In late September, resident\u00a0Jo Manning\u00a0filed\u00a0complaints<\/a>\u00a0with the state\u2019s elections and ethics agencies, accusing Suarez of illegally using the city seal and government letterhead in attacks against Dominguez.<\/p>\n Republican Rep.\u00a0Fabi\u00e1n Basabe\u00a0piled on, circulating a video clip of Dom\u00ednguez he said showed her involved in a \u201cbackroom grift.\u201d She called the charge \u201ca baseless smear. The\u00a0full video<\/a>\u00a0showed her speaking about potential future referendums, not campaign funding or developer kickbacks.<\/p>\n Dom\u00ednguez stressed her record on neighborhood engagement and infrastructure. Her priorities for a second term included an affordable-housing trust fund, improved water quality via \u201cnanobubble<\/a>\u201d technology and completion of West Avenue resiliency projects.<\/p>\n Karlton, a lifelong Beach resident and property investor, cast himself as a fiscal watchdog who would fight overdevelopment and government waste.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not anybody\u2019s shill,\u201d he\u00a0told the Herald<\/a>, adding that his 33 years in business equip him to negotiate contracts and improve efficiency. He said the city \u201cgrants too many favors to developers\u201d and that he wanted stricter zoning oversight.<\/p>\n Karlton\u2019s activism dated back more than a decade. In 2011, he began\u00a0clashing with boaters<\/a>\u00a0who lived onboard near his ocean-facing backyard. He ended up\u00a0traveling to Tallahassee<\/a>\u00a0years later to seek later-passed legislation<\/a> addressing the issue.<\/p>\n Dominguez has raised almost $319,000 of which about a third came from her bank account. Donations came through a blend of business and personal checks.<\/p>\n Karlton\u2019s raised and spent nearly $187,000 through the end of October, all of it self-given.<\/p>\n City Commission, Group 3<\/p>\n To secure a second term, Fernandez, a 39-year-old Democrat, had to get by Mary, a 45-year-old independent-turned Republican and former member of the city\u2019s Black Affairs Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n In his first term, Fernandez, the only openly gay member of the commission, championed policies blending compassion and enforcement. He authored the city\u2019s \u201cText Before Tow\u201d program, which he said reduced resident tows by 90%, and Miami Beach\u2019s homelessness ordinance, which Basabe argues is\u00a0not in compliance<\/a>\u00a0with a newer state law.<\/p>\n Fernandez also led efforts to clean local waters, improve flood-control infrastructure, strengthen tenant and condo-owner protections, roll back late-night alcohol hours in residential areas, preserve the Art Deco Historic District and expand the Freebee micro-transit service.<\/p>\n He was the loudest voice in local government against the\u00a0Resiliency and Safe Structures Act<\/a>, which the Legislature passed in response to the 2021 Surfside condo collapse, arguing its too-broad effects would destroy many of Miami Beach\u2019s historic buildings.<\/p>\n He and several state lawmakers, including Basabe and Miami Gardens Democratic Sen.\u00a0Shevrin Jones, worked to amend the measure\u2019s language to mitigate its potentially negative impacts.<\/p>\n Mary ran a modest campaign emphasizing inclusion and transparency.<\/p>\n In addition to boilerplate priorities \u2014 stopping overdevelopment, improving public safety and standing up for small businesses \u2014 he said he wanted to clean up Miami Beach\u2019s elections, end \u201cbackroom deals\u201d that favor builders over residents and crack down on abuses by short-term rental property owners.<\/p>\n In terms of fundraising, there was a massive divide between the candidates. Fernandez has raised more than $414,000 between his campaign account and political committee,\u00a0A Safer Miami Beach<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ample donations came from real estate interests, local businesses and residents from in and around Miami Beach. He also loaned his campaign $25,000.<\/p>\n Mary raised about $6,200 of which roughly a third was self-given.<\/p>\n City Commission, Group 1<\/p>\n The contest for the open Group 1 seat \u2014 which Rosen Gonzalez vacated to run for Mayor \u2014 was the city\u2019s most crowded this year. Candidates included a nonprofit consultant, two real estate pros, a lawyer, a restaurateur and a government worker.<\/p>\n Ciraldo, a former Executive Director of the Miami Design Preservation League, hoped to take his preservationist bona fides to City Hall.<\/p>\n He called overdevelopment \u201cthe most pressing issue, threatening our quality of life, traffic and environment\u201d in answers to a questionnaire<\/a>\u00a0the Herald sent candidates. If elected, he promised to defend historic districts, curb traffic-intensive projects, ensure transparency in zoning and \u201cput residents \u2014 not special interests \u2014 at the center of city decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n A 42-year-old Democrat and the founder of Young Folks Consulting, which helps nonprofits, advocacy groups and public-impact startups, Ciraldo raised about $107,000 between his campaign account and political committee,\u00a0Our Beach Our Future<\/a>. He\u2019s also notched several\u00a0community endorsements<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ehrlich, a real estate investor and former member of the city\u2019s Historic Preservation Board and a Bass Museum trustee, pitched himself as a pragmatic modernizer.<\/p>\n \u201cI see Washington Ave., Lincoln Road, 41st Street and Ocean Drive revitalized with energy and innovation,\u201d the 44-year-old Democrat told the Herald.<\/p>\n But he also\u00a0drew scrutiny<\/a>\u00a0for developer-linked donations to his political committee,\u00a0Miami Beach in Focus<\/a>, which, together with his campaign account, raised $190,500 through the end of last month.<\/p>\n Frankel, a Realtor who switched from Republican to no party affiliation in 2022, campaigned on a promise to bring new perspective to the dais while modernizing the city\u2019s infrastructure, particularly its flood-mitigation systems.<\/p>\n At 28, she was the youngest person running for a Miami Beach elected post this year.<\/p>\n She reported raising about $18,000 through Oct. 30, roughly a third of which came through self-loans and donors with \u201cFrankel\u201d in their names.<\/p>\n Jimenez, the founder of the Park View Island Sustainable Association and owner of Bella Cuba restaurant, cited firsthand success in\u00a0securing $10 million<\/a>\u00a0for infrastructure upgrades to North Beach for sewer and stormwater systems, waterways and parks.<\/p>\n Cleaning up Miami Beach, specifically its waters, has been a focus of the 39-year-old independent\u2019s for the better part of a decade, since a major sewer main break spilled\u00a01.6 million gallons<\/a>\u00a0of raw sewage into public waters.<\/p>\n He\u2019s\u00a0led beach cleanups<\/a>\u00a0for years.<\/p>\n \u201cI work for the people, not lobby groups, special interests or developers,\u201d he told the Herald.<\/p>\n Jimenez raised $27,600. Of that, $23,000 came from his bank account.<\/p>\n City employee\u00a0Monica Matteo-Salinas, 46, earned the\u00a0Herald\u2019s endorsement<\/a> for her grasp of policy and pragmatic proposals. A former aide to two sitting Democratic City Commissioners, Matteo-Salinas, a Democrat, vowed to expand trolley service, pursue affordable housing purchases and establish a new \u201cwater czar\u201d position in the city, paid by resort taxes.<\/p>\n She raised about $66,700 between her campaign account and a little-used political committee,\u00a0Voters for Good Government<\/a>, \u00a0inclusive of a $25,000 self-loan.<\/p>\n Pardo Pope, a 44-year-old Republican lawyer, guardian ad litem and member of the city\u2019s Commission for Women, ran a campaign emphasizing public safety, education and family services.<\/p>\n Of $168,000 she reported raising through her campaign account and political committee,\u00a0Miami Beach Together<\/a>, roughly a third came from her bank account.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laura-Dominguez-Fred-karlton-640x360.png\")
<\/a>(L-R) Laura Dominguez and Fred Karlton. Images via the candidates.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Alex-Fernandez-Luidgi-mary-640x360.png\")
<\/a>(L-R) Alex Fernandez and Luidgi Mary. Images via the candidates.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Daniel-Ciraldo-Brian-Ehrlich-Ava-Frankel-Omar-Jimenez-Monica-Matteo-Salinas-Monique-Pardo-Pope-640x3.png\")
<\/a>(Clockwise from top left) Daniel Ciraldo, Brian Ehrlich, Ava Frankel, Omar Jimenez, Monica Matteo-Salinas and Monique Pardo Pope ran to replace Kristen Rosen Gonzalez on the City Commission. Images via the candidates.<\/p>\n