Five Miami-Dade County commissioners were elected Tuesday — no votes needed

One newcomer and four Miami-Dade commissioners secured four-year terms on Tuesday when the noon filing deadline passed and they were the only candidates to file for their elections.

Steve Gallon III, an elected member of the Miami-Dade School Board, only had to fill out two forms to secure his seat on the County Commission. He’s set to replace outgoing Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who is running for Congress and must give up his county seat representing the Miami Gardens area in January.

On Tuesday, Gallon, 57, was the only candidate for Gilbert’s District 1 seat, meaning the two sets of forms he filed with the Elections office — filing and qualifying — were enough for him to be elected outright. He has resigned his school board seat.

Along with Gallon’s automatic election, four incumbent commissioners also won new four-year terms on Tuesday after nobody filed to run against them. Those four commissioners are:

• Juan Carlos Bermudez, 64, who represents the Doral area as Miami-Dade’s District 12 commissioner. The former Doral mayor won his seat by election in 2022, replacing the term-limited Jose “Pepe” Diaz, who is now mayor of Sweetwater.
• Natalie Milian Orbis, 39, who represents the area around Miami International Airport as Miami-Dade’s District 6 commissioner. The former vice mayor of West Miami, commissioners appointed Milian Orbis last year to fill the seat vacated by Kevin Cabrera, the one-term commissioner who was named ambassador to Panama by President Donald Trump. While commissioners can only serve two consecutive four-year terms, Milian Orbis is free to run again in 2030, when she’ll be up for her second full term.
• Anthony Rodriguez, 38, who represents the Westchester area as Miami-Dade’s District 10 commissioner. The former Florida House member won his seat through an election in 2022, replacing the term-limited Javier Souto. Fellow commissioners elected Rodriguez chair of the board in 2024, and his term in that powerful position ends after the November election.
• Micky Steinberg, 49, who represents the Miami Beach area as Miami-Dade’s District 4 commissioner. The former Miami Beach commissioner also won her seat without an election in 2022 when she filed to replace her term-limited predecessor, Sally Heyman, and nobody else chose to run. Now facing her own term-limited exit in 2030, Steinberg is on track to serve on the commission for eight years without ever appearing on a County Commission ballot.

Three sitting commissioners face challengers for the Aug. 18 election that could decide each of the races. Those seats are:

District 2: An area that includes northern Miami and several municipalities north of the city, including Opa-locka, North Miami Beach and North Miami, District 2 is represented by Commissioner Marleine Bastien.

The former head of a social services charity that focuses on Haitian immigrants, the Family Action Network Movement, Bastien, 67, won her seat in the 2022 election to replace the term-limited Jean Monestime.

Two challengers are running for Bastien’s seat. Ernst Jean Louis, 66, founded the Kiskeya Herald Creole-language newspaper and now works as a security guard. This is his first run for elected office. Miguel “Skip” Quintero, 47, owns a home-based trapeze school and ran for county mayor in 2024.

District 5: Commissioner Vicki Lopez, 68, faces her first County Commission election after commissioners opted to appoint her to a vacant District 5 seat in November rather than call for a special election. The vacancy was caused by the resignation of Eileen Higgins, who gave up her county seat to run for Miami mayor — a race she won in December.

Lopez was a member of the Florida House at the time of her appointment to a seat representing parts of Miami and the southern portion of Miami Beach. She faces two challengers. Rob Piper, 54, is a retired U.S. Marine who ran for the Miami City Commission last year. Joe Sanchez, 61, is a former Miami commissioner and retired Florida state trooper who ran for sheriff in 2024.

District 8: An area that includes suburban areas south of Miami, District 8 includes Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay and parts of Homestead. Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, 44, has held the District 8 seat since 2020, when commissioners appointed her to fill a vacancy created when Daniella Levine Cava was elected county mayor.

Cohen Higgins won her first four-year term two years later. She faces two challengers this year. John DuBois, 64, a former Palmetto Bay vice mayor, had filed to run for village mayor before turning in papers for the District 8 seat. Martha “Vega” Hero, 60, owns a consulting firm, and this is her first run for office.

The 13-seat commission has elections for its members every other year, with the even-numbered districts scheduled for years when Florida elects a governor and the odd-numbered districts scheduled for years when the United States elects a president. That schedule can be altered under special circumstances, including when a sitting commissioner vacates a seat early.

Florida law required Gilbert to resign his commission seat in order to qualify for the Democratic primary that will determine who replaces U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in District 24, and he scheduled his resignation for Jan. 3, the day Wilson’s successor will be sworn into Congress.

Under Miami-Dade rules, an appointee to a vacant commission seat must face voters at the next regular county election. That’s why Lopez, who represents an odd-numbered district, will be on the ballot in August.