Miami commissioner facing corruption charges yanked from Republican leadership post
Alex Díaz de la Portilla, the suspended Miami commissioner facing corruption charges, has been removed from his leadership role with the Miami-Dade Republican Party.
On Thursday, Díaz de la Portilla was ousted as the local party’s state committeeman, two weeks after he turned himself in to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to face charges that include bribery. But his removal was unrelated, the result of what top county and state Republican Party officials said was an excessive number of unexcused absences at county party meetings.
A grievance related to his attendance was filed against Díaz de la Portilla prior to his arrest, party officials told the Miami Herald.
A Florida GOP committee convened to investigate the complaint recommended his removal from the role. Miami-Dade GOP Chairman Alex Rizo said that he was notified on Thursday that Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler had booted Díaz de la Portilla from the position.
“The grievance committee does its investigation, asks questions and makes a recommendation to the chairman,” Rizo said. “Then the chairman makes the decision, and the decision was that according to state party rules, his absences were excessive and unexcused.”
Both Rizo and Ziegler stressed that Díaz de la Portilla’s removal from the state committeeman post — to which he was elected by Republican voters during the August 2020 primary election — had nothing to do with the corruption charges and stemmed only from issues with his meeting attendance.
“It was a standalone decision based on that grievance,” Ziegler said. “It’s just that it all happened around the same time as all the other stuff.”
With Díaz de la Portilla out, the Miami-Dade Republican Party now has 60 days to call an election to replace him. Rizo said that the county party met on Thursday night and that a number of members have expressed interest in running for the state committeeman job, which involves serving on the state party’s executive committee, where members vote on party governance issues, serve on committees and help direct party strategy.
The removal also leaves a county-wide elected position open on next year’s primary ballot.
READ MORE: Leila and David Centner caught up in Miami commissioner’s corruption scandal
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order days after Díaz de la Portilla’s arrest suspending him from the Miami City Commission. The commission voted unanimously last week to leave his seat vacant until the Nov. 7 general election, when Díaz de la Portilla is seeking reelection.
Díaz de la Portilla has insisted that he did nothing wrong and has said that the charges against him are politically motivated. In a statement, he predicted that he would win reelection to his seat on the city commission and to the state committeeman post, and would beat the charges against him.
“I can’t wait for the elections,” Díaz de la Portilla wrote in a text message sent after this article first published. “I will win hands down and across the board because people know of my honesty and track record.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 2:05 PM.