Who are the candidates in the Miami Beach City Commission runoff? What to know
On Election Day earlier this month, Miami Beach voters gave Mayor Steven Meiner another term in office, and incumbent Commissioners Laura Dominguez and Alex Fernandez both kept their seats, too.
But there was one Miami Beach race with no clear winner: the Group I race with six candidates vying to replace Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who is termed out of office.
Monica Matteo-Salinas and Monique Pardo Pope were the top two finishers in the Nov. 4 election. Because none of the candidates received more than 50% of the vote, the race now moves to a Dec. 9 runoff.
The winner will become the only new face on the commission after the three incumbents defeated challengers.
Either Matteo-Salinas, 46, or Pardo Pope, 45, will occupy the seat previously held by Rosen Gonzalez, who ran for mayor but came up short in a tight race against Meiner.
Matteo-Salinas got 23% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election. Pardo Pope got 20%.
All of Miami Beach’s elected officials represent the entire city, not individual districts.
Here’s what to know about the candidates.
Professional background
Matteo-Salinas: Office associate for Miami Beach’s fleet department. Former aide to commissioners Rosen Gonzalez and Fernandez. Former board chair of the nonprofit Miami Beach Community Development Corporation.
Pardo Pope: Attorney specializing in family law with an office in Miami Beach. Began her career in finance before practicing law. President of the nonprofit Woman’s Cancer Association of the University of Miami.
Priorities
Matteo-Salinas: In a September interview with the Miami Herald Editorial Board, Matteo-Salinas said her top priorities were to promote affordability, improve transportation options and rein in development.
On affordability, she said she wants to ensure that middle- and low-income residents can receive services and proposed the creation of a free food pantry in Miami Beach.
On transportation, she said the city should revamp its trolley system. To make the trolleys safer, she said the city should consider having a police officer or park ranger on board. She also said more trolley cars should be added to the city’s fleet and that they could be paid for through advertising on the trolleys themselves.
On development, Matteo-Salinas said the city needs to carefully vet proposals to ensure that they come with “appropriate public benefits” and that their height and size aren’t going “haywire” beyond what zoning rules allow.
“I’ve never once spoken with anybody that says, ‘I wish we had more buildings,’” Matteo-Salinas told the Editorial Board. “Usually, they say, you know, let’s keep our hometown feel, let’s keep our small-town charm. And I agree with that.”
Pardo Pope: In her Editorial Board interview, Pardo Pope emphasized public safety as a top priority.
The city needs to support its police officers, she said, and address homelessness through a combination of “leveraging resources in a compassionate way” and enforcing anti-camping laws.
Pardo Pope also spoke about the issue of “overdevelopment,” saying it impacts infrastructure, sewage systems and traffic congestion. Incentives for the community are key, she said.
“We must grow, but we need to do it in a very smart way that doesn’t overburden our infrastructure, which has already presented itself to be a problem,” Pardo Pope told the Editorial Board.
The city should have “good-faith partnerships with our developers,” Pardo Pope said.
Party affiliation
Miami Beach commission seats are nonpartisan, but political leanings have played a role on the campaign trail.
Matteo-Salinas: Registered Democrat. Endorsements include three Miami Beach commissioners who are also Democrats: Fernandez, Dominguez and Tanya Katzoff Bhatt. Also endorsed by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Matteo-Salinas formerly worked for Catalyst Miami, a nonprofit that Levine Cava founded.
Pardo Pope: Registered Republican. Endorsements include the Miami-Dade Republican Party, state Rep. Alex Rizo (R-Hialeah) and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rene Garcia, a Republican. Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez endorsed both Pardo Pope and one of her opponents, Brian Ehrlich, in the Nov. 4 election.
Attack ads
Matteo-Salinas: In ads from her political committee, Miami Beach Together, Pardo Pope has highlighted Matteo-Salinas’ past role as chair of the Miami Beach Community Development Corporation.
During Matteo-Salinas’ tenure, Miami-Dade County sought to take over the nonprofit affordable housing organization amid allegations of financial mismanagement and poor living conditions for residents.
In 2018, Matteo-Salinas accused the county of “sabotaging” the group’s efforts to get back on track. A mailer from Miami Beach Together said Matteo-Salinas “dodged accountability and blamed others.”
“Now she wants to bring that same failed management to City Hall,” the mailer said.
Matteo-Salinas told the Miami Herald that the organization’s challenges predated her time on the board and that improvements were made while she was there.
“After being asked to join the Board following the organization’s restructure, I focused strongly to ensure the mission and work of the group was being met,” Matteo-Salinas said. “Simply stated: I joined the board to help.”
Still, she said, “the responsible choice was to deliver the portfolio to the county,” which happened in 2023 after Matteo-Salinas had departed.
Pardo Pope: Matteo-Salinas’ campaign has homed in on Pardo Pope’s past social media posts in which she referred lovingly to her late father, convicted serial killer Manuel Pardo, and called him her “hero.”
Manuel Pardo was convicted in 1988 of killing nine people and was sentenced to death. He was executed in 2012.
Pardo Pope posted several tributes to her father on social media in the years after his death.
When Pardo Pope announced her candidacy in May, a press release from her campaign said that she “was born into a working-class Cuban family in Hialeah and raised with the values of faith, family, and hard work.”
“I do not come from money, nor have I built my career in politics — I come from a Cuban family that believed in deep sacrifice, service of others, and standing up for what’s right,” Pardo Pope said in the announcement. “That’s precisely the kind of leadership I intend to bring to City Hall.”
After filmmaker Billy Corben posted a video about Pardo Pope and her father in September, Pardo Pope wrote in a statement posted to Instagram that she was “confident that voters will look past the sins of my father and understand that I too am a victim in this.”
“I did not get here easily. I went through a long period of anger and bitterness, struggling to understand how the man I loved could commit such a crime,” Pardo Pope wrote. “I realized that holding onto that anger would only destroy me; it would make me another statistic. I had to make a conscious decision, between myself and God, to forgive him.”
Campaign finances
Matteo-Salinas: As of Nov. 7, Matteo-Salinas’ campaign had reported nearly $84,000 in contributions, including $25,000 that Matteo-Salinas loaned to the campaign.
Matteo-Salinas also disclosed that she would be soliciting contributions for an electioneering communications organization called Voters for Good Government. The group had only reported $100 in contributions as of the last filing deadline, which covers the period through September, but began sending mailers to voters this month ahead of the runoff.
The next reporting deadline for political committees and electioneering communications organizations is not until January.
Pardo Pope: As of Nov. 7, Pardo Pope’s campaign had reported over $94,000 in contributions, including $38,000 that Pardo Pope loaned to the campaign.
Pardo Pope also leads the Miami Beach Together political committee, which has reported $74,000 in donations, including $25,000 from hotelier Shawn Vardi, the CEO of Think Hospitality, which has revived South Beach hotels like the Clinton and the Plymouth.
How to vote
Early voting will run from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7, overlapping with an Art Basel weekend that will bring huge crowds to Miami Beach.
On those three days, four early voting sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., instead of the typical two locations.
The four early-voting locations are South Shore Community Center (833 Sixth St.), Miami Beach City Hall (1700 Convention Center Drive), Muss Park (4300 Chase Ave.) and North Shore Branch Library (7501 Collins Ave.).
The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving Day) at 5 p.m. Mail ballots must be received by the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters can also cast ballots on Election Day (Tuesday, Dec. 9) at their assigned precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.