Local News

MIAMI (CBS4) ― Miami commissioner Tomas Regalado will move from the commission chambers to the Mayor's office next week after breezing to a win in Tuesday's election, defeating fellow commissioner Joe Sanchez by almost 3 to 1, with 72 percent of the vote. Mayors in Miami Beach, Hialeah, and North Lauderdale were returned to office by the voters, but in Homestead, one-term mayor Lynda Bell was ousted by former Homestead councilman Steven Bateman as Homestead voters said so long to most incumbents on the ballot.

7 cities in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties held elections Tuesday but the biggest contests were in the city of Miami.

Regalado, a long time commissioner and journalist, took an early lead Tuesday and never surrendered it. Just over 2 hours after the polls closed, Sanchez called his rival and conceded.
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"The future of Miami is now in the hands of my opponent," Sanchez said, "and I wish him the very best."

He told CBS4's David Sutta that voters apparently did not get the message he offered, and did not agree with his support of major projects like the Marlins Stadium and the downtown tunnel project.

"3, and 4, and 5 years from now we will look at that baseball stadium and the critics of that baseball stadium will look at it and say 'we have moved this city forward," Sanchez said.

"Change has come to the city of Miami," Regalado told supporters at his campaign headquarters when it became clear he would be Miami's new mayor.

He promised to take the city on a path of fiscal responsibility, and he has a tough job ahead, especially in dealing with union employees who supported him, but with whom he must now work to cut costs, including expensive pension plans for union workers.

"The first day I am going to reduce my pension by 25%," Regalado told CBS4 political reporter Michael Williams. "I am going to reduce my salary by 30%, so with that in hand I am going to go to all the unions and say, 'look, this is what I have done, let's see what you can do'."

Regalado's election could spell tough times for Marlins Stadium, which he opposed, and for Miami's controversial police chief John Timoney, with whom Regalado does not see eye to eye.

Regalado may have some new faces to deal with on the City Commission, but it's not yet known who they will be. Three seats were at stake in this election, including those vacated by Regalado and Sanchez to run for mayor.

Replacing Sanchez in district 3 will be Frank Carollo, the brother of former Miami commissioner and mayor Joe Carollo. He led a field of 7 candidates to win 52% of the vote, enough to get him into office without facing a runoff.
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In district 4, the seat vacated by Regalado to run for mayor, none of the 4 candidates reached the magic 50% mark to win the office, meaning a runoff will be needed to fill the seat. Francis Suarez, the son of another former Miami Mayor, Xavier Suarez, will face former Miami city budget analyst Manolo Reyes, who came within a few points of Suarez' 45% of the vote despite massive spending on the part of Suarez, who spent almost $300 thousand on his campaign.
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Incumbent District 5 Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones breezed back into office, crushing two challengers with more than 80% of the vote.

HOMESTEAD

The major upsets of the evening came in Homestead, where single-term mayor Lynda Bell was ousted by former Homestead council member Steven Bateman, and 3 of the 4 incumbent council members were shown the door.

Bell's administration had been plagued with financial problems caused but the growing number of foreclosures in Homestead that had strained budgets and the ability of government to provide services. She asked for more time to address the problems, but the voters denied her the chance. Bateman won with a decisive 59% of the vote.
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Other incumbents were also turned out by the voters. Seat 1 councilman Tim Nelson lost his seat to Homestead attorney Stephen Shelley, who garnered 59% of the votes. Nelson barely made it into Tuesday runoff against Shelley, beating the next closest candidate by 10 votes.
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Seat 4 councilman Melvin McCormick lost to challenger Jimmy Williams III, a minister who came in second in the city's primary election last month.
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Seat 5 incumbent Nazy Sierra was bested by businessman Elvis Maldonado, who won 56% of the vote.
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The only incumbent to survive the winds of change that swept through Homestead was Judy Waldman, who won a two year term by beating businessman Angel Garotte by a 2 to 1 margin.
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MIAMI BEACH

In Miami Beach, Mattie Hererra Bower easily won re-election with 77% of the vote, with education activist Laura Levy barely making a showing with 17% of the vote. Also easily winning re-election was Group 1 commissioner Jerry Libbin, who drew 83% of the vote to gain  a second term.
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However, in 2 commission  races a runoff will be needed later this month. In a three-way race for group 2, candidates Jorge Exposito and Maria Mayer each finished with 38% of the vote to win spots in the runoff.
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In group 3, former commissioner Michael Gongora will apparently face Gabriella Redfern in a runoff. Redfern beat out candidate Alex Fernandez by just 31 votes in the unofficial results to win the second runoff position.
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The city also decided 4 ballot questions; all passed, and the full results can be seen here.

HIALEAH

Incumbents in Hialeah said they expected to be re-elected because voters are happy with the government they are getting, and they apparently were right. All three incumbents on the ballot in Hialeah sailed back into office.

Mayor Julio Robaina, who had faced physician Santiago Cardenas, was re-elected almost by acclamation with 93% of the vote.
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Print shop owner Luis Gonzalez easily won re-election in group 5 with 84% of the vote, while newcomer Katy Cue, facing her first election after she was appointed by Robaina to the group 7 seat, demolished Danny Bolanos, a former Hialeah police officer and son of former chief Rolando Bolanos, by winning 90% of the vote.
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BROWARD COUNTY

In Broward county, only 2 cities had elections. In Tamarac, a race for mayor was canceled when the two challengers to incumbent Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco. The city re-opened qualifying for the Mayor's race last Thursday, and if nobody files to challenge the incumbent within 5 days, she will be automatically re-elected.

That left only a city commission race, Patricia Atkins-Grad was challenged by Patti Lynn, with Atkins-Grad winning with 61 percent of the vote.

In North Lauderdale, incumbent mayor John Brady beat back a challenge from former council member Bruce Tumin, garnering 85% of the vote. Tumin, with just 15%, was charged with an alcohol-related offense during the campaign.

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MONROE COUNTY

In Monroe County, voters had a single race to consider in Marathon, as two seats were open on the city council.

Michael Cinque and Richard "Rich" Keating were the top two votegetters to win seats on the Marathon commission.
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