Raquel Regalado adds $20K in 10 days to defend Miami-Dade Commission seat

Commissioner Raquel Regalado put an end to rumors she was eying one of Miami-Dade’s constitutional offices on Sept. 21, when she filed to run for the seat representing District 7 at County Hall.

In 10 days, she raised $20,000 between her campaign account and political committee.

She spent about a quarter of that by the end of the third quarter, when carry-over funds in the PC from prior races set her balance at nearly $594,000.

Her sole challenger so far, Miami-Dade Schools Police officer, real estate executive and appointed Community Council Zoning Appeals Board member Richard Praschnik, raised $11,000. Most of it was his money.

Both candidates are Republican, though the Miami-Dade Commission and its races are technically nonpartisan.

Regalado’s biggest benefactor last month was Meuchadim of Florida, a limited liability subsidiary of Duty Free Americas, the Western Hemisphere’s largest duty-free retailer. The company operates more than 20 stores at Miami International Airport, one of Miami-Dade’s two main economic generators over which the County Commission has broad control.

She also accepted $5,000 from Bringtown Corp., a Coral Gables-based real estate investment firm, and $2,000 from Adebayo Coker, President of Doral-headquartered civil and transportation engineering company HBC Engineer.

She spent $5,000. All but $175 of it went to GEMRT, a Coral Gables CPA firm. The rest covered fundraising and bank fees.

A former Miami-Dade School Board member, Regalado is a lawyer by training who has hosted several Spanish-language radio and television programs.

Praschnik, who filed to run in District 7 on July 10, was largely self-reliant in his first quarter of fundraising.

He gave his campaign account $8,000. His father, Max Praschnik, whom the Florida Division of Corporations list as an executive of three Miami real estate companies, contributed $1,000.

One of the companies, Blanca Nieves Rose Garden LLC, added another $1,000.

Praschnik’s biography on his campaign website says he is chief operating officer for “a Florida corporation specializing in real estate and rental properties.”

He about $2,400 between July 25 and Aug. 15. Close to half went to direct mail services from Miami-based printing company Orion Press.

The sole expenditure through his political committee, Building a Stronger Community, was a $400 payment to Tallahassee-based Reaganista LLC for compliance and accounting services.

The rest of his spending covered accounting fees and a $110 site reservation.

District 7 covers Pinecrest, Key Biscayne, portions of Coral Gables, South Miami and Miami, including Coconut Grove and Virginia Key, and the unincorporated neighborhoods of Kendall and Sunset.

Praschnik told Florida Politics he’s challenging Regalado because he believes she has neglected the Kendall area, where he lives.

“I’m deeply involved in the Kendall area, and a lot of us here are seeing that there isn’t much engagement from here here,” he said. “She’s mostly focusing on Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. We want more attention paid to Kendall as well.”

All candidates for each Miami-Dade Commission seat will compete against one another in the Aug. 20, 2024, Primary Election, regardless of party affiliation.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the two top vote-earners will compete in a runoff culminating in the Nov. 5, 2024, General Election.

Candidates faced a Tuesday deadline to report all campaign finance activity through Sept. 30.

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This report has been updated to include details about Praschnik’s political affiliation, political committee and a quote from the candidate.