Early voting is underway on Miami Beach, pitting two familiar faces against each other in the race for mayor.
Outgoing City Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez is taking on incumbent Mayor Steven Meiner.
Spring break revelry and rowdy nights are a thing of the past, with South Beach locked down for high-impact weekends. It’s something Meiner likes to take credit for.
Miami Beach Steven Meiner is running for re-election.
“I reached out to the governor, flew out to Tallahassee, made sure we had the state resources to be able to crack down on spring break, and we did, we turned chaos into calm,” Meiner said.
Rosen Gonzalez agrees that something had to be done.
“We had lost control of our streets for a moment in time, we have regained control and we need to bring tourism back,” she said.
Outgoing City Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez is taking on incumbent Steven Meiner in the race for Miami Beach mayor.
Rosen Gonzalez served eight years as a Miami Beach City Commission and is termed out. She’s a college professor and realtor by trade. She touts her advocacy on public safety, education and responsible development.
Meiner also served on the City Commission. He’s wrapping up his first term as mayor and is a lawyer by trade. He boasts of his integrity, independence and results.
Some political observers feel as if political name brands, like Meiner and Rosen Gonzalez, could work against a candidate.
“If you are looking for change, if you are looking for somebody new then neither option is going to be attractive and you may decide not to vote in the mayor’s race,” said NBC6 political analyst Alex Penelas.
While both candidates agree Miami Beach has made progress on a variety of fronts, this is politics, and they are critical of each other.
“He allows certain colleagues to attack other ones in the public sphere,” Rosen Gonzalez said. “He has been attacking residents, shutting down freedom of speech and this discourages residents from coming forward into city hall.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth, we have an open forum and I let everyone speak,” Meiner said. “We’ve had people come into our commission chambers glorifying Hitler, saying things that are the most vile things, and yes, I am going to say things that counter that.
The race will be settled on Election Night because there are only two candidates and a simple majority is needed to win. That’s 50% plus one vote. Whoever gets that will be Miami Beach‘s next mayor.