Sunny Isles Beach mayor runoff election gives challenger lead in close race
The runoff election for Sunny Isles Beach mayor on Tuesday gave challenger Larisa Svechin a lead of less than a percentage point over incumbent Mayor Dana Goldman in preliminary results, with about 60 mail ballots still needing to be verified.
Svechin received 1651 votes for 50.4% compared with 1625 votes or 49.6% for Goldman, according to the Miami-Dade County supervisor of elections website. The results are unofficial until they are certified by the canvassing board, which is scheduled to do that on Friday.
There are about 60 mail ballots that need to be “cured” or verified because their signatures did not match those on file, Miami-Dade County’s deputy supervisor of elections Suzy Trutie told the Herald. Those voters have until 5 p.m. Thursday to verify their ballot. The Sunny Isles Beach canvassing board will convene at 2 p.m. Friday to certify votes and make the results official.
“In this particular race, 60 ballots can make a difference,” Trutie said.
The runoff election came after each candidate received less than 50% of the vote in the Nov. 8 election, when Svechin netted 2,452 votes, which put her in the lead with 43.2% compared with 42.6% for Goldman.
It was not the first time Goldman and Svechin went head to head. Last year, Goldman won a runoff against then-interim Mayor Svechin in a special election following the resignation of Mayor George Scholl.
Svechin said the close race is why it’s important for people to cast their ballots. “Me going around knocking on doors saying ‘every vote counts,’ please know that to be the truth,” she told the Herald on Wednesday, the morning after the runoff election. “And this certainly, certainly proves that. What a story about how every vote counts.”
Goldman did not respond to several requests for comment.
Dezer lawsuit
In this year’s contentious runoff race, Goldman was sued by a local real estate company accusing her of libelous statements to further her campaign.
Real estate company Dezer Development sued Goldman alleging libel. In a lawsuit filed Nov. 29, the company alleges Goldman and Sunny Isles Beach Commissioner Jerry Joseph spread “knowingly false and defamatory statements” against the company “to further their personal vendettas” against Dezer and used the statements as “zeal” for Goldman’s reelection bid.
The company’s lawsuit says in late November Goldman published on her social media accounts that Svechin was backed by Dezer Development, and insinuated that she would repay them by “radically upzoning” two properties on the city’s west side. The lawsuit points to a website that says Dezer “bought and paid for” Svechin with $750,000 and called Svechin a “Dezer servant.”
The website, svechin4sale.com, states that it is paid for by Goldman’s campaign and suggests that Svechin’s family members may secretly work for the company.
The lawsuit says Joseph republished the accusations on social media. A public post on his Facebook page shows he reiterated the claim that “Svechin is 100% funded by Gil Dezer to the tune of approx. $750,000.00 and growing.” Joseph declined to comment on the pending litigation.
“Not a single part of this three-pronged attack is true,” the Dezer lawsuit says. Svechin denied all of the allegations, saying the campaign is one of the “saddest and dirtiest” in the city’s history. “It is shameful that they have perpetuated these lies,” she told the Herald before the runoff election.
Svechin said that Dezer has not donated to her campaign. “I am not taking any money from the Dezers,” she told the Herald. She said she accepted donations from them in 2016, but didn’t specify the amount. She was adamant they didn’t donate to her current campaign or the last one.
Attorneys for Dezer could not be reached for comment. The company is asking for damages in an amount to be specified by trial.
“I will tell you that it’s meant to bully and intimidate me from standing up for the residents of our great city,” Goldman said of the lawsuit in an email to supporters of her campaign. “I also will tell you that it’s all about two properties Dezer Development wants to upzone on the West Side of Collins Avenue.”
This story has been updated to say Svechin is leading in close race.
This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 8:45 PM.
