Sunny Isles Beach to hold special election for mayor. Here’s who is on the ballot
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Campaign kickoff
Municipal election season is underway, with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez seeking a second term and other key races taking place in Miami-Dade County on Oct. 5 and Nov. 2. Here’s what you need to know before you vote.
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Sunny Isles Beach voters will elect a new mayor in November, after Mayor George “Bud” Scholl resigned in August to focus on his full-time job as president and CEO of the OneBlood blood bank
The special election, which will be held Tuesday, Nov. 2, will decide who will serve out the remainder of Scholl’s term, which ends in November of 2022. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held on Nov. 16.
Here’s who will be on the ballot:
- Real estate attorney Dana Goldman, who is currently a Sunny Isles Beach commissioner. Goldman filled a vacancy on the commission in 2014 and won a special election in 2015. She was re-elected again in 2016 and 2020. Goldman was raised in Miami Beach by the family behind the famous Pumpernik’s Restaurant delicatessens.
- Lease broker David Grossman, who previously ran for Sunny Isles Beach commission in 2018 and lost in a runoff election to Alex Lama.
- Jerry Joseph, an entrepreneur who forms business entities for law firms and Certified Public Accountants, according to his campaign website. He moved to Sunny Isles Beach in 2012 to care for his ailing mother-in-law.
- Current Mayor Larisa “Laura” Svechin, who assumed mayoral duties on Sept. 1 pending the special election. Svechin was first elected to the commission in 2016, and was re-elected in 2020. Svechin immigrated with her family to Miami Beach from the Soviet Union in 1979 through religious asylum and moved to Sunny Isles Beach in 1987.
The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 2 election is Oct. 4. The deadline to request a mail ballot is Oct. 23.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
