Miami-Dade mayor’s race losing its first candidate as Juan Zapata calls it quits

Juan C. Zapata, the former Miami-Dade commissioner whose bid for mayor centered on a promise to tame a listless and bloated county government, announced plans Friday to drop out of the race to succeed a term-limited Carlos Gimenez in 2020.

“It breaks my heart,” Zapata said. “I have to be honest with you.”

Out of office since 2016, the former District 11 commissioner was the first candidate to join the mayor’s race, filing his papers in January 2019. He’s since been joined by four sitting county commissioners whom he used to serve with — Esteban “Steve” Bovo, Daniella Levine Cava, Jean Monestime and Xavier Suarez — and a former mayor, Alex Penelas. Also running are three candidates seeking their first public office: Monique Nicole Barley, Robert Ingram Burke, and Ludmilla Dumond.

Fundraising never gelled for Zapata, who raised less than $70,000 by the end of 2019. By contrast, Penelas, the current money leader, has raised roughly $2.8 million.

Reflecting on his year in the race, Zapata said he didn’t think any of the remaining candidates is ready to tackle Miami-Dade’s bureaucracy.

“I wish I could say one of the candidates is really going to take on that county monster,” he said. “I would love it if some dark-horse candidate would jump in there. A very wealthy individual, kind of like a [Mike] Bloomberg. I could get behind that candidate.”

This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 3:52 PM.