Miami politicians raised nearly $10 million for the 2021 elections. Who gave the most?

The leading donor in Miami politics so far this year is a New York developer who recently made a big bet on downtown real estate, outpacing other contributors backing Mayor Francis Suarez on a list that includes celebrities of tech and finance, according to a Miami Herald analysis.

Clean-Rite Maintenance, a company that ties back to New York developer Steven Witkoff, gave $260,000 between May and August to the city’s best funded candidates: Suarez and District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo, incumbents running for second terms in November.

In June, Witkoff and another developer paid $94 million for an undeveloped piece of the Miami Worldcenter project on the 700 block of North Miami Avenue.

With $265,000 in donations tied to Witkoff — the Clean-Rite contributions plus $5,000 to the Suarez effort from Zachary Witkoff, a Witkoff son and executive in his company, the Witkoff Group — the developer was the largest donor in the Herald’s analysis.

Second place went to tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya, whose $250,000 donation made him Suarez’s top donor. Hedge-fund mogul Daniel Sundheim took third place with $200,000 to Suarez.

The fourth-place slot went to Doug Kimmelman, an investment mogul in New York who is also an owner of the Miami Marlins and a philanthropist with plans for a non-profit athletic and community complex in Miami. He gave $100,000 to Carollo and $55,000 to Suarez.

Landing fifth on the Miami Herald’s list of top contributors with a single $150,000 donation is Joseph DaGrosa, who shares the dual distinction of being a top Suarez donor as well as his private-sector boss. His private equity firm in Coral Gables, DaGrosa Capital Partners, hired Suarez, a lawyer, as a partner in May. The hiring announcement went out days after DaGrosa donated $150,000 to Suarez’s main political committee, Miami For Everyone.

With three incumbents up for election in November — Suarez, Carollo and appointed District 5 commissioner Jeffrey Watson — nearly $10 million has flowed into the accounts of campaigns and political committees backing those three office holders and 14 challengers, according to filings through the middle of October.

The bulk of that went to Suarez, who raised more than $6 million and currently accounts for 67 cents of every dollar donated to a Miami candidate. Second place goes to Carollo, who raised about $2.3 million, roughly 24 cents of every dollar donated.

“That’s a ridiculous amount of money,” said Pedro Diaz, a campaign consultant and former District 3 commission candidate who isn’t involved in Miami races this year. He called Suarez’s donations figure “astronomical” but also said the Carollo total is surprising for a city commission race.

“That is some serious cash,” he said. “It’s going to set the standard.”

District 5 candidate Christine King holds a distant third-place slot in the Miami fund-raising leader board, with more than $500,000 raised for her campaign and the political committee backing her, Improve Miami.

That still places a challenger ahead of the incumbent in a race that Watson formally joined Sept. 17 when he filed candidacy papers. His run violates a pledge he made not to seek a full term if appointed to the District 5 seat vacated by Keon Hardemon when he became a county commissioner in November. Watson began raising money for his political committee, Fighting for Change, in August and filed the first report for his campaign committee on Oct. 8. He has secured about $168,000 in donations.

Michael Hepburn, a non-profit executive running for the District 5 seat, is the top donor to his campaign, with about $35,000 in contributions.

Who are the big donors behind the candidates?

For this story, the Miami Herald created a database with every donation of at least $1,000 in the three races. Using shared addresses, corporate filings, and other information, we then linked as many donations as possible to individuals or companies. Subscribers to the Miami Herald can search the online version of the database, which lists top donors for each of the nine candidates who have raised at least $10,000. The database now includes filings through the Oct. 10 deadline.

The database used donations to campaigns and political committees that, as required by county law, the candidates registered to raise money for during the 2021 election cycle.

The election may not end there — candidates with the most votes avoid a run-off only if they get more than 50% of the total. The spending is bound to continue, since political committees are free to retain dollars raised during one election cycle and spend them later.

Who gave the most to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez?

The list of top donors highlights the kind of year Suarez has had as a rising celebrity on the national political and financial scene — one that has him entertaining speculation about a presidential campaign.

His famous December Twitter post asking “How can I help?” to someone suggesting Silicon Valley move to Miami launched a new phase of national prominence for a mayor previously best known as one of the first elected officials to contract COVID-19. Along with CNBC features on Suarez asking if Miami will become the “Wall Street of the South” and lunching with Peter Thiel, Suarez attracted a string of sizable checks from well-known executives outside of Florida.

Twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — cryptocurrency investors who gained fame in the Facebook movie as rivals to Mark Zuckerberg — gave Suarez’s Miami for Everyone $50,000 each in February. WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann donated $25,000 in July. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt donated $50,000.

Almost a quarter of Suarez’s large donations — those $1,000 and over — come from New York, based on ZIP code data. Half are from Florida, and 6% from California.

Near the top of the Suarez donor list is Rensair, an air-purification business that donated eight purifiers to Miami late last year. Suarez touted the gift in a press conference. Rensair CEO Harris Schwartzberg and two related companies donated a combined $125,000 to Miami For Everyone.

“As a real estate owner in Miami, I have followed Mayor Suarez and find him to be a dynamic individual who genuinely wants to serve the citizens of Miami,” Schwartzberg said in an email.

Suarez faces no well-funded challenger, with mayoral candidate Max Martínez’s nearly $19,000 in donations the second-highest tally in that race.

Who gave the most to Christine King and Jeffrey Watson?

In District 5, King, a lawyer, hasn’t brought in the six-figure donations secured by Suarez and Carollo. Her top donor is developer SJM Partners, which gave $25,000; followed by developer Centennial Management and Bayside Marina at $20,000; and a string of donations that total $19,000 and come from addresses and companies tied to consultants Barbara Hardemon and Billy Hardemon.

Watson hasn’t pulled in large donations, either. His top donor is Miami developer Michael Swerdlow at $25,000, $19,000 from auto magnate Norman Braman, followed by a string of $10,000 donors that include developer Ring Equity and Centennial Management as well.

Who gave the most to Joe Carollo?

In District 3, Kimmelman is Carollo’s second-largest donor. He’s followed by Mastec, the company whose owners, Jorge and Jose Mas, are partners with David Beckham in the Inter Miami Major League Soccer franchise. They need city commission approval to build a mall, office park and soccer stadium on Miami’s Melreese golf course. Donors tied to MasTec gave Carollo $97,000.

Carollo easily outpaces his challengers on the fund-raising front.

Challenger Rodney Quinn Smith, a lawyer and arbitrator, received nearly $12,000 from his top donor — himself. Another Carollo challenger, Adriana Oliva , received $1,000 each from her four top donors, a list that includes the Latin Builders Association.

Carollo’s top donor is Witkoff.

The Clean-Rite donations capture some of the challenges tracking political contributions, since the Witkoff connection wasn’t clear from information in the committee filings. The Clean-Rite Maintenance donations used two addresses occupied by the Witkoff Group in the past. In an interview, Carollo confirmed the Clean-Rite checks came from Steven Witkoff.

“He raised it for me — Steven Witkoff,” Carollo said of the Clean-Rite checks. “If it is his company or not, I don’t know.”

A statement from Witkoff’s office confirmed the connection.

“Miami is on a tremendous trajectory and I will continue to support local and regional leaders across the aisle, whom I believe will maintain this momentum and usher us in the right direction,” the statement said. “Miami has been my home for the past five years and I am incredibly passionate about this city.”

Asked why he thought Witkoff gave so much, Carollo said: “It’s for the same reason most people give to me. They believe in me,” he said. “They think I’m making a difference in government, for the better.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 6:00 AM.