The most polarizing figure in the Miami Beach election isn’t on the ballot

Ask just about any Miami Beach politician, campaign consultant or in-the-know voter about the top storylines in the upcoming city election, and they will talk about David Suarez.

Suarez isn’t a candidate. The firebrand city commissioner still has two years left in his first term. But as the Nov. 4 election for Miami Beach mayor and three commission seats approaches, Suarez is ubiquitous.

He has been unrelenting, in particular, in his public criticisms of fellow commissioner Laura Dominguez.

For an elected official who isn’t on the ballot, Suarez has gone to unusual lengths to try to thwart Dominguez’s reelection campaign. He has paid for sponsored Facebook posts slamming her integrity. On Sept. 29, he gave $25,000 to a political committee supporting the campaign of Dominguez’s opponent, Fred Karlton.

One mailer from a political committee called Stronger United features a photograph of Suarez next to Karlton and a message from Suarez himself.

“I cannot stay silent when Laura Dominguez promises one thing to residents but consistently votes to increase overdevelopment, to the detriment of Miami Beach. Our residents deserve better,” Suarez’s message reads. “In this mailer and with many more to come, we will demonstrate to you the reasons to fire Laura Dominguez — she does not deserve four more years.”

Suarez is now the subject of a state ethics complaint, filed last month by a Miami Beach resident, claiming that his communications violate campaign finance rules. The complaint accuses Suarez of improperly using the city’s official seal and letterhead in an email criticizing Dominguez and of spending money to influence voters without following state laws that regulate campaign spending.

But his efforts have continued unabated.

Even a crucial mayor’s race, in which incumbent Steven Meiner is facing a challenge from Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, has been partially overshadowed by the Suarez vs. Dominguez drama. The mayoral race has not featured as many attacks, and Suarez had not publicly weighed in until Tuesday, when he put out an email endorsing Meiner.

In an interview with the Miami Herald, Dominguez said Suarez’s approach is “his way or no way.”

“He wants it all,” she said. “If he doesn’t get it, that’s when he starts bullying. I will not be bullied.”

Suarez declined to comment for this story.

In a recent email to residents, Suarez wrote: “As your commissioner, I do not take joy in the decision to call out a fellow commissioner. In fact, it would be a lot easier to stay silent and pretend everything is ok. But when hypocrisy runs this deep, silence is complicity.”

Spotlight on development

Suarez’s attacks on Dominguez — who was elected in 2022 to succeed her life partner, Mark Samuelian, after Samuelian’s death — have zeroed in on her support for controversial development projects.

Suarez has highlighted an email that appears to show Dominguez acting as a go-between for talks that ultimately led to an agreement in which developers paid $1.2 million to the Belle Isle Residents Association in exchange for its support of a $61 million redevelopment of The Standard Spa. The hotel, Suarez noted, had previously given $10,000 to a political committee supporting Dominguez’s 2022 campaign.

Dominguez sponsored an agenda item for the rezoning needed for the project, but the hotel withdrew its proposal in September.

Dominguez, 54, told the Herald she suggested that the neighborhood association could seek a “public benefit” from the developers but that she had no involvement in the actual negotiations that led to the payment.

Suarez has also pointed to Dominguez’s support for zoning variances at 1250 West Ave. — a deal that involved a developer agreeing to acquire and demolish the nearby Bikini Hostel that was sheltering homeless people — and at the former site of the Deauville Hotel, both of which passed the City Commission with Suarez as the lone dissenter.

Dominguez said she initially opposed the West Avenue project but chose to support it after the developer agreed to reduce the height and density of the proposed condo tower.

“They brought it more in scale with the neighborhood and got consensus from neighboring buildings,” she said.

In campaign ads, Dominguez has touted her opposition to “overdevelopment,” saying it’s “fueling traffic gridlock, overwhelming our infrastructure, and leaving residents behind.”

Dominguez said she believes “smart development” is necessary to move the city forward. Rejecting every project, she said, will leave properties vacant and prompt the state to further restrict the ability of local governments to limit development.

“Smart development is what we need to strive for,” Dominguez said. “If we don’t have any development, our city will crumble.”

Beyond development issues, Suarez and Karlton have also accused Dominguez of making “antisemitic appointments” to city boards.

Earlier this year, Suarez condemned a member of the city’s sustainability committee, Johann Moore, based on emails that Moore sent to city officials, including one in June in which he wrote, “I urge Iran to nuke Zionist-held population centres [sic].”

Dominguez, who had reappointed Moore to the committee last year, asked Moore to resign several days after he sent the email, and supported Suarez’s call to censure Moore at a commission meeting. In a text message to voters at the time, Dominguez expressed support for Israel and said that “violence, antisemitism, and hate have no place in Miami Beach.” She suggested Suarez was “politicizing” the issue.

“Politicizing every incident takes us down a shameful path of further division,” Dominguez wrote.

Karlton, 65, told the Herald that Suarez is throwing weight behind his campaign because Karlton is an “anti-development candidate.” The city has granted far too many favors to developers, Karlton said, “with complete disregard for our quality of life and our infrastructure issues.”

At the same time, he said, “I’m sure there are going to be things that [Suarez] and I don’t agree on.”

“I’m not anybody’s shill,” Karlton said. “I’m an independent thinker. It makes sense, or it doesn’t make sense. I’m not in anybody’s pocket.”

Dominguez’s campaign has gone on the attack against Karlton.

While her race is officially nonpartisan, Dominguez, a registered Democrat, is working with Democratic consultant Christian Ulvert, and Miami-Dade and Florida Democratic Party groups have paid for ads targeting Karlton, who is registered as non-party affiliated.

The ads have underscored Karlton’s profession as a real estate investor. Karlton’s firm deals mostly in commercial real estate but has also bought single-family properties and led condo conversion projects in Miami Beach, according to his company’s website.

“There’s no telling what giveaways he has in store for developers on the City Commission!” reads an anti-Karlton website funded by the Florida Democratic Party.

Karlton said he is an income property buyer, meaning he mostly manages buildings that have already been developed. While Dominguez’s campaign has painted him as a “high-rise builder,” he said, “that’s absurd.”

“I’m not down with spot zoning, I’m not down with increasing [floor-area ratio],” Karlton said. “I’m a pro-business guy, but there’s a limit before it starts to really intrude and impede on the taxpayers of Miami Beach.”

Dominguez’s backers have also resurfaced Karlton’s past legal troubles, including in 2016 when Karlton was charged with bringing a licensed concealed weapon to Miami International Airport. The charge was later dropped. Karlton said he brought a bag to the airport without realizing his gun was inside.

Karlton previously filed to run for City Commission in 2009 but withdrew before the election. Still, he has stayed involved in local issues.

In 2011, Karlton became embroiled in a topic that Suarez has prioritized: boaters living in Biscayne Bay. Boaters anchoring near Karlton’s home on Sunset Lake were invading his privacy, Karlton told the Herald at the time, saying the liveaboards could see into his windows and would sometimes come onto his property. To deter them, Karlton played loud music and aimed a floodlight in their direction.

Karlton said he and several neighbors hired a lobbyist and went to Tallahassee to advocate on the issue, which resulted in the law being changed to ban overnight anchoring in the area.

Suarez also has sought to prevent people from living on sailboats, including by calling for the removal of a dock that boaters utilized to access food and water on land.

More recently, Karlton spoke at a City Commission meeting in support of a proposal by Suarez to streamline a review process for property owners seeking to build homes with an “understory,” a non-habitable level between the ground and the first living floor that officials say is helpful for climate resilience.

Dominguez, meanwhile, voted against the changes, saying approval by the city’s Design Review Board was a necessary step.

Amid Suarez’s efforts to unseat Dominguez, allies have rushed to her defense.

Former Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, who backed Dominguez’s opponent in 2022, sent an email to residents last week declaring his support for her campaign.

“I served with Laura when I was Mayor, and she is the kind of leader who seeks to tackle challenges rather than grab credit, she takes responsibility rather than assign blame,” Gelber wrote. “Laura shows up, listens, and always puts residents first.”

Dominguez said she has tried to remain focused on serving the community.

“I’m focused on that,” she said, “not all the noise.”

This story has been updated to include Suarez’s endorsement in the mayoral race and to clarify the details of Moore’s resignation from the sustainability committee.

This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.