Otis Wallace, mayor of Florida City since 1984, wins runoff and another four-year term
Otis Wallace has been the mayor of Florida City for 38 years. Voters on Tuesday gave him another four.
Wallace defeated former police officer Rocquel McCray in a runoff, setting up what he says will be his final term in office as the top administrator in Miami-Dade’s southernmost city.
He received 64% of the vote, defeating McCray 532 to 294, according to unofficial results on the county elections website.
Wallace, 71, had also received the most votes in a four-person mayoral primary Jan. 25, but not enough to win an outright majority and avoid a runoff.
Before the election, he told the Miami Herald that his campaign would be his last. He could not immediately be reached for comment after his win.
Wallace’s reign in Florida City may be winding down regardless: Voters last month approved a referendum to employ a city manager as the city’s chief executive instead of the mayor, starting in 2026.
Still, as voters entered City Hall on West Palm Drive on Tuesday, the mayor’s supporters said they continue to back him because, despite the city’s history of poverty and crime, they’re encouraged by the direction the so-called “gateway to the Keys” is taking.
“We went through Hurricane Andrew and everybody left,” said Pamela Davis, 54. “Otis stayed here and helped us rebuild to what it is now. We can’t help that there’s killings, there’s killing everywhere. Bad people with guns kill people, not the mayor.”
Lifelong resident Victor Butler, 60, called Wallace a “great man.”
“I’ve known him for 40-something years,” Butler said. “This city is growing, and we’re going to continue to grow as long as we stay together.”
McCray, who served 20 years in the Florida City police department, is an outspoken critic of Wallace who said she would have slashed her own pay if elected and increased police funding. Even though 40% of the city’s roughly 13,000 residents live in poverty, according to the latest Census data, Wallace is among the highest paid mayors in the state, making more than $213,000 a year.
“If you want change, guess what? I’ve given you 38 years to show me change, and you haven’t shown me nothing,” McCray supporter Cheryl Walker said of Wallace outside the polls Tuesday.
Wallace supporters bashed what they characterized as McCray’s use of “foul” language online, where McCray not only criticizes the mayor but also advocates for those living with HIV, including her own wife.
The mayor’s supporters drove a pickup truck around City Hall on Tuesday with a sign that said: “Foul Mouth. Foul Manners. Foul Morals. Foul Mayor. Is this who you want to represent us as mayor? This is Rocquel McCray.”
Since Wallace was first elected in 1984, Florida City has more than doubled in population. The city sits on two popular tourist routes and gets a large amount of its revenue from a strip of restaurants, gas stations and hotels.
Wallace is viewed by critics as a sort of strongman, and has been investigated by the FBI on claims that he accepted bribes and sold votes. He has never been charged and has denied the accusations.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 8:21 PM.
