Jesse Scheckner
Coral Gables City Commissioner Jorge Fors Jr.’s campaign for the Miami-Dade County Commission scored support this week from the South Florida Council of Firefighters (SFCFF) and the nation’s largest local Realtor association.
In a ringing endorsement, SFCFF President John O’Brien praised Fors’ work on the City Commission and said the organization is “proud” to back him.
The Doral-headquartered SFCFF, a nonprofit local chapter of the International Association of Firefighters, claims a current membership of nearly 3,700 firefighters.
“In your time on the Coral Gables dais, your commitment to public safety has been unwavering. As you have become further acquainted with the full scope of our organization, we have been consistently impressed by your attention to detail and command of the issues facing your constituents,” O’Brien wrote in a Wednesday letter.
“It is for those reasons and others that our organization remains eager to stand with you, just as you have previously stood with our brothers and sisters. We look forward to continuing to build upon this partnership, working with you in a collaborative effort to provide top-notch fire/rescue services in your hometown.”
Fors told Florida Politics he is “honored” to receive support from the SFCFF.
“They make endorsements with the greater good in mind,” he said. “They are heroes who are called to duty during our worst times to face visible and silent killers. I’m proud they recognized my commitment to public safety.”
Fors also confirmed the Miami Association of Realtors — which counts its membership at 60,000 real estate professionals across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties — is also backing his bid for the District 6 seat on the Miami-Dade Commission.
The organization is preparing a formal announcement and has contributed a to-be-disclosed donation to Fors’ campaign.
A lawyer in private life, Fors is one of four candidates vying to succeed Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who must leave office this year due to term limits. Sosa, who endorsed Fors as her preferred successor, was one of 17 current and former elected officials from Miami-Dade to host a May fundraiser benefiting his campaign.
He faces two fellow Republicans in the technically nonpartisan contest — government relations specialist Kevin Marino Cabrera and entrepreneur Dariel Fernandez — as well as Democratic Miami Springs Councilman Victor Vázquez.
Fors and Cabrera led the fundraising field through May with more than $924,000 amassed between them. Less than $10,000 separates their respective gains. Candidate fundraising figures for June are due Monday.
District 6 covers a central portion of Miami-Dade, including part or all of the cities of Miami Springs, Virginia Gardens and West Miami; parts of Coral Gables, Hialeah and Miami; and some of the county’s unincorporated area. The district also contains Miami International Airport, one of the county’s top two economic engines, and a Miami golf course being redeveloped as a soccer stadium complex for the city’s Major League Soccer team, Inter Miami CF.
Miami-Dade law requires a County Commission candidate to receive more than half the votes cast during the Aug. 23 Primary. If no candidate captures that share of the vote, the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes will compete in a runoff Nov. 8.
