A crowded field is set for North Miami’s election. Here’s who’s running
Three of North Miami’s five elected seats are up for grabs next month and 13 candidates are in the mix to fill them after Tuesday’s qualifying deadline passed, including a seven-way race to replace term-limited Councilwoman Carol Keys.
In the May 11 election, Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime will face a challenger in former North Miami City Clerk Michael Etienne.
Councilwoman Mary Estime-Irvin will take on three opponents in District 3: security company owner and ex-council candidate Wancito Francius, local activist Laura Hill, and former City Councilman Jean Marcellus.
And in District 2, the seven candidates vying for Keys’ seat will include Kevin Burns, who was the mayor of North Miami from 2005 to 2009. He ran unsuccessfully for the Florida Senate in 2010 and 2016. The other six candidates: attorney Esther Blynn (the wife of former City Councilman Michael Blynn), lobbyist Michael McDearmaid, retired medical administrator Hector Medina, former North Miami Public Information Officer Kassandra Timothe, political newcomer William Welsh and business owner Jessica Wolland (the daughter of former North Miami Mayor Frank Wolland).
That’s all assuming the candidates’ campaign filing checks clear and they meet the residency requirements to run, City Clerk Vanessa Joseph told the Miami Herald on Tuesday.
Three candidates so far have been told they don’t qualify, per the city website: Evens Samuel Bien-Aime (no relation to the mayor) in District 2, and brothers Bryan Nigel Ali and Tahamood Ali Jr. in District 3, who both listed the same home address on their campaign forms. Bien-Aime and Ali Jr. withdrew from the race in recent days.
The city clerk did not immediately provide details on why those three candidates didn’t meet the qualification requirements.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 7:56 PM.
