Jesse Scheckner
Assistant Miami-Dade Police Director Rosie Cordero-Stutz is heading to the General Election for county Sheriff after beating 10 other candidates, all current or former law enforcement professionals, in a Republican Primary.
With all precincts reporting Tuesday, Cordero-Stutz had 24% of the vote to clinch her spot on the Nov. 5 ballot. Her closest competitors were Florida State Trooper Joe Sanchez, retired Miami-Dade Police Maj. Mario Knapp and Miami-Dade Police Lt. Ernie Rodriguez, who took 22%, 14% and 9.6% of the vote, respectively.
“I am deeply grateful to the Miami-Dade voters who exercised their right to vote, whether for me or another candidate. It is now time to unite and work together for the county,” Cordero-Stutz said in a statement.
“With over 28 years of experience in the Miami-Dade County Police Department, starting as a patrol officer and rising to Assistant Director, I have firsthand knowledge of our community and its needs. My long-standing roots and trust within the community did not begin two years ago. They were built over nearly three decades of dedicated service to this community.
“My unwavering dedication together with my professional training, position me as the most qualified candidate to ensure the safety of all Miami-Dade residents as the next sheriff.”
Florida Politics contacted Sanchez and Knapp’s campaigns for comment and will update this report upon receipt of responses.
Miami-Dade hasn’t had an elected Sheriff since 1966, when county voters eliminated the position after a grand jury report revealed rampant corruption within the agency. Instead, the county Mayor today serves as the de facto Sheriff and has since had an appointed Police Director or Chief of Public Safety who reports to them.
That will soon change, due to a 2018 referendum in which 58% of Miami-Dade voters joined a statewide supermajority in approving a constitutional amendment requiring that the county join Florida’s 66 other counties in having an elected Sheriff.
For a while, former Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez appeared to be a shoo-in for the job. He was well-liked in the department and on both sides of the political aisle, having served under both Republican and Democratic Mayors. But he dropped out of the race in September following an attempted suicide.
A flood of candidates followed, all hoping to assume control of Miami-Dade’s $1 billion law enforcement budget, 5,000 or so sworn officers and police employees, the county Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s $500 million budget and around 3,000 prison and jail workers.
The winner of the Nov. 5 General Election will be responsible for leading the transition from county government to the independent Sheriff’s Office.
Cordero-Stutz, Assistant Director of Investigative Services at the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), has been working on it. Ramirez appointed her Chair of the Sheriff Internal Transition Team, giving her the responsibility of determining how best to handle the switchover.
She filed to run in October, roughly a month after Ramirez dropped out, and by Aug. 2 amassed close to $436,000 and an impressive roster of endorsers.
A 28-year MDPD veteran, rising through the ranks from working as a street cop to serving as a detective, sergeant, major and in her current administrative role, Cordero-Stutz promised, if elected, to strengthen police-community relations while upholding law-and-order policies.
She vowed to have a “zero-tolerance policy” on public corruption, expand mental health services, make the Sheriff’s Office transparent and accountable, and focus on training and professional growth within the agency.
Many GOP notables felt she had the right stuff to get it done; Donald Trump, Rick Scott, Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, whose son and daughter-in-law ran Cordero-Stutz’s campaign, all confirmed their support of her.
So did 27 current Florida Sheriffs and former Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez.
One knock against Cordero-Stutz, 54, was that she doesn’t live in the community she serves. She has been a Broward County resident since before the turn of the century, but said she’d move to Miami-Dade with a win Tuesday.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joe Sanchez argued longtime residency in Miami-Dade should be a prerequisite for serving as its Sheriff. Not having served in the agency the Sheriff’s Office is replacing would also be helpful, he said, considering the goal is to improve on what’s currently in place.
Sanchez entered the Sheriff’s race in January and immediately established himself as a formidable contender with a sizable war chest and a campaign strategy positioning him as a disruptive outsider.
He has since stacked more than $587,000 in campaign cash. Rather than chase nods from politicians and organizations, he took a grassroots angle with an “Endorsements that Matter” video series while aligning himself with Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis in ads, flyers and other campaign communications.
Sanchez, 59, served for eight years with the U.S. Army Reserve. In 1998, he was appointed to the Miami Commission, where he stayed until an unsuccessful bid for city Mayor in 2009.
He’s been with the Florida Highway Patrol on and off since 1987 and today serves as an agency spokesperson, though he took a leave of absence while running for Sheriff — a move he called on others in the race to follow.
If elected, Sanchez said he’d improve public safety by increasing the county’s police presence. He opposed no-cash bail, supported additional mental health services and community policing, and promised to implement online training modules, legal updates and data analytics to keep officers up-to-speed on best practices.
His actions while campaigning indicated he viewed Cordero-Stutz as his biggest threat. In May, his campaign launched an attack website labeling her a “RINO” (Republican in name only) for donating $50 to Democrat Charlie Crist’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign and for saying she supported the work of Democratic Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Cordero-Stutz fired back, noting that as a Miami Commissioner, Sanchez voted for a 2009 bond plan to build the Marlins baseball stadium that is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $2.6 billion to repay.
Knapp, who retired from the MDPD as a major after nearly three decades, was one of the few candidates who filed before Ramirez dropped out. He told Florida Politics he liked and respected the former Police Director, but was confident he’d do a better job as Sheriff.
Knapp, 50, served in myriad leadership roles in the department, including commander of the Crime Suppression Unit, Training Bureau, Seaport Operations Bureau and several district stations. He led MDPD’s Office of Communications, SWAT team, Bomb Squad, Special Events Section and the Marine Patrol, Canine, Motor and Divers units. He also served as the Department’s use-of-force subject matter expert.
Knapp left the Department in 2021 after leading search-and-rescue efforts at the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside.
If elected, he said he’d reorient Miami-Dade’s law enforcement apparatus to improve emergency response times and increase community policing, maintain an open-door policy to improve police-resident communications and establish investigative units to pursue unscrupulous public officials and homeowner associations.
He raised more than $360,000 to campaign for Sheriff and carried endorsements from former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn and the Hispanic Police Officers Association.
Following Tuesday’s results, Knapp told Florida Politics he was grateful for the support his campaign received.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work we did and the conversations we started. This race was about pushing for real change, integrity, and transparency in our public safety system,” he said. “The fight for a safer, more accountable Miami-Dade continues. I encourage everyone to stay engaged, keep advocating for what you believe in, and remember that progress takes time. I remain committed to this community and to finding ways to serve, protect, and improve the place we all call home.”
In terms of funding, no candidate on either side of the political aisle could touch former Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez, who served as a MDPD lieutenant before heading to County Hall in 2000. He took 9.5% of the vote with just 101 votes fewer than Rodriguez.
Martinez carried a lot of baggage into the contest. He is the subject of ongoing criminal prosecution over felony charges of unlawful compensation. Prosecutors say Martinez, whom DeSantis removed from office in September 2022, broke the law by sponsoring county legislation that would have benefited people who paid him $15,000.
Martinez pleaded not guilty and has maintained that the payments were for prior consulting work unconnected to the measure, which he withdrew before the County Commission voted on it. He called the case “politically motivated.”
He entered the Sheriff’s race in early June, just over a week before the qualifying deadline. Fundraising through his political committee since January 2021, shortly after he won re-election to the County Commission, combined with money he added through early August to his campaign account, totaled $1.57 million.
Martinez said he wanted to make law enforcement and public safety more equitable through community-oriented policing, where cops remain in and become conversant with specific neighborhoods and their denizens. Studies have shown the approach is mutually beneficial.
Other Republican candidates for Sheriff included:
— Jose Aragu, a MDPD major who raised more than $500,000, inclusive of a $300,000 contribution from Citadel hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin. He received 9% of the vote.
— Lawyer Iggy Alvarez, who spent 25 years with MDPD, retiring in 2017 as a major of its Special Victims Unit. Since filing in October, he has raised $263,000. He took 6% of the vote Tuesday.
— John Rivera, who retired from MDPD as a sergeant after 43 years and was the long-serving former President of the police benevolent associations of Florida and Miami-Dade. Since filing in October, he raised $145,000. He got 1.5% of the vote.
— Miami Police officer Ruamen DelaRua, who worked for nearly 27 years at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, which he left in 2013 as a District Commander. DelaRua filed to run in November 2022, making him the first candidate in the race. Since then, he raised about $39,000. Through Tuesday, 1% of voters picked him.
— Alex Fornet, a former MDPD reserve officer who now owns and operates a credit repair business. He raised $18,000 since filing in September. He got 1% of the vote too.
— Private investigator Jeffrey Giordano, a 27-year veteran of the Miami Police Department, where he was a hostage negotiator, undercover officer, detective and public information officer. Since filing in February, he raised $18,000. He took a 1% share of the vote as well.
