Lawyer Monique Pardo Pope just notched an endorsement from an advocacy group focused on education and civic engagement within Florida’s Jewish communities as she runs for the Miami Beach Commission.
Teach Florida PAC — the political arm of Teach FL, a division of the national Jewish-aligned Teach Coalition nonprofit — is backing Pardo Pope over five other candidates seeking the Commission’s Group 1 seat.
Teach Coalition is a project of the Orthodox Union, which advocates for equitable government funding for nonpublic Jewish day schools, especially for security funding, STEM funding and tuition assistance.
The group confirmed its endorsement of Pardo in a recent email. She said she is “honored to receive” it.
“I recognize the long-standing cultural value the Jewish community has placed in Miami Beach, and I will fight for them every day,” she said. “As Commissioner, I will work to ensure that every resident feels safe, heard, and protected.”
The Teach Florida endorsement, which joins others from Miami-Dade County Commissioner René García and former Miami Beach City Commissioner Jose Smith, is a win for Pardo Pope in light of recent revelations about her past.
Last month, documentarian Billy Corben revealed that she is the daughter of Manuel Pardo, a former police officer who murdered nine people in the 1980s and idolized Adolf Hitler, even tattooing the family dog with a swastika.
Pardo Pope, who was 4 when her father was arrested, said it took years for her to make sense of how “the man I loved could commit such a crime,” but she has since forgiven him so that she could “move forward, build my family, and dedicate myself to a life of service and purpose.”
Today, her legal work focuses on family law and guardian ad litem matters. She has also served as a Nicklaus Children’s Young Ambassador, with the Women’s Cancer Association of the University of Miami and is a current member of the Miami Beach Commission for Women.
She’s running on a promise to strengthen public education and youth programs, improve safety through collaborative policing, support small businesses and protect Miami Beach’s cultural and economic diversity.
Teach Florida also endorsed Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner and Commissioner Alex Fernandez for re-election, as well as real estate investor Fred Karlton in his bid to unseat District 2 Commissioner Laura Dominguez.
Others running for the Group 1 seat include consultant and former Miami Design Preservation League Executive Director Daniel Ciraldo, developer Brian Ehrlich, Realtor Ava Frankel, transportation improvement advocate and Miami Design Preservation League Project and Grants Manager Matthew Gultanoff, Park View Island Sustainable Association founder Omar Jimenez and Miami Beach legislative aide Monica Matteo-Salinas.
Ciraldo, Ehrlich and Matteo-Salinas are Democrats, according to state records. Frankel, Gultanoff and Jimenez have no party affiliation.
Pardo Pope is the lone Republican in the race. She has run a mostly self-funded campaign.
The Miami Beach Commission is a technically nonpartisan body, as are its elections.
The Miami Beach General Election is Nov. 4. If no candidate takes more than 50% of the vote, the two top vote-getters will compete in a Dec. 9 runoff.