Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Alex Fernandez confidently win run-offs for the Miami Seaside Fee

Miami Beach has two new commissioners after Tuesday’s runoff election.

In group I, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez is back on the Miami Beach Commission after defeating the opponent Rachel Pacheco, a local business owner. Gonzalez will make it Micky Steinbergwho is leaving to pursue the Miami Dade Commission seat which is held by term of office Sally Heyman next year.

And in group III, member of the planning committee Alex Fernandez defeated real estate investor Stephen Cohen to take over the outgoing commissioner Michael Gongora‘s seat.

“I am so grateful for the trust that the community has placed in me,” said Fernandez shortly after the election results became known. “Today’s victory is a message that residents want a cleaner, safer, and more resilient Miami Beach. My obligation is to fulfill their desires by serving with integrity, accessibility, and a mission to do good. “

With all districts reporting at 7:45 p.m., Rosen Gonzalez had cast 3,544 votes for nearly 54.85% of the vote in their favor. Pacheco held 45.15% of the vote, with 2,917 ballots cast for them.

Fernandez had 59.25% of the vote, represented by 3,826 ballots. Cohen received 2,631 votes for 40.75% of the total vote.

Those numbers could change slightly, according to the Miami-Dade County’s office, according to the Miami-Dade County’s office Christina White, which shows the election day and the ballot papers by postal vote as “partially reported”.

All election results are unofficial until confirmed by the district electoral committee.

Group I.

Rosen Gonzalez, a realtor and professor at Miami Dade College, received more than a third of the vote on November 2nd. Pacheco, a Democrat, followed her with about 30% of the vote cast in her favor. On the way to the outlet, they left the restaurateur behind Adrian Gonzalez and commercial distributors Blake Young.

Everyone had previously fought for the city commission, only Rosen Gonzalez scored a victory in 2015. She vacated her seat in 2018 because of a failed congress application. A year later she ran to regain her place, however lost in a runoff election to Steven Meiner.

Pacheco, a former Connecticut Army National Guard member, first ran for office in 2019 but fell to Group V commissioner Ricky Ariola. During her run that year, the 47-year-old garnered several notable endorsements from the likes of Ruth’s List Florida, Save LGBT Action PAC, the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, and the Florida Chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

Rosen Gonzalez, 48, carried quite a bit of luggage into this year’s race, including Feuds with fellow commissioners, hampered an investigation in Miami Beach against a large donor for her congressional campaign and a September gaffe in which she described herself as “the most high-profile Hispanic Democrat in the city of Miami Beach” despite not actually being Hispanic. (Your ex-husband is.)

For her part, Pacheco showed questionable budget decisions which she proved archive twice for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, most recently in 2017.

Rosen Gonzalez led the pack in fundraising at about $ 82,000 since joining the race in July. Pacheco held over $ 54,000 for the general election. In May she started promoting the commission.

Group III

Fernandez led the Group III candidates by well over a third of the vote on Nov. 2, when he was more than 10 percentage points ahead of Cohen, who received 26% of the vote. They went to a runoff, leaving the president of the Venetian Homeowners Association behind Melissa Beattie and real estate agents Michael Barrineau.

Although he didn’t compete in the race until September, Fernandez proved himself to be a skilled fundraiser, raising nearly $ 245,000 by November 11. The 35-year-old former Republican, now a registered independently, has government experience including a current position as communications assistant and legislative assistant to the Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebecca Sosa and previous jobs in Miami Beach under the former mayor Matti Bower and former commissioner Deede operas.

Cohen, 43, presented himself as something of a political outsider who faced no special interests. He was the only candidate not to take money from hotels or nightclubs involved in a feud with the mayor in the months leading up to the general election Dan Gelber and others about a 2 a.m. last recall in the entertainment district of South Beach.

Góngora, who faced Fernandez in 2009, supported his old rival that year.

Cohen has run through a small fortune campaigning for office this year. Since joining the race in March, he has added more than $ 408,000 to his war chest, almost all of it from his own bank account. Of that, he spent about $ 362,000, including more than $ 43,000 on a 12-day push to the election on Tuesday.

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