Miami-Dade Commissioner Marleine Bastien far outpaced her two District 2 opponents during the latest fundraising period, with contributions coming from real estate and business interests, consulting firms and several notable local figures.
Between April 1 and June 26, the most recent date from which campaign finance reports are available, Bastien took in nearly $49,000 through her campaign account.
Trapeze artist and self-described First Amendment auditor Miguel “Skip” Quintero, who ran unsuccessfully for Miami-Dade Mayor in 2024, raised a comparatively paltry $1,380.
But he still outstripped first-time candidate Ernst Jean, who filed for the race April 7 and cobbled together just $400 — all of it his — through late June.
District 2 covers a sizable portion of North Miami and Opa-locka, as well as smaller pieces of Hialeah, Miami, North Miami Beach and the unincorporated neighborhoods of Biscayne Gardens, Liberty City and North Central Dade.
Bastien, a nonprofit founder and executive, won her seat in 2022, defeating former North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime with 59% of the vote. A victory this year would earn her a second and final four-year term on the 13-member County Commission.
She received 83 donations last period, composed of a blend of personal and business checks. That included $500 apiece from North Miami City Manager Theresa Therilus, former Broward County Mayor and current congressional candidate Dale Holness, and nurse Marie Etienne, the founding CEO of Global Innovation Foundation, which works to combat human trafficking, domestic abuse and gun violence.
Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center co-founder Gepsie Metellus, who ran for the County Commission’s District 3 seat in 2020 and was honored with a North Miami street renaming last year, gave $261.
As was the case in the prior reporting period, Bastien benefited from strong real estate-related donations, including $2,000 from GT Construction Group and a subsidiary, and $1,000 from GLC Real Estate, Renters Paradise Realty, DK III Group and Pave USA.
From consulting firms, Bastien received $1,000 from Christian Ulvert’s EDGE Communications, Sinal Consulting Group, We Strategize LLC, Murat Capital Partners and Kemerica LLC. North Miami-based McDermaid and Associates Consulting gave $500, and the firm’s principal, Michael McDermaid, kicked in another $521.
Other business contributions included $2,000 from Boca Raton-based Pro Transportation Inc. and a subsidiary, and $1,000 from Coral Gables-based Aviation Strategies and Trade.
Several political committees gave too, including $1,000 from Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s political committee, Our Democracy; New Leadership Florida, a political committee run by Ulvert that supported Doral Vice Mayor Maureen Porras’ 2020 House campaign; and New Leadership Network PC, which Miami lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez chairs.
Bastien also reported $1,000 in in-kind aid from Randy’s Restaurant & Lounge.
She spent just under $14,000 last period on rent, equipment, signage and phone expenses.
Since filing to run for re-election in March, Bastien has raised $58,000 through her campaign account.
She had more than $44,000 remaining less than a month and two weeks before the Primary.
Quintero’s campaign account received six contributions last period. The biggest, a $1,000 check, came from Our Shared Vision PC, a political committee run by Hector Roos, Miami Chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida and a 2022 candidate for Governor (he came in last, with 0.2% of the vote).
The PC’s funding has come almost exclusively from a Florida subsidiary of The Kane Company, a real estate development firm headquartered in New Hampshire.
Quintero also got $250 from Tony J. Diaz, a Republican candidate for House District 113.
Quintero was a registered Democrat until around 2024, when he switched to the Libertarian Party.
Bastien is a Democrat. Jean, who had no party affiliation until recently, is now a registered Republican, according to state voter records.
Quintero spent just under $1,400 last period on checks, bank fees, donation-processing fees and a $360 qualifying fee, which both Bastien and Jean paid too, but didn’t include among their expenditures.
He has raised more than $13,000 since filing for the race in October. Of that, more than $6,000 was self-loaned.
As of June 27, he had less than $1,400 remaining.
Jean, meanwhile, reported having $350 by the end of last period, with $50 of the $400 he put into his campaign account covering checks.
The Miami-Dade Commission is technically nonpartisan, as are its elections, meaning Bastien, Quintero and Jean will all appear on the Aug. 18 Primary ballot. If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote to win outright, the top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 3 General Election.