Florida won’t be seeing a debate between its two gubernatorial candidates this election cycle, but in Little Havana a group of activists and performers are putting on a debate of their own.
The organizers of “The Last Debate” said they are bringing humor and absurdity to civic engagement with a fully improvised live debate with fake candidates running to be Miami-Dade County’s first intergalactic representative.
READ MORE: 'An exciting new chapter' for Miami City Ballet
“ I wanted to create an event where people can just, like, be in the space of politics without actually having to be in politics,” organizer Mel De Miami told WLRN. De Miami came up with the idea and will be one of the fake candidates. “I think that a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of being civically engaged and... [it's about] really just taking away that barrier so that people can be in that space in a way that is full of humor and satire.”
The spoof debate is sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Artistic Activism. The Last Debate is part of a larger project by De Miami and others called “Baddies to the Ballot.” It's the only project representing Florida as part of the center's national grant for "radically ridiculous” ways to get people civically engaged.
The Last Debate will feature three candidates portrayed by De Miami and drag performers Karla Croqueta and Auntie Maim. De Miami said the candidates will represent different archetypes of politicians.
“ The corrupt evil politician or the one that's, like, such a hippie that they don't know what they're talking about and they're like, 'Yes, I just want peace and love and happiness for everyone,’” De Miami said.
The candidates will talk about what they would do if they were elected as Miami-Dade’s intergalactic representative, like whether or not to ban Teslas in space. But they will also talk about real issues in Miami-Dade like where an incinerator should be built — but they’d consider the moon as a location.
They said that after the debate concludes, participants will be able to vote for their favorite candidate. As those ballots are being counted, co-organizer Nina Ahmadi will go through the amendments and other topics on the ballot for Miami-Dade County and City of Miami and answer questions from the audience.
“I'm gonna go through the amendments and referendums in very plain, simple terms to make the information as accessible as possible and just talking about where people can find more information if they need it,” Ahmadi said.
Ahmadi said the spoof debate is an opportunity to make people feel more connected to their government during a time when being civically engaged can be intimidating.
“ The fact that we're not having actual debates right now in Florida feels like just another layer of removal from a connection between the people representing their constituents and their actual constituents,” they said. “ My intention is to also make a statement about... just sort of like the song and dance and the performance that politics has become — and not a performance in the fun way.”
The Last Debate starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday at event venue Urbanex Events in Little Havana.
