Jesse Scheckner
Well, that was easy.
Katherine Fernandez Rundle has automatically won another four years as Miami-Dade County State Attorney after no one filed to run against her. She’ll be sworn into a seventh term on Jan. 7.
Rundle coasted into re-election at noon Friday, the deadline for candidates seeking federal, State Attorney, Public Defender and judicial offices to qualify by fee or petition. As was the case in 2016, she won unopposed.
In a statement shared with Florida Politics, Rundle said she is “truly humbled, grateful and honored,” to secure re-election without opposition.
“This is a testament to our continued work in the community and my longstanding commitment to always putting public safety first and seeking justice for victims, fairness for all,” she said.
“I am also grateful to the thousands of men and women of the State Attorney’s Office (SAO), who have served and dedicated themselves selflessly to our community. I look forward to our continued work in my next term on human trafficking initiatives as Miami-Dade experiences global attention, a promise to hold accountable those who break the public trust and take on violent criminals who prey on our children, seniors and most vulnerable residents.
“We will also remain vigilant with our Hate Crimes prosecutors as the rise of antisemitism is deeply troubling. Our message is clear — if you target anyone for their religious beliefs, race or who they love, you will be met with the full force of the law and held accountable.”
Despite her advantage as a long-tenured incumbent — 2025 marks her 32nd year as Miami-Dade’s top prosecutor — Rundle fundraised like she expected a formidable challenge.
She stacked $488,000 since April through her campaign account, according to Division of Elections records, including $170,000 worth of refundable self-loans and a plethora of four-figure donations from mostly real estate companies and lawyers.
A political committee supporting her campaign called Citizens for Justice PC added another $321,000 since October.
Rundle, a 73-year-old Democrat, leads an office with more than 150 prosecutors and hundreds of support staff members, which she’s frequently compared to a large Miami law firm.
She has introduced several major programs to combat crime, recidivism and human trafficking. She is the only State Attorney in Florida operating a Child Support Enforcement Office. Since 2006, the SAO has run a “Second Chance” program with the Miami-Dade Clerk’s Office to seal and expunge the records of eligible ex-offenders who complete a workshop series.
Rundle also oversaw the creation of an anti-human trafficking task force in 2012 and a Miami-Dade Veterans Court in 2017.
But she has also faced criticism over the years for her handling of police shooting cases, having never prosecuted an officer for a shooting-related death.
In 2020, following the on-video murder of George Floyd and the national protests that followed, the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee approved a resolution asking her to forgo running for office again. She disregarded that request and won re-election by 22 percentage points.
More recently, she drew condemnation for her office’s mishandling of a high-profile murder case in which a Judge dismissed two prosecutors for misconduct and for not being able to take part in investigations of elected officials suspected of wrongdoing due to her personal ties to them.
Some of the SAO’s duties will shift to Miami-Dade’s incoming Sheriff’s Office next year. Rundle told the Miami Herald she expected the transfers to be seamless.
