Field set for Miami Beach election to fill Samuelian’s seat. Here’s who is running
Five candidates will compete in November to fill the late Mark Samuelian’s seat on the Miami Beach City Commission, including his partner, Laura Dominguez.
After Thursday’s 5 p.m. deadline passed to qualify as a candidate, the city clerk’s office confirmed Dominguez, disability rights advocate Sabrina Cohen, hotel owner Mitch Novick, investor Stephen Cohen and environmental scientist Isaiah Mosley would be the candidates in the Nov. 8 special election.
If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the top two finishers will go to a runoff on Dec. 6. The winner will serve the remainder of Samuelian’s term, which ends in 2025. Samuelian, who died June 22 of an unexpected illness, had won reelection last year.
Samuelian’s death set off a debate among city officials over whether to appoint a new commissioner to serve until an election in November 2023, or to hold a special election this year. City commissioners agreed on the latter option late last month after weeks of impasse.
Dominguez and Sabrina Cohen are the only candidates who have reported campaign contributions so far. Both have garnered the support of multiple elected officials.
Dominguez, a digital marketing professional who had worked as Samuelian’s campaign manager and treasurer, reported over $78,000 in campaign contributions last month, including a $50,000 loan she made to her own campaign. She has the backing of Miami Beach Commissioners Alex Fernandez and Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.
Sabrina Cohen collected over $6,000 in July contributions and reported earlier this month that she would also be raising money through a newly formed political committee, Miami Beach Residents United for Progress. She has gathered support from Mayor Dan Gelber and Commissioners Ricky Arriola and David Richardson, and is working with consultant Christian Ulvert, who has worked on Gelber’s past campaigns.
Here is a rundown of the candidates.
Sabrina Cohen is a Realtor and president of the nonprofit Sabrina Cohen Foundation, which she founded in 2006. The foundation has advocated for accessible outdoor spaces and created a program in 2016 to help people with disabilities visit the beach. The foundation is now working with Miami Beach to create a recreation facility for people with mobility challenges. The City Commission voted last year to donate $2.5 million toward construction of that center. Cohen had a severe spinal cord injury at the age of 14.
Stephen Cohen (no relation to Sabrina Cohen) is an investor and real estate broker who ran unsuccessfully for Miami Beach City Commission in 2021 and 2019. He has billed himself as a “political outsider,” writing on his campaign website that he would “improve the safety of our neighborhoods, make our city government accountable to the voters, and get results for Miami Beach taxpayers.” Cohen also runs a popular local Facebook group, Miami Beach Community.
Laura Dominguez runs a digital marketing firm and worked on three of Samuelian’s City Commission campaigns. Dominguez has said she was reluctant to run for office when Samuelian first mentioned the idea to her last year, but decided to do so after his death in June. She serves on the board of her neighborhood association in Belle Isle and is a member of community groups Miami Beach United and the Miami Beach Design Preservation League.
Isaiah Mosley is an environmental scientist who ran unsuccessfully for Miami Beach City Commission in 2015. Mosley worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection from 2008 to 2010, according to his past campaign website. He now works for AECOM, a Miami-based engineering firm, his campaign qualifying papers show.
Mitch Novick owns the Sherbrooke Hotel in South Beach and is a former chairman of the historic preservation boards for both Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County. Novick is an outspoken critic of city leaders and has argued for measures to curtail the party atmosphere in South Beach, including an earlier last call for alcohol sales. Novick has feuded in the past with David Wallack, who owns Mango’s Tropical Cafe on Ocean Drive directly across an alley from the Sherbrooke.
This story was originally published August 25, 2022 at 5:12 PM.
