It’s Gongora vs. Meiner in a runoff for Miami Beach mayor. What you need to know
It was a result few saw coming: Steven Meiner, a Miami Beach city commissioner who spent far less money in his campaign than his three opponents for mayor, received the most votes in a Nov. 7 election to set up a runoff with second-place finisher and former city commissioner Michael Gongora.
The pair knocked off Mike Grieco, a former commissioner and state representative who battled a scandal over a misplaced gun in September, and Bill Roedy, a former MTV executive and political newcomer who spent nearly $3 million during his unsuccessful run. The pair traded barbs during a nasty campaign cycle.
Now, Meiner and Gongora are squaring off in a Nov. 21 runoff to decide who will replace term-limited Dan Gelber, the mayor since 2017, and chart the future course of the tourist destination.
Early voting runs from Friday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Miami Beach City Hall and the North Shore Branch Library. Voters had until Nov. 9 to request mail ballots.
READ MORE: Miami Beach will elect a new mayor. What you should know about the four candidates
Both candidates are attorneys who have served on the City Commission — Meiner since 2019, and Gongora during three previous terms dating to 2006.
They espouse similar beliefs about the direction the city should take, pledging to add police officers and crack down on crime, change the tenor of spring break, address flooding due to sea-level rise, and limit development of the type of tall towers that have sprung up in recent years and irked many residents.
But there are differences between them.
Meiner, 52, has supported a move from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. last call for alcohol sales in the South Beach entertainment district as a way to change the neighborhood’s hard-partying atmosphere.
Gongora, 53, has opposed a 2 a.m. last call on Ocean Drive and other nightlife hot spots, arguing it makes more sense in residential neighborhoods.
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Differences in fundraising
Meiner, an enforcement attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since 2007, has not taken donations from developers and was the lone mayoral candidate to not utilize a political committee to take in contributions above the $1,000 limit for donations to campaigns. He has touted his political independence as an asset on the commission, saying he isn’t swayed by outside pressure and is willing to cast unpopular votes.
Gongora, a condo board attorney, has accepted developers’ money, including large donations to political committees from developers such as Sandor Scher and embattled Rishi Kapoor. He has also touted his political alliances in his run for mayor, receiving endorsements from the three incumbent city commissioners: Laura Dominguez, Alex Fernandez and Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.
Rosen Gonzalez has led political resistance in recent years against Gelber, the current mayor, and sparked multiple controversies along the way. After the first round of voting on Nov. 7, Gelber announced he was endorsing Meiner in the runoff to succeed him.
Gongora and Meiner have also taken different approaches on broaching social issues while on the commission.
Gongora would become the first openly gay mayor of Miami Beach and has advocated for LGBTQ rights. He and others have criticized Meiner for voting against resolutions on a range of social matters, including LGBTQ issues like support for gender-affirming care and renaming a street after the late California politician Harvey Milk.
Meiner has repeatedly said he has a blanket policy against supporting items that don’t directly relate to Miami Beach legislation or regulation, arguing they take time away from more pressing commission business. He has noted that he voted in favor of appropriations for LGBTQ advocacy groups and supported mobile HIV testing.
Both Gongora and Meiner have spoken about the city’s pressing need to address traffic. At the same time, both have raised concerns about a Miami-Dade County proposal to extend the Metromover to South Beach as a partial solution.
Gongora told advocacy group Better Streets Miami Beach a rapid transit connection between Miami and Miami Beach should go to Mid-Beach at 41st Street, rather than South Beach.
Meiner has argued the city should maintain control of zoning laws around any future Metromover stations. Miami-Dade regulations allow the county to override some municipal zoning near rapid transit lines to encourage housing density along the routes.
Criticism of both while serving as city commissioners
Opponents of Gongora have highlighted a history of ethics complaints filed against him.
In 2020, the general manager of the Fillmore theater accused Gongora, then a city commissioner, of mentioning the theater’s ongoing contract negotiations with the city after Gongora was instructed to pay for a ticket to see the band New Order and present a proclamation to the group.
Gongora denied bringing up the negotiations and said he paid for his own ticket, but the ethics commission later found probable cause that he had failed to properly disclose free entry to the show for a friend.
Meiner, meanwhile, has supported a host of tough-on-crime measures that have largely been embraced by his colleagues on the commission, but have faced criticism from some who view his approach as too extreme.
He has advocated for the expansion of a municipal prosecutor program aimed at addressing quality-of-life crimes and pushed for an ordinance that led to arrests of people for filming police officers.
Meiner also voted in favor of a measure last month to subject homeless people to arrest for sleeping outside if they decline an available shelter bed in the city of Miami. Gongora has also said he supports the ordinance as one tool for law enforcement to address homelessness.
The Miami Beach mayor’s seat is officially nonpartisan. Gongora is a registered Democrat. Meiner has had no party affiliation since 2018. He was previously a registered Republican starting in 2007, and a Democrat prior to that.
Tuesday’s winner will be sworn in Nov. 28, along with three new city commissioners who were elected Nov. 7.
This story was originally published November 16, 2023 at 7:50 PM.
