Miami Beach candidate changes political committee name after cease and desist letter
A candidate for Miami Beach City Commission has changed the name of her political committee in response to demands by a local nonprofit, which said a mailer that failed to include the committee’s full name had caused confusion and damaged the nonprofit’s reputation.
Sabrina Cohen, a disability-rights advocate and one of five candidates to replace the late Mark Samuelian in a November election, filed documents Friday with the city of Miami Beach to drop the word “united” from her committee name, Miami Beach Residents United for Progress.
The committee is now called Miami Beach Residents for Progress.
The move comes four days after Miami Beach United, a prominent local nonprofit that weighs in on political issues but does not endorse candidates, sent Cohen’s campaign a cease and desist letter demanding she change the committee’s name by Friday.
“Miami Beach United is really appreciative of the candidate’s team’s willingness to understand our concern about the confusion regarding the name, and to change theirs so quickly, per our request,” Tanya Bhatt, the board director for Miami Beach United, said in a statement after the change was made.
Cohen’s campaign consultant, Christian Ulvert, said it was an honest mistake.
“There’s no intention to confuse folks,” Ulvert told the Miami Herald. “It was an innocent error that a lot of people feel very bad about.”
Representatives for Miami Beach United said residents were confused when a recent mailer promoting Cohen’s candidacy incorrectly said it was paid for by “Miami Beach Residents United,” omitting the words “for Progress.”
“Although it may just be a coincidence, that name could easily be misinterpreted to suggest that Miami Beach United is supporting the PAC and its candidate, and that is not the case,” the group said in an Aug. 27 email.
Florida law requires all electioneering communications to include the name and address of the person or entity who funded them.
Ulvert said the error on the mailer was caused by the company that printed it, MDW Communications, as they were attempting to fix a previous mistake in the mailer’s proposed language.
In an Aug. 22 email, Ulvert clarified to MDW president Michael Worley that the mailer should read “paid electioneering communication” rather than “paid political advertisement.” He then included the committee’s complete name.
“Please make that edit ASAP before going to print,” Ulvert wrote.
Worley told the Herald in an email that “the error was unintentional on our end and we have fixed the mistake moving forward.”
The dust-up more than two months before Election Day reflects the high stakes of a race that is likely to sway the balance of power on the Miami Beach City Commission after Samuelian died in June of an unexpected illness.
Cohen has garnered support from Mayor Dan Gelber, who has worked with Ulvert on past campaigns, and from City Commissioners Ricky Arriola and David Richardson.
One of Cohen’s opponents is Laura Dominguez, Samuelian’s life partner, who had previously worked as Samuelian’s campaign manager and treasurer. She is being endorsed by Commissioners Alex Fernandez and Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.
The other candidates for Samuelian’s seat are hotel owner Mitch Novick, investor Stephen Cohen and environmental scientist Isaiah Mosley. The winner will serve the remainder of a term ending in 2025.
Samuelian’s death set off a debate among city officials over whether to appoint a new commissioner to serve until an election in November 2023, or to hold a special election this year. City commissioners ultimately agreed on the latter option after weeks of impasse.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 3:23 PM.
