member and owner of a software company; Jorge Fors Jr., a Coral Gables city commissioner; Orlando Lamas, a Republican and an architect who was running for Avila’s open House seat before switching to the District 6 race in March; and Victor Vazquez, a member of the Miami Springs city council.

District 8: Currently held by Danielle Cohen Higgins, in office since 2020.

Though an incumbent, this will be the first election for Cohen Higgins, who was appointed to her seat by sitting commissioners at the end of 2020. That was weeks after Daniella Levine Cava, commissioner for the South Miami-Dade district since 2014, took her newly elected position as county mayor.

The Levine Cava candidacy prompted commissioners to propose a charter amendment voters approved in 2020 requiring an election to fill a seat set to be vacated by someone complying with Florida’s “resign-to-run” law.

Along with Cohen Higgins, who is a lawyer, neighborhood activist Alicia Arellano is also running for the District 8 seat.

District 10: Currently held by Javier Souto, in office since 1993.

This suburban district covers the neighborhoods of Westchester, Fontainebleau and parts of the Kendall area, and is represented by the longest-serving member of the commission. Candidates to replace the term-limited Souto are Martha Bueno, chair of the West Kendall community council and a real estate agent; and Anthony Rodriguez, a Republican member of the Florida House representing District 118.

District 12: Currently held by Jose “Pepe” Diaz, in office since 2002.

This district includes Doral, Sweetwater, Medley and parts of Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens, as well as suburban areas in western Miami-Dade.

Candidates to succeed the term-limited Diaz, currently the board’s chairman, are J.C. Bermudez, Doral’s mayor; and Sophia Lacayo, a former Sweetwater commissioner who gave up her seat in 2020 and pleaded guilty to perjury for falsely saying she lived in the city.

This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 8:51 PM.