Complaints filed against Doral Mayor over false Miami-Dade GOP endorsement

Image via Christi Fraga.

Doral Mayor Christi Fraga is facing state-level complaints for incorrectly claiming endorsements from the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County.

The party’s Chair suggested it’s due to a misunderstanding.

Doral resident Norberto Spangaro, a member and former President of the Doral Community Coalition group, filed a pair of complaints with the Division of Elections against Fraga and her Leaders of Tomorrow political committee.

The complaints cite an Oct. 18 report by The Floridian that Fraga made social media posts announcing a county Republican Party endorsement of her and a mailer, funded by her PC, asserting the same.

“As a career politician who has held multiple public offices, Christi Fraga should know better than to claim an endorsement she never earned or received. Not only is it unethical and illegal, but it is also a malicious attempt to deceive voters,” Spangaro said in a statement, adding that Fraga should issue a retraction and apologize to Doral voters and her campaign donors “for using their money to spread her lies.”

Fraga has since deleted the posts from her X and Instagram accounts. Florida Politics contacted her for comment Friday, but did not receive a response by press time. This report will be updated if we receive one.

Florida Statutes prohibit candidates from claiming endorsements without written approval from the endorsing person or organization.

Hialeah Rep. Alex Rizo, Chair of the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee, said state party rules bar endorsements in races with multiple Republican candidates. Exceptions are permitted with approval by 60% of the endorsing body or two-thirds of the members present for a vote.

Fraga, a former Miami-Dade School Board member, is running for a second term as Mayor. She faces Roxanna Garay, a fellow Republican and former supporter whom she has significantly outraised.

“When I talked to her after seeing that she (claimed an endorsement from the party), she said, ‘Oh, I thought that since I was an incumbent (the party would endorse me).’ We took a position that we were not going to endorse any Republican that was running against another Republican,” Rizo told Florida Politics.

An investigation into a similar issue is ongoing in Monroe County. In September, Gov. Ron DeSantis authorized State Attorney Amira Fox of the 20th Judicial Circuit to conduct a probe into accusations of election fraud and unlawful disbursement of funds. At issue is an endorsement and $20,000 donation the Republican Party of Monroe gave its Treasurer, Sherri Hodies, who is running for Supervisor of Elections.

At the time the endorsement and contribution were made, Hodies still faced a Primary opponent. The Monroe Republican Executive Committee took a vote before backing her, but some party members complained the vote did not exceed the threshold necessary to approve the endorsement.

The Doral election also features a pair of City Council races. For Seat 1, incumbent Rafael Pineyro faces challenger Ivette Gonzalez Petkovich. And for Seat 3, candidates Juan Carlos Esquivel, Nicole Reinoso and Irina Vilariño are competing to succeed Vice Mayor Oscar Puig-Corve.

Rizo said the county party has endorsed Pineyro, a Republican, because Gonzalez Petkovich is running as an independent. State records show she was registered as Republican until 2014 and as a Democrat until this year.

The General Election is on Nov. 5.