Miami-Dade school board incumbents coast, but open seat in District 1 attracts many

Very few people lined up to run against Miami-Dade school board members in Miami-Dade this year.

Of the four board members in the even-numbered districts up for reelection, just Vice Chair Monica Colucci of District 8 — which covers much of western Dade County — drew a challenger. That candidate, political newcomer Sam Joseph, won’t even appear on the ballot, qualifying as a write-in candidate.

Meanwhile, it’s a crowded race to replace former board member Steve Gallon in his District 1 seat. Eight people qualified to make the primary ballot on Aug. 18.

Gallon vacated his seat to run for Miami-Dade County Commission to replace Oliver Gilbert, who left that role to run for Congress. Gallon was the only person to file for the opening.

Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall of District 2, Roberto Alonso of District 4 and Chair Mari Tere Rojas of District 6 all earned reelection to their seats just by filing. No challengers emerged on the June 12 deadline for any of those three.

District 3 Board Member Joe Geller, who is not up for reelection this year, said the relative lack of competition — with Colucci’s opponent only being a write-in, he called the seats “essentially unopposed” — could be seen two ways.

On the one hand, voters and community members could approve of what the board is doing and how they’re responding to the new challenges of leading a public school district in an era of increased school choice.

“The obvious, easy answer is people think the school board is doing one heck of a job and think that things are being well-run... In one point of view, it’s a tremendous point of confidence in the way we’ve been running,” Geller said.

Each of the incumbents running has already padded their campaign account with significant funds. Rojas, Colucci and Bendross-Mindingall have reported raising more than $100,000 so far. Alonso reported $73,000 as of the end of May.

The job itself may also be seen as unattractive given recent events. Geller, a former Democratic state lawmaker and county party chair, said that state policies on school choice and federal action spurring deportations could be detractors.

Enrollment at traditional public schools has been declining fast over the last two decades, particularly in recent school years. The board recently voted to close nine schools facing under-enrollment.

“With all the pressures on the public schools right now, and the problems with everything from vouchers, to immigration to hostile state laws that are targeting our public employee unions, it’s made the job look incredibly unpleasant. That’s discouraged people from running,” Geller said.

The salary for a school board member, $55,000 per year, is also modest. Geller said that likely wasn’t a major factor, though.

He said he ran for the office in 2024 in part because of issues he had with how the school board was run. Now, he says, things have improved — an impression that voters might share.

“I haven’t seen where the board is acting in a partisan fashion. By and large, we mostly find consensus. In the sense that the board has moderated its behavior, that probably has reduced a desire for people to run against incumbents,” Geller said.

Joseph, Colucci’s lone challenger, has not responded to a Herald inquiry on his candidacy as of Monday afternoon.

District 1 race

In contrast, the District 1 race to replace Gallon is packed.

Eight candidates will appear on the ballot in August and one qualified as a write-in for the district, which covers many predominantly Black neighborhoods in the northernmost stretch of Dade County.

The candidates on the ballot are Linda Cothiere, Tyrone Hill Sr., Erhabor Ighodaro, Joy Jackson, Bernard Jennings, Wrendly Mesidor, Katrina Wilson and James Wright.

Many of the candidates have experience in the classroom as well as the political arena.

Cothiere and Hill are both active public school teachers. Jackson retired after 51 years with the district. Mesidor teaches at a local Catholic school.

Wright previously served as both the police chief and the city manager for Opa-Locka. Wilson resigned from her seat on the city council of Miami Gardens to run for the school board seat. Jennings is a former official in the Miami-Dade Democratic Party and now serves as chair of the board of trustees at Florida Memorial University. Ighodaro was previously vice mayor of Miami Gardens.

Thera Johnson, of Miami Gardens, qualified as a write-in candidate.

If no candidate clears more than 50% of the vote in the August primary election, the top two vote-getters will proceed to the general election in November. The race is nonpartisan.

This story is part of a statewide partnership of nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 school board elections. Learn more about the Florida Elections Reporting Partnership at floridaelections.org.