Rosen Gonzalez files to run for Miami Beach mayor, seeking to unseat Meiner
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, a Miami Beach commissioner with a decade of firebrand political activism in the city, is running for mayor.
On Wednesday afternoon, Rosen Gonzalez filed paperwork at City Hall to enter the November mayoral race, hoping to unseat Mayor Steven Meiner, who has not yet filed but is expected to seek reelection after his first two-year term.
Rosen Gonzalez, 51, is term-limited as a commissioner later this year after eight years on the dais across two non-continuous terms.
“I’ve always been the people’s commissioner, and now it’s time for me to be the people’s mayor,” Rosen Gonzalez told the Miami Herald in an interview Wednesday morning. “I’ve always put the community first, and I feel like I’m prepared to do an excellent job.”
One other candidate, political newcomer Victor J. Rosario, has filed to run for mayor.
Five candidates — Daniel Ciraldo, Brian Ehrlich, Monroe Mann, Luidgi Mary and Monica Matteo-Salinas — have filed to run for Rosen Gonzalez’s current seat, which Rosen Gonzalez will occupy until November.
Commissioner Laura Dominguez will seek reelection, though she is not yet facing any opponents. Commissioner Alex Fernandez is also expected to run for reelection. Candidates have until September to qualify for each of the races.
In challenging Meiner, Rosen Gonzalez, a tenured faculty member in the English and Communications department at Miami Dade College, will pitch herself as a resident-focused candidate with a track record of fighting for constituents.
“I’ve been standing up for the community forever,” Rosen Gonzalez said, pointing to battles she has waged over the future of Allison Park, plans to lease city-owned parking lots near Lincoln Road and an effort to preserve the South Shore Community Center.
The mayor’s seat in Miami Beach is nonpartisan, and Rosen Gonzalez said she hopes to leave partisan politics out of her campaign. But voters often look at political leanings to try to distinguish between local candidates.
Meiner, who is registered as non-party affiliated, ran on a tough-on-crime platform and has similarly focused on addressing residents’ concerns as he and other Miami Beach officials aim to change the city’s reputation as a hard-partying destination for young people.
He has won favor with residents by helping to shut down spring break in South Beach. He has also sparked controversy with actions viewed by critics as limiting free speech, such as a crackdown on protests and a recent attempt to terminate the lease of O Cinema for screening a documentary about the West Bank.
Rosen Gonzalez, a registered Democrat, has been largely aligned with Meiner, including in defending draconian measures to curb spring break, arrests of the homeless for sleeping outdoors and support for the state of Israel.
But Rosen Gonzalez has also sought to highlight their differences. Last month, she opposed Meiner’s proposal to evict O Cinema as she cited the importance of free speech.
On Wednesday, she said she has a vision to prop up the tourist industry that has made the city flourish, something she said is necessary to ensure the city’s financial success and meet its enormous resiliency needs. In addition to law enforcement measures, Rosen Gonzalez said the city should leverage marketing campaigns — as it has during spring break — to move the city forward.
At the same time, as state lawmakers look to strip protections for Miami Beach’s historic districts, Rosen Gonzalez said the city needs to convey to developers that “preservation is solid economic policy” and “has created the value for their properties.”
While she opposes “tall buildings in the center of Miami Beach,” Rosen Gonzalez said she will support certain projects that she feels offer substantial benefits to the city. At last week’s commission meeting, Rosen Gonzalez supported a new proposal to rezone the Deauville Hotel site, touting the developers’ willingness to provide benefits like public beach access and funding for housing and a park. She had opposed an earlier proposal for the site in 2022.
“I do think that my advocacy work all these years and pushing back on these developers has resulted in better negotiations and development deals for the city of Miami Beach,” she said.
Part of Rosen Gonzalez’s task will be convincing voters she has the poise and demeanor needed to be mayor. Rosen Gonzalez has been a polarizing figure in Miami Beach politics, sparring with colleagues from the dais and at times making inflammatory remarks about her foes.
“I think when you stand for residents and you take difficult positions, you’re always going to have adversity,” she said, adding that residents often tell her: “I don’t always agree with you, but I respect you.”
Rosen Gonzalez’s first four-year term on the City Commission, starting in 2015, was marred by controversy, including five ethics complaints. Despite being cleared in each case and chalking up the allegations to political gamesmanship, Rosen Gonzalez said she had learned from the experience.
After an unsuccessful run for U.S. Congress in 2018, she ran for another Miami Beach commission term the following year and dubbed herself “Kristen 2.0.”
But Meiner, a former attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, foiled Rosen Gonzalez’s initial bid for a second term. After winning in a recount by just two votes to advance to a runoff, Meiner defeated Rosen Gonzalez in a political upset that some observers saw as a rejection of Rosen Gonzalez’s approach.
Rosen Gonzalez ultimately returned to the City Commission in 2021, again using the “Kristen 2.0” moniker to assure voters that she would focus on policy and not political theatrics. She won despite falsely claiming to be Hispanic in an interview on the campaign trail, remarks for which she apologized.
In her second term, Rosen Gonzalez positioned herself as a foil to former Mayor Dan Gelber, rallying voters to reject referendums on the Deauville and Lincoln Road projects that Gelber backed.
Her over-the-top style remained; she apologized in October 2022 for a social media post comparing Gelber to Russian President Vladimir Putin. On several occasions in 2023, Gelber temporarily recessed commission meetings as Rosen Gonzalez traded barbs with fellow officials.
More recently, Rosen Gonzalez has clashed at meetings and on social media with fellow Commissioner David Suarez. The pair appeared to be allies in the early days of Suarez’s term, which began in November 2023, as Rosen Gonzalez dubbed a new crop of elected officials the “kumbaya commission.” But those days are over.
In an email to residents last week, Suarez denounced Rosen Gonzalez for holding up an adult toy at a recent commission meeting, where she advocated for the city to green-light a beauty and skincare store on Lincoln Road at which “feminine wellness products,” including some sex toys, would be sold.
Rosen Gonzalez said in her own email to residents that Suarez was spreading misinformation by referring to the store as a “sex shop.”
In community Facebook groups, where Suarez and anonymous accounts have targeted Rosen Gonzalez with a barrage of criticism, Rosen Gonzalez has defended herself in repeated posts calling for “love and unity.”
“To the anonymous people behind bots who spread hate and division, I love you,” she wrote on Facebook. “Come to my office. Come and I will welcome you with love.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 1:52 PM.
