Jesse Scheckner
Lawyer Bryan Morera is heading to the Miami Lakes Town Council after winning a runoff race Tuesday night.
With all seven of the town’s precincts reporting at 7:33 p.m., Morera had 56.5% of the vote to defeat former Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Town Manager Esther Colon in a technically nonpartisan contest for Seat 6 on the Council.
About 10% of the town’s 20,045 voters — 2,077 people — cast ballots in the runoff.
Morera told Florida Politics the win felt “very rewarding.”
“I’m incredibly proud of the whole team, my family, my friends, and everyone who contributed, whether it was money, time, support, or whatever,” he said. “Now the real work begins.”
Asked whether the election remained as positive as he characterized it as being when he secured his runoff spot on April 9, Morera said, “Unfortunately not.”
“I wish it could have,” he continued. “Nonetheless, I’m proud of the fact that our tea, our internal team, did stay out of any negativity, stayed above the fray. And we’re proud of the result.”
Over the past few weeks, text ads by a group called Concerned Residents of Miami Lakes said electing Colon could put a “radical woke Commissioner” into office. Morera denied being involved in or knowing who was behind the texts during a candidate forum held less than a week before Election Day but said he agreed that Miami Lakes couldn’t afford woke ideology at Town Hall.
Mayor Manny Cid also opposed holding a Special Election this month to fill a vacant seat on the Town Council.
Morera will serve the remaining term of ex-Vice Mayor Carlos Alvarez through November 2026. The town generally holds its elections in November, but a Special Election was called for April after Alvarez’s resignation in mid-November last year.
In a statement, Cid congratulated Morera for his victory while lamenting that the election’s $115,000 cost could have paid for hiring more police.
“Our rank and file officers are speaking out about augmenting our department, and I’m hopeful that we can add three officers to the force this year,” he said. “This election could have been done in November at no cost to our taxpayers while adding another officer to our force.”
Florida Politics contacted Colon for a comment and will update this report upon receipt of one.
She and Morera secured their spots in the runoff earlier this month after outpacing social worker Hector Abad, former Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Nelson Rodriguez and Autism Charter School spokesperson John Rogger in a five-way contest.
All candidates concurred that the town’s most pressing issues were taxes, infrastructure, traffic congestion, property damage from limestone blast mining, and public safety. They also agreed that Miami Lakes should continue outsourcing its policing needs to Miami-Dade County and that the town’s residents shouldn’t exclusively shoulder the cost of renovating Optimism Park.
Morera, a business lawyer in private practice, ran as a first-time candidate at 32 years old. He is a Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce member and previously served on the town’s Blasting Advisory Board.
In addition to promising to lower taxes, address blast mining problems, and boost public safety, he vowed to dedicate more town resources to enforcing code compliance and beautifying Miami Lakes, including restoring local tree canopies.
He led all candidates in fundraising, collecting over $20,000 through the April 9 Special Election from roughly 100 personal checks, around a handful of business contributions and donations from a few political committees. Among them are the government relations arm of the Miami Association of Realtors, Miami-Dade Commissioner René García’s political committee, and New Dade PAC, a committee that largely gives to conservative candidates.
From April 10 to 25, he raised another $10,000 through more than 35 personal checks, two corporate donations, and another $1,000 from the Miami Association of Realtors.
Morera spent more than $22,000, close to 40% of which occurred after the runoff was called. The preponderance of that later share of spending covered direct mail, text and print advertising.
His Facebook page said he received endorsements from García, Republican Rep. Tom Fabricio, School Board member Robert Alonso, Council members Luis Collazo, Josh Dieguez and Marilyn Ruano, and former Vice Mayor Frank Mingo.
Colon, 70, is a veteran of local government and a 30-year resident of Miami Lakes. She went into the runoff as an underdog after receiving just eight more votes than Abad and raising less than half the money Morera collected in the lead-up to the April 9 election.
About half of her campaign haul was self-funded. The remainder overwhelmingly came through personal checks.
She maintained that fundraising model from April 10-25, amassing about $5,500, including $2,500 worth of self-contributions and $3,000 in donations from Miami Lakes residents.
If elected, she vowed to work on addressing the town’s traffic problems, especially in school zones, upgrading local infrastructure with a focus on drainage, road, and pedestrian projects, and making Miami Lakes’ government more fiscally accountable and transparent.
This election marked her third run at the Miami Lakes Council. She is also a retired professor and has served in numerous volunteer capacities in the town, including as a member of the Blasting Advisory, Cultural Affairs, Sheriff Ordinance Ad Hoc and Elderly Affairs committees.
Miami Lakes Council members and the Mayor are elected and serve at-large, meaning all town residents can vote for candidates seeking any elected office in a given election. Term lengths are typically four years.
