What to know about Tuesday’s special election in the city of Miami
On Tuesday night, a new face will be added to the Miami City Commission to replace the late Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who died in April.
Voters in District 4, which includes parts of Flagami, West Flagler and Shenandoah, will choose between two candidates: Ralph Rosado, a former village manager in North Bay Village, and Jose Regalado, a former assistant building director in the city of Miami.
Rosado, 52, is an urban planner who previously ran for the District 4 seat in 2017, losing to Reyes. Rosado has the backing of Commissioner Joe Carollo, whose political committee has funded a flurry of anti-Regalado ads.
Regalado, 40, left his position with the city to run for the District 4 seat. He has the support of the Reyes family, as well as Reyes’ staff. Former Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla threw his support behind Regalado over the weekend, joining his campaign at early voting sites. Díaz de la Portilla also gave Regalado $1,000, according to campaign finance reports, and his political committee sent out at least one mailer in support of Regalado.
Regalado is the son of Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomás Regalado and the brother of County Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who is operating as his campaign manager.
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On the five-member City Commission, where just three votes are needed to pass legislation, the new commissioner could become an important tiebreaker vote.
Regalado is a vocal Carollo adversary, and the pair would likely find themselves on opposite sides of split decisions should Regalado win. While Rosado’s candidacy is backed by Carollo, Rosado has said he would be an independent voice on the commission. Rosado is also close friends with former Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez, but Rosado has said he would abstain from any votes related to Méndez and that he would not seek to bring her back to the city in any capacity.
Early voting in the special election took place Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Election Day, voters must go to their assigned voting location.
A sample ballot can be found on the city’s website.
The Miami Herald will have election results after the polls close at 7.
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Campaign finance
Money poured into the candidates’ campaign coffers in recent weeks, with Regalado reporting $190,000 in contributions and more than $150,000 in expenditures in the latest report, which runs through May 29.
Rosado raised just under $80,000 to his hard money account and spent $60,000, according to his campaign reports. Most of Rosado’s fundraising power rested in his political committee, Citizens For Ethics In Government.
The most recently available campaign finance report, which runs through the end of March, shows Rosado’s PAC has raised about $270,000 since October, when it was formed. The second-quarter reports won’t be available until after the election.
Meanwhile, Tomás Regalado’s political committee, Proven Leadership for Miami, has been fundraising for Jose. The PAC reported having about $60,000 on-hand in early 2025. Campaign finance reports for the relevant months won’t be available until after the election.
This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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