{"id":19884,"date":"2025-10-25T04:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/19884\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T04:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:05:12","slug":"residency-challenge-roils-miami-commission-race-as-election-day-nears-local-news-updates-the-miami-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/19884\/","title":{"rendered":"Residency challenge roils Miami Commission race as Election Day nears | Local News & Updates | The Miami Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just days before Miami\u2019s Nov. 4 election, a legal fight over where one City Commission candidate truly lives has cast doubt over a race for the panel\u2019s District 3 seat.<\/p>\n

Commission hopeful\u00a0Denise Galvez Turros\u00a0sued opponent\u00a0Rolando Escalona, alleging his claimed residence inside the district\u2019s bounds is a \u201csham\u201d that should disqualify him from the ballot.<\/p>\n

Both are competing to succeed term-limited Commissioner\u00a0Joe Carollo; Carollo\u2019s brother,\u00a0Frank Carollo, is also in the running.<\/p>\n

\"Escalona<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(L-R) Is Rolando Escalona eligible to run in District 3? His opponent, Denise Galvez Turros, says no and is suing to disqualify him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Images via the candidates)<\/p>\n

Galvez Turros is seeking Escalona\u2019s disqualification.\u00a0A trial is set for Oct. 29, less than a week before Election Day, according to the Miami Herald, which\u00a0first reported<\/a>\u00a0on the legal challenge Wednesday.<\/p>\n

At issue is a\u00a0year-old charter amendment<\/a>\u00a0requiring Commission candidates to have lived continuously within their district for at least a year before qualifying.<\/p>\n

Escalona swore in an affidavit that he has rented and lived in an apartment in District 3 since June 2024, which is three months beyond the required period. Galvez Turros, a fellow Republican and the co-founder of \u201cLatinas for Trump,\u201d contends records show he actually lives in a duplex he owns in neighboring District 4, where he and his wife signed a mortgage refinance in February listing that address as their residence.<\/p>\n

In her court filing, she argued Escalona \u201ccannot simultaneously swear to his bank that his primary residence is outside the district while swearing to the city clerk that his continuous residence is within it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Escalona, a restaurant manager and real estate broker, called the suit an \u201celeventh-hour\u201d political hit job and insisted to the Herald that he meets all residency rules. He\u2019s said previously that he moved after redistricting pushed his property outside of District 3.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0Florida Politics analysis<\/a>\u00a0of all Miami candidates\u2019 residency records found Escalona is among the newest arrivals to the city. He previously lived in North Miami and the unincorporated West Little River neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge\u00a0Beatrice Butchko Sanchez\u00a0zeroed in on another red flag: a homestead exemption Escalona\u2019s wife claimed on the District 4 property.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re claiming a homestead exemption for one property, then that\u2019s your \u2026 homestead,\u201d she said. \u201cUnless somebody\u2019s willing to admit that\u2019s fraudulent and that they really live in the district.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political Cortadito previously\u00a0questioned the homestead exemption issue<\/a>. Escalona denied committing mortgage fraud.<\/p>\n

Election officials told the court that ballots are already printed, so his name cannot be removed. The Judge could, however, order notices at polling sites if she rules he\u2019s ineligible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just days before Miami\u2019s Nov. 4 election, a legal fight over where one City Commission candidate truly lives…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[16109,16101,16104,16119,16123,16106,16108,16105,16110,123,16115,16107,16102,16122,16100,16120,16124,16111,16118,125,124,16112,16113,16116,16117,16114,16103,16121],"class_list":["post-19884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-beatrice-butchko-sanchez-residency-ruling","tag-denise-galvez-turros-sues-rolando-escalona","tag-district-3-candidate-eligibility-trial","tag-district-4-property-ownership-dispute","tag-florida-politics-residency-analysis","tag-frank-carollo-miami-commission-candidate","tag-homestead-exemption-election-controversy","tag-joe-carollo-term-limited-successor","tag-latinas-for-trump-co-founder-lawsuit","tag-miami","tag-miami-ballot-disqualification-attempt","tag-miami-charter-amendment-residency-rule","tag-miami-city-commission-election-2025","tag-miami-commission-race-legal-drama","tag-miami-district-3-residency-lawsuit","tag-miami-election-ballot-printing-deadline","tag-miami-election-candidate-residency-records","tag-miami-election-legal-dispute","tag-miami-election-residency-affidavit","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-dade-circuit-court-candidate-case","tag-mortgage-fraud-allegations-miami-election","tag-oct-29-trial-before-nov-4-election","tag-political-cortadito-escalona-investigation","tag-redistricting-impact-on-candidate-eligibility","tag-rolando-escalona-residency-challenge","tag-voter-notices-for-ineligible-candidates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19884","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=19884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}