Jesse Scheckner
Assistant Miami-Dade Police Director Rosie Cordero-Stutz’s campaign for Sheriff is gaining several more notable supporters, including four more former Primary opponents and Florida’s chapter of the world’s largest police union.
Florida State Trooper Joe Sanchez, who finished second behind Cordero-Stutz last week in an 11-way GOP Primary for Sheriff, is now on her list of supporters, her campaign said.
So are Miami-Dade Police Lt. Ernie Rodriguez, cop-turned-lawyer Iggy Alvarez and Miami Police officer Ruamen DelaRua.
In something of a shot at Democratic candidate James Reyes, a longtime prisons director now overseeing the Police and Fire Rescue Departments as Chief of Public Safety, Alvarez said it is imperative that Miami-Dade’s first Sheriff in decades be someone who has worked as a police officer.
“A person who is NOT a police officer should NOT lead police officers,” he said in a statement.
“Rosie is experienced, prepared and greatly committed to the safety of this county and to our men and women in uniform. That’s why Cordero-Stutz is by far the best option for Sheriff.”
Cordero-Stutz also welcomed an endorsement from the Florida Fraternal Order of Police at a Tuesday press conference, where several other past GOP candidates for Miami-Dade Sheriff posed for a photo with her. Among them: former Miami-Dade Police reserve officer Alex Fornet, retired Miami-Dade officer and former police union President John Rivera and Miami-Dade Police Sgt. Orly Lopez, who dropped out of the race prior to last week’s Primary.
Hialeah state Rep. Alex Rizo, Chair of the Miami-Dade GOP, also appeared at the presser.
Al Palacio, District 6 Director of the Florida Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement that there is “no one better for the job” than Cordero-Stutz.
“Rosie’s extensive experience in law enforcement and especially as an administrator with REAL-LIFE POLICE expertise in the Miami-Dade Police Department make her the BEST candidate to keep the residents of Miami-Dade County safe!” he said. “Which is why the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police believes she deserves our support and that of the voters of Miami-Dade County, regardless of party affiliation, to vote her into office as Sheriff in November.”
In a statement, Cordero-Stutz thanked her new endorsers, who join others such as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, U.S. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, former Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez and retired Miami-Dade Police Maj. Mario Knapp, who announced his support of her one day after placing third in the Primary.
She also took a swipe at Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Reyes for proposing and supporting “unthinkable cuts to public safety, reducing funding from 30% of the county budget to just 19%.”
Speaking with WPLG’s Glenna Milberg on Sunday, Levine Cava said the funding shift reflects the change from a Police Department operating under and answerable to the county Mayor and Commission to an independent Sheriff’s Office. More funding could be cleared, she said, on an as-needed basis.
“We are putting money into the maintenance of the Police Department, plus the changes that are mandated, plus creating a reserve for what may come up. And we do expect that whosoever (is) elected is going to come knocking at the County Commission and say, ‘This is what we need,’” she said.
Pressed to clarify whether that meant less money going toward public safety now, the Mayor said no.
“To get into the weeds on it, we would have to go to the budget book,” she said. “But I can assure you that there are no cuts to public safety in this budget.”
Cordero-Stutz said the Mayor was “unable to explain” where the money was and wasn’t going, but that “slashing funding where it matters most — public safety and law and order — has a name: defunding the police.”
“More alarming than Reyes having ZERO police experience is his willingness to go along with this madness,” she said. “Miami-Dade County must not go the way of Chicago, San Francisco, and Portland. Our commitment to public safety — and to our men and women in uniform — is vital to the economic and quality of life Miami-Dade is known for.”
Levine Cava responded to Cordero-Stutz’s comments in a Tuesday text to Florida Politics, asserting that the “total public safety budget is not being cut or diminished in any way in this year’s proposed budget.”
“The creation of the new constitutional offices including the Sheriff’s Office represents an unprecedented transformation of county government, and funding for law enforcement will move from the Miami-Dade County Police Department budget to the new Sheriff’s Office budget,” she said. “Public safety remains a top priority for me and my administration — that’s why we worked hard to create a budget that maintains the current level of public safety services for our community with no cuts, to ensure seamless continuity for residents.”
The General Election is on Nov. 5.
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Editor’s note: This report was updated to include a response from Levine Cava.
