Miami voters are in for another confusing election cycle next month, following a court ruling Wednesday morning.
Under a recently passed ballot referendum, Frank Carollo, a former two-term commissioner for the city's District 3, should not be able to run for office again. The referendum, which passed with outsized voter support, says no elected official who has served two terms as either mayor or commissioner can hold elected office in the city again. But on the same night that referendum passed, Carollo was running to take his old seat and advanced to the runoff with nearly 38% of the vote.
The conflicting results on Nov. 4 led three Miami residents to file suit against Carollo, seeking to remove him from the Dec. 9 runoff ballot by arguing the new term limits rule disqualifies him.
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But Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Peter R. Lopez ruled that Carollo can remain on the ballot and face off against opponent Oscar Alejandro — who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit — in the runoff.
“This court will not interfere with it or with the orderly process of the election,” Lopez said, as first reported by the Miami Herald.
In a statement following the court ruling, plaintiffs Alejandro and Alex Almirola claimed the judge undermined the will of the voters by not following the referendum language as written.
"Today’s decision is deeply disappointing and disenfranchises the more than 80% of Miami voters who overwhelmingly approved lifetime term limits applied retroactively, as clearly written on the ballot, to end the revolving door of politicians cycling through public office," the plaintiffs said in a written statement.
Lifetime term limits for elected officials is a reform championed by City Commissioner Damian Pardo. Pardo also pushed to move the city elections to even years and shift this year's election to 2026. By pushing the election, Pardo hoped to avoid exactly the situation that is playing out now with Carollo's candidacy. If the commission race was moved to 2026 and the lifetime term limits had passed this November, Carollo would not have qualified.
Pardo told WLRN he hopes that voters now see why he was pushing to change the election date so quickly to avoid confusion.
