Miami Gardens incumbents win three city council races, ballot item approved
Three incumbents on the Miami Gardens City Council won their races on Tuesday, while a ballot item that would allow changes in the residential boundaries passed.
All three incumbents — Vice Mayor Reggie Leon (Seat 2), Councilwoman Katrina Wilson (Seat 4) and Councilman Robert Stephens III (at-large Seat 6) — emerged victorious in their respective races. Voters also overwhelmingly approved the referendum that will permit alterations to the district borders in order to even out the number of residents in each area.
“That means they trust the decisions that we’re making,” Leon said in an interview with the Miami Herald about the incumbent sweep. “They trust us and we’ll continue to push forward.”
For Seat 2, which encompasses the northeast section of Miami Gardens, Leon bested challengers Raymond Carvil, a former Miami police officer, and former Miami Gardens Vice Mayor Lisa Davis. Having served on the council since 2018, Leon said he had faith that his constituents would reelect him.
“They understood the work that we had done for them and continue to do for them,” Leon said.
Wilson’s win in the race for Seat 4, which represents the southwest corner of Miami Gardens, came over Mykita Cherry-Prime, a Miami-Dade Public Schools educator, and Wiren “Chuck” Norris, a commander in the North Miami Beach Police Department. A city council member since 2018, Wilson called her reelection a “humbling” experience.
“Being an elected official is a tough balancing act but when the people give you a stamp like they gave me this time, it let me know that I’m moving in the right direction,” Wilson said.
In a hotly contested race for Seat 6, the only at-large seat up for grabs, Stephens edged out former Miami Gardens City Councilman André Williams. Stephens, who was appointed to the seat in 2020, was ecstatic after winning his first election.
“It’s amazing,” Stephens said. “It feels so good to have ran an at-large race, which is literally the entire city of Miami Gardens, and win.”
The reelection of all three incumbents presents an opportunity for stability in the council for Miami Gardens, Florida’s largest primarily Black city. A little over a year ago, Leon, Wilson and Stephens were in danger of having their elections overturned due to their support of a controversial Formula One race. Residents did not have enough signatures to move forward with the removal process, however. Any lingering discontent was squashed with each of the incumbents’ reelection, according to Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris.
“It turns out that the people supported [Formula One] and we’re moving forward,” Harris said.
“Sometimes the future in the present moment can be fearful but we had to take them into the future,” Wilson added. Their reelection proves residents “trust us a little more. They’re looking at us and they’re saying ‘OK we’ve gotten to know them. They haven’t lied to us, they’ve told us things that made us uncomfortable, made them uncomfortable but we trust what they say.’”
The issues that they want to keep working on included seeking to continue making Miami Gardens attractive to young people, working with the city’s small businesses and balancing the city’s growing tourist appeal with residents’ longing for it to stay a bedroom community.
“The work that we’ve set out to do for the city, this kind of signifies that we’ll have that opportunity to continue to work,” Harris said.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 9:58 PM.
