Miami City Commission candidate can stay on the ballot, judge rules
After a three-hour trial that included analyzing a Miami City Commission candidate’s Amazon purchase history and scrutinizing the timing of when he set up a Christmas tree at a rental property, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge has ruled that Rolando Escalona can stay on the ballot in the city’s District 3 commission race.
Judge Beatrice Butchko Sanchez on Wednesday denied a motion for an injunction in a lawsuit filed by Denise Galvez Turros, who is competing against Escalona for the open District 3 seat being vacated by term-limited Commissioner Joe Carollo. They’re facing off against establishment candidate Frank Carollo, Joe Carollo’s younger brother, and five others.
Galvez Turros sued Escalona earlier this month, alleging that his residency at an apartment in District 3 is a “sham” that is “fatal to his candidacy.” She asked the court to disqualify him over allegations that he doesn’t meet the residency requirements, which stipulate that a commission candidate has to have continuously resided in the district in which they are seeking office for at least one year immediately preceding the date the candidate qualifies to run.
Galvez Turros’ attorney presented various documents during a trial Wednesday that he said proved Escalona did not continuously reside in District 3. Those documents included business records, Escalona’s latest tax returns and a signed February 2025 mortgage refinance document that said Escalona and his wife were then living in a duplex they own in neighboring District 4.
But Butchko Sanchez ultimately sided with Escalona, saying she didn’t have enough evidence to remove him from the ballot, noting that doing so with less than week to go before Election Day would create “confusion” and “mayhem.”
“To take him off the ballot,” the judge said, “I have to call him a liar.”
In a statement after the ruling, Galvez Turros’ attorney Reid Levin said, “Mr. Escalona may have met the technical residency requirement, but only by contradicting the sworn information on his tax, mortgage, and business filings. He saved his candidacy by creating a public record of deep inconsistency and possible illegality.”
Escalona called the ruling “a decisive victory for truth, integrity, and the voters of District 3.”
“The court saw this lawsuit for exactly what it was, a politically motivated and orchestrated effort by the same insiders to silence voters and distort the democratic process,” he said in a statement. “I have said from the beginning that I am a proud resident of District 3, and today’s decision confirms that fact. I have always been honest about where I live and why I’m running.”
Christmas tree in October
Escalona testified Wednesday that he’s lived in multiple residences over the past few years — including two different units in the same apartment building — but that he has continuously resided in District 3 since summer 2024. Those various moves included stretches of time when he lived separately from his newlywed wife, leasing a small apartment between downtown and Little Havana that the judge described as looking like a “bachelor pad” because of how it was sparsely decorated with furniture from Amazon.
Escalona explained that he and his wife bought a West Flagler duplex in January 2024. At the time, the property was located inside District 3, Escalona testified, saying he chose that location because he wanted to run for the Miami City Commission. But the duplex was cut out of District 3 and redrawn into District 4 during the city’s redistricting process last year, Escalona said.
That prompted him to rent the 644-square-foot apartment in June 2024 so he would be inside the District 3 boundaries. His wife, Astrid Gonzalez Nieto, testified Wednesday that she stayed living in the duplex for much of the past year, only moving into the apartment building with her husband a few months ago. Escalona and his wife, who is pregnant with twins, said they recently moved into a larger unit in the same building to accommodate their growing family.
The parties on Wednesday analyzed time-stamped photos of the two units in the District 3 apartment building, cross-referencing them with Escalona’s Amazon purchase history, which showed that he bought a sofa, TV and full-length mirror in June 2024 — the same month he began renting the smaller apartment in the building, according to a lease agreement.
At one point, in what appeared to be an effort to find inconsistencies in his testimony about where he lived and when, Escalona was even questioned about the timing of putting up Christmas decor in the larger apartment he and his wife recently moved into. One photo, which Escalona said was taken this week, showed a decorated tree in the common area.
“You put your Christmas tree up this soon?” Levin asked Escalona.
“I put it [up] whenever I want, sir,” Escalona responded.
Levin then pointed out that photos from the smaller apartment, taken in January, didn’t include a Christmas tree.
“Just to be clear, you put your Christmas tree up in October, but in these pictures, there’s no Christmas tree in mid-January,” Levin said.
Escalona, a general manager at Sexy Fish, responded that he’s not a big decorator and that his wife, who was living elsewhere at the time, “is the one that usually tends to do more of this. I’m always working. I don’t stay much at home because I’m a workaholic.”
‘They do have some serious issues’
Escalona was also questioned on various documents, including his most recent tax returns and a mortgage refinance agreement from February, where he listed the District 4 duplex as his address. Levin argued that those documents put Escalona at odds with the city’s residency rule, which require Escalona to have lived in District 3 since September 2024.
Judge Butchko Sanchez asked Escalona why he told the bank he was living in the duplex instead of in the District 3 apartment. He responded that his wife, who owns the duplex with him, was living there with his mother at the time.
“I was always living in the apartment,” Escalona testified. As for why he listed the District 4 address on various records in recent months, Escalona chalked it up to an honest mistake, saying that “in real life ... people forget to change addresses.”
Butchko Sanchez ultimately sided with Escalona, citing the voting map change as a significant factor, saying it was “pretty compelling” for Escalona to purchase property in what was previously District 3.
“I think that we wouldn’t be here if the duplex wasn’t redistricted out,” she said, while noting that there were still some unanswered questions.
“Look, I think it’s peculiar that he bought all that Amazon furniture and set up what looks like a bachelor pad,” Butchko Sanchez said of the smaller apartment Escalona moved into last summer. “But if his intent was to live permanently in the district because he has a dream of running for commission, who am I to say no?”
“They do have some serious issues,” the judge added, referring to the discrepancies on financial documents. “Hopefully the bank won’t file a default.”
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