Vince Lago defeats Kirk Menendez in contentious Coral Gables mayoral race
Coral Gables residents headed to the polls Tuesday to decide on a mayor and two city commissioners in an election season characterized by mudslinging and allegations of intimidation.
With only a few mail-in ballots yet to be counted, Lago secured over 55% of the vote Tuesday, scoring a third two-year term as mayor. Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who hoped to unseat Lago as mayor, was behind at under 38%. A third mayoral candidate, Michael Anthony Abbott, had about 7%.
READ MORE: Personalities collide in Coral Gables election as mayor faces challenge from former ally
Lago and Menendez used to be allies on the City Commission, but their relationship began to sour in the fall of 2023 as Menendez began to side with two of Lago’s opponents on a series of controversial split votes.
Winning reelection wasn’t Lago’s only battle. He also needed Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and a candidate named Richard Lara to secure victories in order to wrangle back a three-person majority on the five-member commission. While Anderson won Tuesday, Lara fell a few percentage points short of a majority, meaning he is heading to an April 22 runoff against candidate Thomas Wells.
More than 10,000 people — about 30% of the city’s approximately 34,000 registered voters — cast ballots in the City Beautiful’s 2025 election, according to preliminary results. Below are summaries of the results.
Mayor
Lago secured a victory Tuesday, paving the way to his third term as mayor. Preliminary results showed him with about 55% of the vote.
Commission Group II
Anderson, who currently serves as the vice mayor, was reelected Tuesday with about 58% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
The incumbent faced off against challengers Laureano Cancio and Felix Pardo.
Commission Group III
Lara and Wells will be heading to a runoff in two weeks in the race for the open City Commission seat. Candidate Claudia Miro came in third place.
The Group III seat was left vacant by Menendez, who opted to run for mayor instead of seeking a second four-year commission term.
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 7:21 PM.
.jpg)