Buyer’s remorse? Miami commissioner learns you can’t buy loyalty in politics | Opinion

In a special election in June, where a meager 5,346 votes were cast, two of the Miami’s most high-profile politicians spent a combined $1.6 million to elect their favorite candidate elected to the city commission. That’s almost $300 per vote.

It’s disturbing that this much money was poured into an off-cycle municipal election that lasted only six weeks, though it’s not necessarily surprising, given how much more expensive elections have become. That financial investment paid off with the election of Commissioner Ralph Rosado in District 4, where the sudden death of Commissioner Manolo Reyes had left an open seat that affected the power balance on the five-member commission. Voters in that district were bombarded with fliers and ads with wild accusations against Rosado’s opponent, Jose Regalado, the son of former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, now the county’s property appraiser.

A month later, we’re starting to fully see what we already knew: that no money gets poured into an election without strings attached.

It turns out that Rosado hasn’t been the loyal soldier Commissioner Joe Carollo expected him to be. Carollo told the Herald he regrets the more than half a million dollars his political committee, Miami First, spent in that election and the countless hours he said he worked to help Rosado win.

“It’s the worst political mistake that I’ve made in my life,” Carollo said.

Carollo disagreed with two votes Rosado has cast in the short time since his election, including in favor of postponing the November election to 2026. Mayor Francis Suarez, whose committee invested $1.1 million to elect Rosado, supported moving the election without voter approval. A judge on Monday ruled the decision unconstitutional, and the city will likely appeal.

The other Rosado vote that Carollo disliked was the decision to terminate the Bayfront Park Management Trust in January of next year. Carollo was ousted as chair of the Trust earlier this year and the agency was turned over to his rival, Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela.

Is Rosado a “lap dog for Mayor Suarez,” as Carollo accused him of being, or is he an independent thinker who votes his conscience? We hope the latter. As he wrote in a recent op-ed for the Herald, Rosado has a “master plan” to improve infrastructure, flood resilience, affordability and traffic safety in District 4, which includes parts of Flagami, Silver Bluff, Shenandoah and parts of Little Havana.

Rosado during his campaign downplayed the support he was getting from Carollo, even though it was common knowledge at the time that Carollo’s PAC had been funding electioneering material in the race. The Herald Editorial Board asked Rosado in May: “Has Joe Carollo donated money to your campaign, or have any political committees connected to him donated money to support your campaign?” Rosado categorically answered: “No.”

A video posted by the Political Cortadito blog showed Carollo seemingly directing a campaign video for Rosado at a park. Rosado told the Editorial Board in May that Carollo had previously reached out to him and “stopped by” but was not directing the video. But in a Miami Herald story Monday, Carollo had a different version of events, saying of the 30-second ad: “Everything that was said there was written by my wife and myself. Everything.” The Editorial Board endorsed Regalado in District 4.

The moral of the story should be that no one can “buy” a seat on the city commission by expecting fealty from those they supported. The District 4 seat doesn’t belong to Carollo, Suarez or even Rosado. It belongs to the voters. But we know that lesson is often lost in a political system that rewards donors and political loyalty over what’s best for the people.

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This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 4:10 PM.