Surfside mayoral candidate sues to delay runoff election until after Passover
After a Surfside mayoral candidate filed a lawsuit to delay next week’s runoff election because it conflicts with Passover, the town called a special meeting Monday afternoon to discuss how it should respond, drawing a vocal crowd of residents.
Former Surfside mayor and current candidate for the position Shlomo Danzinger, along with religious leaders from the Orthodox Jewish community, filed an emergency lawsuit Friday seeking to delay the election by one week — from April 7 to April 14— citing religious reasons.
The plaintiffs argue that since the scheduled runoff date falls on the last day of Passover — one of Judaism’s holiest holidays — it will prohibit observant Jewish residents from voting.
The petition, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, argues that many Jews are “prohibited from driving, writing, using electronic devices, and engaging in ordinary weekday activities,” and that many will be traveling during the entire eight-day holiday. Passover runs from sundown April 1 through April 9 this year.
“This isn’t about politics; it is about the right of every Surfside resident to practice their faith and cast their vote without being forced to choose between the two,” Danzinger said in a statement.
Danzinger, a Republican, faces Vice Mayor Tina Paul, a Democrat and longtime Surfside resident, in the runoff on April 7. Surfside’s elections are technically nonpartisan, but party affiliations can sometimes influence races.
Surfside has a high concentration of Jewish residents. An estimated 2,500 of the 5,700 residents identify as Jewish and 35 percent of the Jewish population identify as Orthodox.
The complaint goes on to say that the April 7 election date was “not merely incidental” but was chosen out of animosity towards Surfside’s Jewish community.
At Monday’s special meeting, Paul, who is also Jewish, said that she sees the lawsuit as “not just a personal attack,” but something that insults her “entire lineage as a Jew.”
“Mr. Danzinger has brought religion into this election in a way that is deeply troubling,” she said. “By framing this issue of the election date as antisemitism, he is creating a narrative that divides our community rather than bringing it together.”
An attorney for the petitioners, Joshua Kligler, said at the meeting that the lawsuit was “not about political gamesmanship, this is about doing what’s right and having this election with integrity.”
‘A communal need’
Current Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett is also pushing back on accusations of antisemitism.
“The idea that this community can’t vote on that date is wrong,” Burkett told the Miami Herald.
In an email to Surfside residents on Sunday, Burkett said the April 7 date was chosen by the majority of residents and a majority commission vote, maintaining that it was not chosen with hostility toward the Jewish community.
“It is important for readers to note that the authors of the complaint work very hard to impute a blame, and an implication of Antisemitism on the Surfside town commission — both of which are unfounded,” Burkett wrote in his email to residents.
In his email, Burkett also linked a newsletter from Rabbi Dov Schochet, a rabbi and teacher at Orthodox synogogue, the Shul of Bal Harbour, to congregants regarding the religious rules around voting during Passover holiday.
Schochet is not named in the lawsuit, but Rabbi Zalman Lipskar, the lead rabbi at the Shul of Bal Harbour is named and wrote an affidavit in support of the temporary injunction.
In his analysis, Schochet indicates that voting is permissible — even though it requires one to write which is forbidden on cerain days during Passover — because it is “for a communal need” and it is “something that will be lost if not done.”
“In other words, the primary charge made in the lawsuit brought by Shlomo Danzinger and others, that Observant Jewish residents are forced to choose between their religious faith and their civic duty to vote, is...patently false,” Burkett wrote.
Residents weigh in
Monday’s special meeting was called to hear from the public about the lawsuit and to provide direction to the town’s response, “specifically whether the town should oppose the requested date change or support the date change,” said Surfside town manager Mario Diaz.
Some residents in attendance wanted to see the date changed or an additional day of voting added on April 14 to rectify the oversight, while others felt that the request was more of a political move than an honest plea to respect religious freedom. Many pointed out that the election date was chosen years ago, and that it was not chosen to purposefully conflict with the Passover holiday.
City staff acknowledged that changing the election date this late in the game was not in their authority. Since the election has been formally called, publicly noticed and mail-in ballots are already in motion, the runoff date can only be changed by a court order, said Diaz.
Surfside resident Jeffrey Platt, who is Jewish, said he believes the attempt to move the date is “a ploy.” He said that although observant Jews are restricted from work on Passover, he believes they are allowed to vote during the holiday.
“I think to ask this is kind of hypocritical. It’s like selective observance,” Platt said.
Resident Eliana Salzhauer, who was raised Orthodox, said she believes the April 7 date interferes with people’s vacation plans more than their religious beliefs.
“I’m so sick of this town politicizing religion,” said Salzhauer. “‘If this was not political, it wouldn’t be a lawsuit filed by Shlomo Danziger. Danziger is the problem here. This is not about religion.”
Florida Representative Fabian Basabe spoke in favor of postponing the election date and said that he heard from several residents who did not receive their mail-in ballots until after they left for holiday travel.
“We’re facing a one-time conflict between the election date and voter access,” said Basabe, who pointed out that postponing the date would not change the charter or cost taxpayers any additional money. “It’s a narrow one-week adjustment to protect the legitimacy of the vote,” he said.
Surfside officials adjourned the meeting after public comment without hearing from commissioners. Commissioners will now discuss the city’s next steps privately due to the active litigation.
This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and donors in South Florida’s Jewish and Muslim communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza and the Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 7:42 PM.
