Herald endorsement: Miami Beach mayor | Opinion
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Editorial Board November 2025 election recommendations
Ahead of the upcoming local elections, the Editorial Board sits down with political candidates to gain insight into their positions on key issues and the potential impact of their policies on the community. Our aim is to help voters make informed decisions about who is best suited for each race. See our November 2025 endorsements below:
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In Miami Beach, voters will choose between two qualified but flawed candidates for mayor.
Incumbent Steven Meiner is known for his law-and-order approach to governing, for championing the shutdown of spring break in the city and for his effort to oust O Cinema from a city-owned theater for showing a documentary he called antisemitic, sparking accusations of censorship.
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, a two-time commissioner challenging him, has an outspoken and blunt style that sometimes works against her. She is a strong and, at times, controversial advocate for residents, especially when it comes to development issues.
Both have pluses and minuses. Our choice in the nonpartisan race is Rosen Gonzalez.
She has a lot of baggage, including a defamation lawsuit filed against her that her insurance company recently settled. But Rosen Gonzalez also has thorough knowledge of the community. She communicates with constituents. She is clear on the key issues in Miami Beach: economic development, crime, resiliency and affordability. She knows that South Beach, Mid Beach and North Beach have different concerns.
On development issues, Rosen Gonzalez opposed a 2022 proposal for the Deauville Hotel site but now supports a rezoning plan based on the developers’ willingness to provide public benefits. She also points to her battle over the future of Allison Park, her opposition to a referendum to lease city-owned parking lots to developers and her effort to preserve the South Shore Community Center.
She’s a faculty member at Miami Dade College who grew up on the Beach and was elected to the commission in 2015 and in 2021. In between, she ran unsuccessfully for Congress. In 2019, she lost to Meiner in a city commission race that some saw as a referendum on her tumultuous political style.
Rosen Gonzalez, 52, told the Editorial Board that in the past four years, she has “grown. I’m wiser. Even the people that didn’t agree with me now know that they can sit down and speak to me.”
It will be up to her, if elected for the two-year term, to prove to voters that she has learned how to handle the stresses of being mayor.
Meiner, 54, did not respond to invitations to attend an Editorial Board interview. He has been criticized for limiting free speech, such as a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests — he’s facing a lawsuit on that by a Jewish activist group that held protests in Miami Beach. His threat, later dropped, to evict O Cinema over the screening of the Oscar-winning Israeli-Palestinian documentary “No Other Land” was a national embarrassment for the city.
Meiner left his job as an attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024. It’s unclear if that was related to allegations reported by the Miami Herald that three former female colleagues at the agency claimed he made unwanted advances. The Editorial Board in 2023 revoked its endorsement of Meiner after the allegations were reported.
Rosen Gonzalez has not been opposed to everything Meiner has pushed for. She has agreed with him, for example, on spring break and support for Israel. But she said, as mayor, he has been divisive for Miami Beach.
She called his efforts to evict O Cinema because he disagreed with the documentary a “huge mistake on his part, and it sent the wrong message to the entire world, because Miami Beach is an international community for everyone.”
Rosen Gonzalez is far from a perfect candidate. She has faced five ethics complaints, with no finding against her, and there was a report of a 2022 investigation into whether she improperly used her office to influence an election, though no result was ever reported. There also was the defamation suit (she accused a former political ally of exposing himself to her in 2017), a false claim that she was Hispanic (she apologized) and in 2022, she compared then-Mayor Dan Gelber to Russian President Vladamir Putin on social media. Again, she apologized.
Rosen Gonzalez is a polarizing figure. Her task: show voters she has matured.
“I think if you were to ask even my staunchest critics right now if they think they’ve seen a progression and wisdom and maturity about who I am now, I think they would agree.”
In the race for Miami Beach mayor, the Herald endorses KRISTEN ROSEN GONZALEZ.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWho decides the political endorsements?
In advance of local and state elections, Miami Herald Editorial Board members interview political candidates, as well as advocates and opponents of ballot measures. The Editorial Board is composed of experienced opinion journalists and is independent of the Herald’s newsroom. Members of the Miami Herald Editorial Board are: Amy Driscoll, editorial page editor; and editorial writers Isadora Rangel and Mary Anna Mancuso. Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
What does the endorsement process look like?
The Miami Herald Editorial Board interviews political candidates to better understand their views on public policy and how their policies will affect their constituents. Board members do additional reporting and research to learn as much as possible about the candidates before making an endorsement. The Editorial Board then convenes to discuss the candidates in each race. Board members seek to reach a consensus on the endorsements, but not every decision is unanimous. Candidates who decline to be interviewed will not receive an endorsement.
Is the Editorial Board partisan?
No. In making endorsements, members of the Editorial Board consider which candidates are better prepared to represent their constituents — not whether they agree with our editorial stances or belong to a particular political party. We evaluate candidates’ relevant experience, readiness for office, depth of knowledge of key issues and understanding of public policy. We’re seeking candidates who are thoughtful and who offer more than just party-line talking points.
This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Herald endorsement: Miami Beach mayor | Opinion."
