Updated on Nov. 22, 2023
Amid light voter turnout in Tuesday's runoff elections, Steven Meiner beat Michael Gongora to become Miami Beach's next mayor, while two incumbent Miami commissioners lost to challengers.
In the city of Miami, challenger Miguel Angel Gabela, an auto-parts salesman, cruised past suspended commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla for the city of Miami’s District 1 commission seat.
Gabela and Diaz de la Portilla fought an intense election battle — with at least one lawsuit challenging the results of their primary election — still pending in circuit court. Gabela garnered 1,751 votes (54.33%), while Diaz de la Portilla only garnered 1,472 votes (45.67%).
Diaz de la Portilla's seat was left vacant when he got suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis. He was arrested and charged in September with money laundering and official misconduct. He has rejected the allegations and has pleaded not guilty in court.
READ MORE: Five municipal elections across Miami-Dade. Who won? Who's headed to run-off?
In the District 2 race, incumbent Miami commissioner Sabina Covo lost to her challenger, Damian Pardo, who becomes the city's first openly gay commissioner.
In the Nov. 7 election, Covo garnered 40% support compared to Pardo's 26% backing in a crowded field of candidates. On Tuesday, Pardo got more 2,703 votes (52.56%), while Covo got only 2,440 votes (47.44%).
Miami Beach
After all votes were counted, Meiner won the mayorship by 765 votes. His vote tally was 5,403 (53.81%), while his opponent Gongora's was 4,638 (46.19%).
Meiner, a former Miami Beach commissioner, will be sworn Nov. 28 to replace three-term Mayor Dan Gelber, who is term-limited. He will join three new city commissioners elected Nov. 7: Tanya Bhatt, Joseph Magazine and David Suarez.
Meiner and Gongora were forced into a runoff after neither got more than 50% of the vote during the Nov. 7 election that included two other candidates.
Meiner's campaign website outlined his priorities as mayor. It included boosting law enforcement and security, countering overdevelopment and addressing homelessness. Meiner has been an enforcement attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since 2007.
Just days prior to the runoff election, the Miami Herald reported that three former female colleagues at the SEC said Meiner had made unwanted advances toward them, including one who reported his alleged conduct to supervisors that then prompted an internal review in 2016.
Meiner told the Herald in a statement that the sexual harassment allegations raised by former SEC colleagues were “absolutely untrue and offensive.”
City of Miami commission seats
The Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections reported that turnout was low at 14.5% for the combined total of voters in all races. Elections officials counted a total of 18,439 ballots. The number of registered voters: 127,235.
