Ralph Rosado defeats Jose Regalado in Miami special election
Ralph Rosado has defeated Jose Regalado in Miami’s District 4 race, concluding a special election that promises to tip the scales of power on the City Commission.
Preliminary election night results show Rosado led with about 55% of the vote.
“It’s completely surreal,” Rosado told the Miami Herald.
Rosado celebrated his victory Tuesday night at the Salvadorian restaurant El Atlacatl. In a victory speech, he thanked Mayor Francis Suarez, who is away on vacation in Italy, and Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Carollo backed Rosado’s campaign, and Carollo’s political committee, Miami First, paid for a flurry of anti-Regalado mailers. Rosado said Tuesday night that he thinks Carollo’s support helped him, but he emphasized that he will be his own man on the commission.
“I am my own person, and I get to prove it very soon,” Rosado told the Herald.
Other guests included former City Attorney Victoria Méndez, who is a friend of Rosado’s, as well former Mayor Xavier Suarez and current Commissioners Christine King and Damian Pardo.
The winner of the special election was slated to be sworn in on Saturday, according to the city clerk, but Rosado said Mayor Francis Suarez has been “insistent” that he be present for the swearing-in and that he may not be available Saturday.
“The mayor wants to be here, so I got to see when he’s back,” Rosado said.
Rosado will succeed Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who died in April, and will serve out the remainder of Reyes’ term, which runs through late 2027.
Rosado, 52, is an urban planner and former North Bay Village manager who previously ran for the District 4 seat in 2017, losing to Reyes.
Regalado, 40, is a former assistant building director and interim building director in the city of Miami. He resigned from his position in the city to run for the District 4 seat. Regalado had the backing of the Reyes family, as well as Reyes’ staff, whom Regalado promised to retain should he be elected. He was also supported by former Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla.
While Regalado had never run for elected office before, he likely benefited from name recognition on the ballot. His father is former Miami mayor and current Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomás Regalado, and his sister is Raquel Regalado, a county commissioner who was also Jose’s campaign manager.
Rosado took aim at Regalado’s position as a member of one of Miami’s political dynasties, whereas Regalado has argued that a Rosado win would “ensure Joe Carollo keeps his grip of power.”
Speaking to the Herald after his loss, Regalado said he was proud of the campaign he ran, which he said honored Reyes’ legacy.
“I stayed to my principles, I spoke to the issues, and I didn’t let any of the falsehoods trip me up or sink to that level of intimidation,” Regalado said.
On the other hand, he said his opponent went “negative” by attacking Regalado’s character and not denouncing attacks from Carollo, who Regalado said “fabricated, distracted, intimidated, retaliated against those who supported me.”
“That is the only way he knows how to operate,” Regalado said of Carollo. “And that has unfortunately now been given an outsized voice in the city of Miami.”
READ MORE: Political dynasties battle behind the scenes in Miami special election
Standing outside Rosado’s watch party, Carollo celebrated Rosado’s win and took aim at Regalado.
“I feel good for the city of Miami,” Carollo said. “And I feel very proud of the District 4 voters. ... They saw through how fake the Regalados were. They saw how they’ve been lied to for so many years by this clan. They saw who the real people behind the Regalados are, and were.”
Key issues ahead
Rosado has little time to rest now that the brief 43-day special election cycle has concluded. After being sworn in, he will attend his first City Commission meeting next week, on June 12.
That meeting’s agenda is expected to include controversial items, including a proposal to create stricter term limits for elected officials. The item would need to pass two City Commission votes in order to go on the November ballot for Miami voters to give final approval.
Another item that could go before the commission on June 12 is an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would deputize city police officers with immigration enforcement powers. The commission was scheduled to vote on it in April but decided to wait until after the special election when there would be five commissioners instead of four.
There is also a proposal circulating City Hall to push the upcoming November 2025 election to 2026. The stated reason behind the proposal is to align the city with the national even-year election cycle, but the fine print is that it would extend the city commissioners’ terms, as well as the mayor’s term, by one year.
That item may not go before the City Commission until the following meeting on June 26 or a subsequent meeting in July.
This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 7:39 PM.
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