It is not often you see a clear case of a stolen election, but that’s what the Miami City Commission has voted to do.
The city’s mayor and commissioners were supposed to be up for reelection in November but the panel, in a 3-2 vote, has decided to punt the whole thing until next year, defying the city’s charter that says elections are held in odd-numbered years.
To carry out the change, the commission decided that two of its members — and the term-limited mayor — will get another year in office without having to get voters’ OK.
The idea has sparked feverish blowback from some city residents and already drawn a lawsuit from Emilio Gonzalez, one of the candidates who’d already declared for the mayor’s race this year.
“This is not about me. This is about our ability to vote,” he told The Washington Times. “I spent my entire adult career in the military defending democracy around the world, and now I’ve got to come over here and defend democracy in my hometown.”
State Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued an opinion saying any change to the election date would require approval by the city’s voters in a referendum. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled he backs the attorney general.
Mayor Francis Suarez now must decide whether to veto the change — though The Miami Herald reported last month that he was lobbying behind the scenes to push the plan through.
Mr. Suarez’s office didn’t respond to an inquiry for this story.
Commissioners are not elected as partisans, though unofficially two of the three who backed the change are considered Democrats.
They defended the move as a way to boost turnout and save money because the new election date will coincide with the big federal elections that happen in even-numbered years.
Miami’s city attorney has said the date change is legal and pointed to other South Florida cities that have changed their dates by commission vote.
The idea of canceling an election has drawn ire from some parts of the city’s immigrant-heavy Latin American community.
Some of them unloaded on the commission during meetings last month, according to The Herald.
“This commission is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons,” said Rammel Guzman, 49, who compared the vote — unfavorably — to Hugo Chavez, the controversial former Venezuelan leader.
“I was born in Venezuela, and in 1999 the constitution was reformed by Chávez, and even he put it to a vote — we need to do better than that,” Mr. Guzman said, according to The Herald.
Another constituent called the change “voter suppression.”
In addition to the mayor’s office, two of the five commissioner posts were due for election this year.
Commission Chair Christine King, one of those due for reelection, voted for it — in effect giving herself an extra year before facing voters again.
Commissioner Joe Carollo, who is term-limited and cannot seek reelection but is believed to be eyeing a run for mayor, voted against the change. He’s also served a couple of terms as city mayor around the turn of the century.
Mr. Carollo would get another year in office as commissioner if the decision is not overturned.
Miami City is part of the broader Miami-Dade County, which also has its own mayor.
City commissioners are currently limited to two consecutive terms but can run again after a one-term break.
The commission has backed a change that would stiffen that to a lifetime two-term limit. The commissioners did call for putting that change to voters in a referendum.
Mr. Suarez is completing his second two-term stint as mayor, so the change would mean he would have served a total of 17 years.
Hanging over Mr. Suarez is the itchy trigger finger of Mr. DeSantis, who has shown no reluctance to fire local officials he feels are violating their terms of office. The state’s supreme court has upheld his power to do so.
Mr. Gonzalez, the mayoral candidate who has sued to block the change unless it goes to voters, said if the commission prevails, there’s little to stop the commission from canceling the next election, too.
He said the vote underscores a sense that the city’s government has been captured by corruption.
“I refuse to just sit on my hands and say, ‘Oh well, that’s how Miami is,’” he told The Times.
