{"id":165841,"date":"2026-02-23T17:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T17:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/165841\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T17:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T17:17:14","slug":"with-tanya-katzoff-bhatt-nod-most-of-miami-beach-commission-backs-richard-lamondin-for-cd-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/165841\/","title":{"rendered":"With Tanya Katzoff Bhatt nod, most of Miami Beach Commission backs Richard Lamondin for CD 27"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four Miami Beach Commissioners, making up a majority of the panel, are now backing Democratic entrepreneur Richard Lamondin\u2019s bid to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar.<\/p>\n

This week, Commissioner Tanya Katzoff Bhatt threw her support<\/a> behind Lamondin, joining the Miami Beach Commission\u2019s three other Democratic members \u2014 Laura Dominguez, Alex Fernandez and Monica Matteo-Salinas \u2014 who have also endorsed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen no one believed he could start a business changing toilets, Richard proved them wrong. Thirteen years later, he built it into a nationwide company that lowers costs, creates jobs, and protects our planet. He\u2019s helped launch and uplift nonprofits that are doing real good right here in our community. He shows up,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when people said he couldn\u2019t run for Congress? He proved them wrong again \u2014 raising over $700,000<\/a> from thousands of grassroots supporters, building real enthusiasm and momentum. Miami doesn\u2019t need another familiar name. We need someone who\u2019s earned it. I believe in Richard and the future he\u2019s fighting for. I trust his character. And South Florida would be lucky to have him representing us in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamondin is the founder and CEO of\u00a0ecofi<\/a>, an environmental service company that says it helped conserve 10 billion gallons of water and prevent over 300,000 metric tons of carbon emissions while cutting customers\u2019 utility bills.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is his first run at public office, and it\u2019s been a strong one so far. He ended 2025 as the\u00a0top Democratic Primary fundraiser<\/a>\u00a0with more than $700,000 raised this cycle.<\/p>\n

Others backing Lamondin include state Sen.\u00a0Shevrin Jones, state Rep.\u00a0Kevin Chambliss, Miami-Dade School Board member\u00a0Luisa Santos, former Miami Beach Commissioner\u00a0David Richardson\u00a0and former Miami Commissioner\u00a0Ken Russell.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Lamondin said the strong support from Miami Beach City Hall \u201csends a message.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m especially grateful to Commissioner Bhatt. She was one of the first to believe in me and to push me forward when this campaign was just an idea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe knows what it\u2019s like to be underestimated \u2014 and then to win. That\u2019s the kind of leadership we need right now. With Tanya in this fight, we\u2019re going to flip this seat and bring new leadership to Washington. And I\u2019ll be a partner for Miami Beach and communities across Miami-Dade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

CD 27<\/a>, one of three Florida districts that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has highlighted as \u201cin play<\/a>,\u201d covers Miami, Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest, North Bay Village, South Miami, West Miami and several unincorporated areas.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Primary also features CPA Alex Fornino and former prosecutor Robin Peguero. Republican Michael Arias also hopes to supplant Salazar, who has represented Florida\u2019s 27th Congressional District since January 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four Miami Beach Commissioners, making up a majority of the panel, are now backing Democratic entrepreneur Richard Lamondin\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[52347,8184,8878,123,1642,125,124,1064,373,78958,78959,78960],"class_list":{"0":"post-165841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-cd-27","9":"tag-election-2026","10":"tag-maria-elvira-salazar","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-beach","13":"tag-miami-headlines","14":"tag-miami-news","15":"tag-miami-dade","16":"tag-miami-dade-county","17":"tag-richard-lamondin","18":"tag-tanya-bhat","19":"tag-tanya-katzoff-bhatt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}