![\"Commissioner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_MiamicommissionmeetingAGS135.JPG\" "\\"Commissioner")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Commissioner Damian Pardo speaks during a Miami City Commission meeting on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at Miami City Hall.<\/p>\n
Alie Skowronski<\/p>\n
askowronski@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Last year, two Florida courts ruled that Miami\u2019s efforts to switch the city from odd- to even-year elections without voter approval violated the state\u2019s constitution<\/a>.<\/p>\n So this summer \u2014 nearly one year after that legal debacle \u2014 Miami voters will get the chance to decide.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Miami City Commission advanced a referendum to the August primary ballot that seeks to switch the city to an even-year election cycle.<\/p>\n The ballot question is the latest version of the legislation, championed by Commissioner Damian Pardo, which has undergone several revisions and been a point of contention throughout the past year.<\/p>\n Touted as a reform measure that would increase the city\u2019s low voter turnout, the even-year proposal posed a mathematical problem that quickly became a political hot potato. That\u2019s because it could only be accomplished by either shortening elected officials\u2019 terms or lengthening them.<\/p>\n When city commissioners voted to give themselves and the mayor an extra year in office<\/a> last summer to achieve that end, residents called the move a \u201cpower grab,\u201d<\/a> and the courts found it violated the Florida Constitution.<\/p>\n But the latest version of the proposal seemingly sidesteps those political and legal pitfalls.<\/p>\n The charter change would shorten elected officials\u2019 terms to three years \u2014 just one time \u2014 and the switch wouldn\u2019t take effect until the next decade. That means the city\u2019s first even-year election would happen in 2034.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a breakdown of how Miami\u2019s election-date change would work if approved by voters:<\/p>\n The next elections for mayor and City Commission would take place as currently scheduled: in 2027 for Districts 1, 2 and 4; and 2029 for mayor and Districts 3 and 5. The winners of those races would be elected to a typical four-year term.The following election cycle would occur four years later, as usual: in 2031 for Districts 1, 2 and 4; and 2033 for mayor and Districts 3 and 5.The winners of the 2031 and 2033 races would be elected to one-time three-year terms.As a result of those shortened terms, the city would sync up with the even-year election cycle for those seats in 2034 and 2036, respectively.In 2034, the city would have an election for Districts 1, 2 and 4.In 2036, the city would have an election for mayor and Districts 3 and 5.From that point forward, elections would take place in even years, and terms would resume being four years each.<\/p>\n The City Commission voted 3-2 to send the proposal to the August ballot on Thursday. Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela and Christine King voted against putting the item on the ballot.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Miami Herald before Thursday\u2019s meeting, Pardo said the lifetime term limits<\/a> measure that Miami voters passed in the fall, limiting elected officials to two terms as mayor and two terms as commissioner, would not be affected by the shortened terms. In other words, the one-time three-year terms would count as full terms as it relates to term limits.<\/p>\n Asked why his proposal seeks to shorten terms starting in 2031 rather than immediately after the next election cycle, Pardo said there wasn\u2019t enough support among his colleagues on the commission to do so.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, Pardo said, \u201cA lot of people are very skittish about giving up time in their term.\u201d<\/p>\n How we got here<\/p>\n In 2025, Pardo had initially pushed legislation that would have gone into effect almost immediately. He, along with former Mayor Francis Suarez<\/a>, spearheaded last year\u2019s ordinance that accomplished the move to even years by giving the city\u2019s six elected officials an extra year in office.<\/p>\n That change, which postponed the 2025 election to 2026, enraged some residents. That\u2019s partly because it gave an extra year to two officials who were term-limited: Suarez, as well as former Commissioner Joe Carollo.<\/p>\n Former City Manager Emilio Gonz\u00e1lez, then a declared candidate for mayor, filed a lawsuit challenging the city\u2019s ordinance. A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge, as well as Florida\u2019s Third District Court of Appeal, sided with Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/p>\n The appeals court found<\/a> that the city \u201cmay not enact an ordinance which effectively amends its Charter without submission of the issue to the will and vote of its constituents by referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n The ruling effectively overturned the city\u2019s ordinance, reverting the election to November 2025.<\/p>\n The attempted election delay became a defining issue in last year\u2019s crowded race for mayor. Gonz\u00e1lez, through his legal challenge, pitched himself to voters as a champion for good governance.<\/p>\n He advanced to a runoff race with Eileen Higgins, who also criticized the city\u2019s ordinance. Higgins defeated Gonz\u00e1lez in a December runoff.<\/p>\n On the campaign trail, Higgins had pledged to shorten her term to three years to help achieve the switch to even-year elections. Two months after her swearing-in, she introduced legislation<\/a> to do just that.<\/p>\n But Higgins does not have a vote on the five-member City Commission, and her efforts to shorten her term<\/a> fell flat.<\/p>\n![\"Commissioners](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_MiamicommissionmeetingAGS164.JPG\" "\\"MIA_MiamicommissionmeetingAGS164.JPG\\"")
Commissioners Rolando Escalona, left, Christine King, center, and Miguel Gabela, right, talk during a Miami City Commission meeting on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at Miami City Hall. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n![\"City](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_MiamicommissionmeetingAGS101.JPG\" "\\"MIA_MiamicommissionmeetingAGS101.JPG\\"")
City Attorney George Wysong, left, speaks to Mayor Eileen Higgins during a Miami City Commission meeting on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at Miami City Hall. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com What about the mayor\u2019s term?<\/p>\n