Jesse Scheckner
Former Rep. J.C. Planas is now running for Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections with support from the Florida chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Planas’ campaign announced an endorsement from the union, which joins two SEIU chapters, SAVE Action PAC and several local and state officials in backing him.
“The hard-working members of AFSCME are proud to endorse J.C. Planas for Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections,” AFSCME Local 199 President Se’Adoreia Brown said in a statement.
“J.C. is the experienced and trusted leader that we need to ensure elections are smooth and transparent. Under his leadership, the workers that keep the Supervisor of Elections Office up and running will be properly supported as they do the job of safeguarding our democracy.”
Planas said he is “proud to have earned” a nod from AFSCME Florida, calling the group “an organization that champions our public service workers.”
“The incredible employees in our Supervisor of Elections Office dedicate themselves to our democracy,” he said. “I will always make sure they have everything they need to do their crucial jobs.”
Planas won a three-way Democratic Primary last month to clinch his spot on the General Election ballot.
The Miami-born elections and ethics lawyer worked as an Assistant State Attorney before running for state office. He has served as a board member of the Miami-Dade Children’s Trust, Kiwanis Club of Little Havana and the National Fragile X Foundation. Today, he works as a professor of election law and government at the St. Thomas University School of Law, his alma mater.
He is a namesake of the notable court case Planas v. Planas, which generally established that anyone who files to run under a nickname to trick voters should be disqualified from running. The case arose when he sued his cousin for attempting to run under a previously unused nickname in 2006.
Planas changed his registration from Republican to Democrat in response to Donald Trump’s attacks on voter rights and lies that the 2020 election was stolen.
He now faces Republican Miami Rep. Alina García for the right to succeed Miami-Dade Supervisor Christina White.
Miami-Dade voters in 1957 abolished several constitutional officers — including Supervisor of Elections, Tax Collector and Property Appraiser — through the adoption of the county’s Home Rule Charter. The charter delegated those offices’ powers to Miami-Dade’s top executive official, now the county Mayor, who has appointed people to those posts.
But in 2018, Florida voters — including 58% of Miami-Dade voters — approved a constitutional amendment requiring every county in the state to elect those officers, as well as a Sheriff, by Jan. 7, 2025.
White, a Democrat, confirmed in June that she would not run this year to keep the job to which she was appointed in 2015.
García is running with an endorsement from Trump. She enjoyed an unobstructed path to the General Election, which is on Nov. 5.
