Unions representing Miami-Dade service and healthcare workers are getting behind Miami-Dade County Commissioner Vicki Lopez’s District 5 campaign.
SEIU 32BJ and SEIU Local 1991 — whose initialism stands for Service Employees International Union — endorsed Lopez.
In statements, both groups cited her work with working-class families and public-sector employees as key to earning their support.
“Our members are proud to support Commissioner Vicki Lopez because she believes that the workers who keep Miami-Dade running every day deserve to be respected and supported,” said Helene O’Brien, Florida District Director of SEIU 32BJ.
“Commissioner Lopez understands the pressures working families are facing, and she has shown a willingness to work with our members to find real solutions. We are proud to support her election to the County Commission.”
SEIU 32BJ represents janitors, security officers, airport workers and other service employees across South Florida, while SEIU Local 1991 represents employees, including nurses and physicians, at Jackson Health System, Miami-Dade’s public hospital network.
Local 1991 President Martha Baker said in a statement that Lopez “has demonstrated a strong commitment to the health care workers who care for Miami-Dade families every day.”
“The nurses, physicians, and healthcare professionals at Jackson are on the front lines serving this community,” she said. “We deserve leaders who are focused on strengthening our neighborhoods, improving quality of life, and ensuring government delivers for residents — and that’s why we are standing with Commissioner Vicki Lopez in her election campaign.”
Lopez welcomed the endorsements Friday, pointing to support from workers across multiple industries.
“From health care professionals at Jackson to security officers, janitors, airport employees, and so many other essential service workers, these men and women deserve leaders who will fight for safer neighborhoods, economic opportunity, and a better quality of life for working families,” she said. “I’m grateful for their support and proud to stand alongside them.”
The endorsements add to a widening coalition behind Lopez, who was appointed by her County Commission peers last year to represent District 5 after Eileen Higgins resigned from the seat following her election as Miami Mayor.
Lopez has also won endorsements from the South Florida Police Benevolent Association and Miami Beach Commissioners Tanya Katzoff Bhatt, Laura Dominguez, Alex Fernandez and Monica Matteo-Salinas.
All four Miami Beach officials are Democrats. Lopez is a Republican. Miami Beach and Miami-Dade Commission seats are technically nonpartisan, as are their elections.
District 5 includes the cities of Miami and Miami Beach.
Campaign finance reports show Lopez holding a substantial monetary advantage over her lone challenger, Florida Highway Patrol trooper and former Miami City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, who is also a Republican.
Lopez raised nearly $589,000 during the last reporting quarter, far outpacing Sanchez’s fundraising totals.
All Miami-Dade County Commission candidates will appear on the Aug. 18 Primary ballot. Because the races are technically nonpartisan, a candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote outright avoids a runoff. Otherwise, the top two finishers will advance to a Nov. 3 runoff election.