Dan Gelber reelected as Miami Beach Mayor without opposition

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has earned a second term after no candidates filed to challenge him by Friday’s deadline.

“I am grateful to all those that have been supportive of my candidacy and honored to have the confidence of my community,” Gelber said in a Friday statement upon clinching a second term.

Qualifying for the Miami Beach elections ran from Tuesday, Sept. 3 to Friday, Sept. 6.

“I am also grateful to my family for without their support and sacrifice I would never be able to serve,” he added.

“Being Mayor of my hometown has been my great honor and it is not a trust I take for granted. I will continue to work every day to make our community the special place we love.”

Gelber, a Democrat, was first elected in 2017. He succeeded Philip Levine, who ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 2018.

Gelber is a former House lawmaker who served 2000-10, including a stint as Democratic Leader. The Miami Beach native also ran for Attorney General in 2010, losing out to Republican Pam Bondi.

He’s also a former federal prosecutor who “was tapped by (then-)U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn to be Chief Counsel and Staff Director to the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations,” according to his online bio.

Gelber “led a team of prosecutors and federal agents in investigating international terrorism, cyber security issues, and fraud waste and abuse in government programs.”

He lives with wife Joan Silverstein and their three children in Miami Beach.