North Miami’s mayor was appointed two years ago. He just won the runoff election
Alix Desulme retained his position as mayor of North Miami, besting challenger Hector Medina during the city’s runoff election Tuesday evening.
Desulme received 68% of the vote while Medina received 32%, according to preliminary results posted shortly after 8:30 p.m. by the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections website.
Desulme was appointed mayor in 2022 after then-mayor Philippe Bien-Aime resigned to run for the Miami-Dade County commission seat in District 2 in 2022.
Desulme’s election win comes after he and other city council members faced criticism for moving elections from May 2022 to November 2024 to align with federal elections. Medina sued the city over the move.
Desulme’s win also came amid residents’ growing distrust for the sitting council after it voted 3-1 to fire former city manager Rasha Cameau. At that time, then-District 1 commissioner Scott Galvin was the sole dissenting vote. Desulme was not present for the vote, but has said he did not approve of Cameau’s firing.
Desulme will now face the challenges of finding funds to fix the city’s aging water tower, addressing the constant flooding in the city streets and managing residents’ concerns about development.
In the runoff voters also elected Pierre Franz Charles to the District 4 council seat. Charles, who was appointed to the seat in 2022, received 75% of the votes against Daniel Calixte, who received 25% of the votes.
Former North Miami mayor Kevin Burns also won the District 1 seat over Vanessa Pierre. Burns and Pierre received 63% and 37% of the vote, respectively. Burns replaces outgoing longtime councilman Scott Galvin. He is also the only non-Haitian councilmember on the city council.
