Surfside re-elects Shlomo Danzinger following extended mail-in-ballot election

Shlomo Danzinger has once again been elected to be Surfside’s mayor.

Danzinger defeated Vice Mayor Tina Paul by 22 votes in the April 7 runoff election with 50.54% of votes.

However, due to the Passover holiday this month, the deadline for mail-in-ballots was extended to April 28.

That came after an emergency lawsuit was filed by Danzinger and Jewish advocacy groups that asked the court to delay the election because of the conflict with the holiday.

According to the filing, of Surfside’s more than 5,500 residents, about 2,500 — or 45% —are Jewish and about 35% are Orthodox.

The results of the election were posted after 7 p.m. on the extended date, declaring Danzinger the winner.

Danzinger is the town’s first Orthodox Jewish mayor. He was first elected mayor in 2022, but lost his re-election bid to former Mayor Charles Burkett in March 2024.

He will be sworn into office on Monday, May 4.

This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner WLRN Public Media.