{"id":302165,"date":"2026-06-10T03:57:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T03:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/302165\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T03:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T03:57:23","slug":"five-miami-dade-commissioners-get-elected-without-a-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/302165\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Miami-Dade commissioners get elected without a vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Five<\/p>\n

Five candidates won four-year terms on the Miami-Dade County Commission on Tuesday when the noon filing deadline passed with no other candidate filing for their elections. From left to right are Steve Gallon III, a school board member who won the District 1 seat being vacated by Commissioner Oliver Gilbert; Juan Carlos Bermudez, the incumbent commissioner of District 12; Natalie Milian Orbis, the incumbent commissioner of District 6; Anthony Rodriguez, the incumbent commissioner of District 10; and Micky Steinberg, the incumbent commissioner of District 4.<\/p>\n

Miami Herald file photos<\/p>\n

One newcomer and four Miami-Dade commissioners secured four-year terms on Tuesday when the noon filing deadline passed and they were the only candidates to file for their elections.<\/p>\n

Steve Gallon III, an elected member of the Miami-Dade School Board, only had to fill out two forms to secure his seat on the County Commission. He\u2019s set to replace outgoing Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who is running for Congress<\/a> and must give up his county seat representing the Miami Gardens area in January.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Gallon, 57, was the only candidate for Gilbert\u2019s District 1 seat, meaning the two sets of forms he filed with the Elections office \u2014 filing and qualifying \u2014 were enough for him to be elected outright. He has resigned his school board seat.<\/p>\n

Along with Gallon\u2019s automatic election, four incumbent commissioners also won new four-year terms on Tuesday after nobody filed to run against them. Those four commissioners are:<\/p>\n

Juan Carlos Bermudez, 64, who represents the Doral area as Miami-Dade\u2019s District 12 commissioner. The former Doral mayor won his seat by election in 2022, replacing the term-limited Jose \u201cPepe\u201d Diaz, who is now mayor of Sweetwater.Natalie Milian Orbis, 39, who represents the area around Miami International Airport as Miami-Dade\u2019s District 6 commissioner. The former vice mayor of West Miami, commissioners appointed Milian Orbis last year to fill the seat vacated by Kevin Cabrera, the one-term commissioner who was named ambassador to Panama by President Donald Trump. While commissioners can only serve two consecutive four-year terms, Milian Orbis is free to run again in 2030, when she\u2019ll be up for her second full term.Anthony Rodriguez, 38, who represents the Westchester area as Miami-Dade\u2019s District 10 commissioner. The former Florida House member won his seat through an election in 2022, replacing the term-limited Javier Souto. Fellow commissioners elected Rodriguez chair of the board in 2024, and his term in that powerful position ends after the November election.Micky Steinberg, 49, who represents the Miami Beach area as Miami-Dade\u2019s District 4 commissioner. The former Miami Beach commissioner also won her seat without an election in 2022 when she filed to replace her term-limited predecessor, Sally Heyman, and nobody else chose to run. Now facing her own term-limited exit in 2030, Steinberg is on track to serve on the commission for eight years without ever appearing on a County Commission ballot.<\/p>\n

Three sitting commissioners face challengers for the Aug. 18 election that could decide each of the races. Those seats are:<\/p>\n

District 2: An area that includes northern Miami and several municipalities north of the city, including Opa-locka, North Miami Beach and North Miami, District 2 is represented by Commissioner Marleine Bastien.<\/p>\n

\"Miami-Dade Miami-Dade Commissioner Marleine Bastien speaks during a Sept. 4, 2025, meeting. She is running for reelection this year. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The former head of a social services charity that focuses on Haitian immigrants, the Family Action Network Movement, Bastien, 67, won her seat in the 2022 election to replace the term-limited Jean Monestime.<\/p>\n

Two challengers are running for Bastien\u2019s seat. Ernst Jean Louis, 66, founded the Kiskeya Herald Creole-language newspaper and now works as a security guard. This is his first run for elected office. Miguel \u201cSkip\u201d Quintero, 47, owns a home-based trapeze school and ran for county mayor in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Ernst Ernst Jean Louis is a candidate for the District 2 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. By Douglas Hanks dhanks@miamiherald.com \"Miguel Miguel Quintero is a candidate for the District 2 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. Photo courtesy of the Quintero campaign <\/p>\n

District 5: Commissioner Vicki Lopez, 68, faces her first County Commission election after commissioners opted to appoint her to a vacant District 5 seat in November rather than call for a special election. The vacancy was caused by the resignation of Eileen Higgins, who gave up her county seat to run for Miami mayor \u2014 a race she won in December.<\/p>\n

\"Vicki Miami-Dade Commissioner Vicki Lopez is running for her first four-year term as the county\u2019s District 5 commissioner, a seat she was appointed to at the end of 2025. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Lopez was a member of the Florida House at the time of her appointment to a seat representing parts of Miami and the southern portion of Miami Beach. She faces two challengers. Rob Piper, 54, is a retired U.S. Marine who ran for the Miami City Commission last year. Joe Sanchez, 61, is a former Miami commissioner and retired Florida state trooper who ran for sheriff in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Rob Rob Piper is a candidate for the District 5 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. \"Joe Joe Sanchez is a candidate for the District 5 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

District 8: An area that includes suburban areas south of Miami, District 8 includes Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay and parts of Homestead. Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, 44, has held the District 8 seat since 2020, when commissioners appointed her to fill a vacancy created when Daniella Levine Cava was elected county mayor.<\/p>\n

\"Miami-Dade Miami-Dade Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins is running for reelection for the District 8 seat. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Cohen Higgins won her first four-year term two years later. She faces two challengers this year. John DuBois, 64, a former Palmetto Bay vice mayor, had filed to run for village mayor before turning in papers for the District 8 seat. Martha \u201cVega\u201d Hero, 60, owns a consulting firm, and this is her first run for office.<\/p>\n

\"John John DuBois is a candidate for the District 8 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. Village of Palmetto Bay \"Martha Martha \u201cVega\u201d Hero is a candidate for the District 8 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. <\/p>\n

The 13-seat commission has elections for its members every other year, with the even-numbered districts scheduled for years when Florida elects a governor and the odd-numbered districts scheduled for years when the United States elects a president. That schedule can be altered under special circumstances, including when a sitting commissioner vacates a seat early.<\/p>\n

Florida law required Gilbert to resign his commission seat in order to qualify for the Democratic primary that will determine who replaces U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in District 24, and he scheduled his resignation for Jan. 3, the day Wilson\u2019s successor will be sworn into Congress.<\/p>\n

Under Miami-Dade rules, an appointee to a vacant commission seat must face voters at the next regular county election. That\u2019s why Lopez, who represents an odd-numbered district, will be on the ballot in August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five candidates won four-year terms on the Miami-Dade County Commission on Tuesday when the noon filing deadline passed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-302165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302165","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=302165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}