Jesse Scheckner
Miami-Dade Chief of Public Safety James Reyes punched his ticket to the General Election for Sheriff on Tuesday, defeating three Democratic Primary opponents vying to be the county’s first elected top cop in decades.
With all precincts reporting, Reyes — who carried an endorsement from Mayor Daniella Levine Cava into Election Day — received 46% of the vote to clinch his spot on the Nov. 5 ballot.
He beat retired Miami-Dade Police Lt. Rickey Mitchell, former federal agent Susan Khoury and Miami-Dade Police Maj. John Barrow, who took 21%, 17.5% and 15.5% of the vote, respectively.
“I am truly humbled and honored by tonight’s win. This campaign is truly not about me, it’s about our future,” Reyes said in a statement.
“I’m the only person running with executive leadership experience in a Sheriff’s Office. I’ve served under and been promoted by 4 different Sheriffs, Republicans and Democrats, because public safety should never be about politics. And that is my pledge tonight once again, that our Sheriff’s office will never be about politics. Our mission will always stay laser focused on protecting residents and keeping families safe, and holding criminals accountable.”
A law enforcement professional for nearly a quarter-century, Reyes joined Levine Cava’s administration after two-plus decades with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, where he rose to the rank of colonel. He spent his last four years there as the agency’s Executive Director, a role in which he oversaw budgeting and finances.
Among other roles, he served as Broward’s jail warden, led development and training efforts at the Sheriff’s Office and helped create the county’s Real Time Crime Center after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Levine Cava hired him in 2022 to run Miami-Dade’s Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, which soon after emerged from being under federal oversight for the first time in a decade. She promoted him to Chief of Public Safety — overseeing the Police, Fire Rescue and Corrections Departments — less than a month after the county’s ex-Police Director Freddy Ramirez, a Levine Cava ally, dropped out of the race following a suicide attempt.
Reyes filed to run for Sheriff in January, and Levine Cava endorsed him less than a week later. The nod drew the ire of Barrow, who said the Mayor was disrespecting voters by trying to influence the race.
Other endorsements followed from Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony, numerous local elected leaders, the Kendall Federation PAC, South Florida PBA and AFSCME Florida, among others.
Reyes vowed, if elected, to bring back Miami-Dade’s Public Corruption Unit to investigate malfeasant elected officials — a priority of Barrow’s as well — while upgrading the county’s policing technology and partnering with community groups to strengthen trust of officers.
He said his leadership of Miami-Dade’s Operation Summer Heat initiative led to 3,000 guns being removed from the street. A co-responder model he launched to deescalate police interactions with mentally unwell people will “all but (eliminate) the use of force in those instances,” he told the Miami Herald.
Despite being the last entrant in the Democratic Primary, Reyes raised more money than his three opponents combined: $730,000 between his campaign account and political committee, Miami-Dade Safe & Secure.
But he faced criticism for the fact that he still lives in Broward. And after security lapses last month during the Copa América Final at Hard Rock Stadium led to dozens of arrests, a game delay and ticketholders unable to gain entry to the facility, Republican Sheriff candidate Joe Sanchez called for a review of Reyes’ role in the carnage.
Reyes told the Herald no information prior to the event indicated so many people without tickets would show up and cause trouble. He promised there would not be a repeat of the debacle when FIFA World Cup matches come to the county in 2026.
Mitchell, whose recent social media posts have been dedicated to bashing Reyes, raised the second-most in the race. But of the $295,000 he added to his campaign coffers since filing in March 2023, 93% came from his bank account.
He promised, if elected, to prioritize community policing, invest in ongoing education and training of police and residents, and crack down on discrimination within the county police force and the communities it serves.
He pledged to have an open-door policy and to “swiftly and conclusively” address claims of corruption and excessive force.
For nearly four decades, Mitchell has owned and operated a funeral home business in Miami. His campaign website said he holds a doctorate in higher education, a law degree and a master’s degree in criminal justice.
Khoury, a community activist, worked as a federal law enforcement officer for about 12 years, beginning with the U.S. Marshals Service before transferring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
She retired in 2004, relocating from Washington, D.C., to Miami-Dade to take care of her mother.
Her community activism began in 2018 after a Miami-Dade Schools Police officer dislocated her elbow and arrested her while she was filming cars illegally parking in her neighborhood. She successfully sued the county for more than half a million dollars and helped spearhead an effort to resurrect a citizen-run county board to oversee and conduct police misconduct investigations.
In 2022, she ran unsuccessfully for the Miami-Dade Commission.
Khoury told Florida Politics that as Sheriff, she would implement law enforcement reforms recommended in a report Barack Obama’s “Task Force on 21st Century Policing” published in 2015. Among other things, she wanted to increase police accountability and hire and train 25 social workers and 25 mental health professionals to join officers during calls.
She also promised to make community policing, mental health and family accommodations major priorities, including providing therapy services to police personnel and incorporating a day care center at every station.
Of the $58,000 she raised since filing in September, nearly all of it came from her bank account.
Barrow, an 18-year Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) veteran, amassed more than $116,000 since he entered the race in September.
He also notched endorsements from SAVE Action PAC and former North Miami Council member Scott Galvin, who made history in 1999 as the city’s first openly gay elected official. Barrow is a member of the LGBTQ community.
His platform prioritized gun violence reduction, enhanced police training, adding more law enforcement officers to the force and creating a non-officer response unit for calls involving homeless and mentally unwell people.
He said he’d establish a Public Corruption Unit on Day 1 to “root out corruption and help restore residents’ faith in their elected leaders and local government.”
Following Tuesday’s results, Barrow said in a statement that he was grateful for the support his campaign received and would work to make the transition from a Police Department to a Sheriff’s Office as seamless as possible.
“During the course of this campaign, I have had the opportunity to speak with and listen to so many people who make up the fabric of this vibrant community, Miami-Dade. One thing is clear, the safety of our community is paramount, as well as the community relationships and trust that the Sheriff’s Office will need to be successful,” he said.
“We, as law enforcement, must strive to continually improve and bring new strategies to our communities to enhance safety for everyone. Now, the voters have spoken. … I have devoted my life to serving the people of Miami-Dade and will continue to do so. The coming transition to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office will be a substantial undertaking, and I pledge to do my part to ensure a smooth transition and a safer community.”
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 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.
A flood of candidates followed Ramirez’s departure from the race in September, 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.
Not that the Mayor or County Commission wanted the handover to happen. In June 2022, Commissioners approved legislation backed by Levine Cava to allow the Mayor to keep control over the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) in unincorporated areas. Under that model, the Sheriff would have had prime jurisdiction only in cities, many of which have their own police forces.
The Florida Sheriffs Association quickly sued the county over what it called a “power grab.” Lawmakers then nullified the issue last year through a pair of measures granting Sheriffs exclusive policing jurisdiction in unincorporated areas and shared authority in cities and special districts.
