New Sheriff in town: Rosie Cordero-Stutz is Miami-Dade’s first elected top cop in decades

Rosie Cordero-Stutz has an enviable list of Republican endorsers. Image via Rosie Cordero-Stutz.

Miami-Dade voters have selected Republican Rosie Cordero-Stutz to serve as their first Sheriff since the 1960s, electing her over Democrat James Reyes in one of Florida’s most closely watched county-level contests this cycle.

With early and mail-in votes fully counted and all 757 precincts reporting, Cordero-Stutz had 55.6% of the vote. She will lead the returning Sheriff’s Office to which the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) must transition by Jan. 7.

“I am incredibly humbled and deeply honored to have been elected as your new Miami-Dade County Sheriff. Thank you to every voter across our diverse and vibrant community for placing your trust in me to lead our county’s law enforcement and protect our community. This victory belongs to all residents of Miami-Dade,” Cordero-Stutz wrote on X late Tuesday.

“The Office of the Sheriff will remain open to collaboration and ideas from anyone across our county, because working together is how we will achieve success. Our diversity is our greatest strength, and it’s what fueled this campaign. I am committed to making sure that not only does every part of Miami-Dade feel safe but is safe. Our mission to protect and serve transcends politics, and I pledge to lead with fairness, transparency, and unwavering dedication to every neighborhood across our county. Together, we will ensure that Miami-Dade continues to be a place where families feel secure, businesses prosper, and all residents have the opportunity to thrive.”

Reyes’ campaign issued a statement by email at 8 p.m. acknowledging his loss.

“Though tonight’s results are not what we worked so hard for or what we hoped, I am so grateful to my family, our dedicated campaign team, and our incredible volunteers who have done so much to fight for our shared vision of public safety and public trust,” he said.

“After months on the campaign trail, I am looking forward to some much-needed time with my wife and kids, and to continuing my work as Miami-Dade’s Chief of Public Safety, helping to ensure our community has a smooth transition to the elected Sheriff next year. Finally, I want to send my sincere congratulations to our Sheriff-Elect, wishing her the best of luck in this crucial role. I look forward to working with her in pursuit of our shared commitment to keeping Miami-Dade County safe.”

MDPD is the largest law enforcement agency in the Southeast and the eighth-biggest nationwide, with roughly 5,000 employees, including some 3,200 sworn officers and a $1 billion budget.

Cordero-Stutz spent her entire 28-year career with the Department, rising through the ranks to her current position as Assistant Director of Investigative Services. Reyes, a longtime member of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, came to Miami-Dade in 2022 and today oversees the county’s Police, Fire Rescue and Corrections Departments as Chief of Public Safety.

Both candidates boasted decades of experience in uniformed service and leadership credentials. Some of their proposals for the Sheriff’s Office overlapped, such as a “public corruption unit” to investigate malfeasance by elected officials and plans to enhance mental health services.

Cordero-Stutz, 55, ran on having far more hands-on experience in law enforcement, an attribute she said made her more suitable for Sheriff.

In August, she was elected President of the FBI National Academy Association, a nonprofit of senior law enforcement professionals focused on improving police practices. She is the first Hispanic woman elected to lead the organization, whose members must have graduated from the FBI Academy in Quantico.

She is also heading up the transition team tasked with ensuring MDPD’s detachment from the county’s government goes smoothly.

Reyes, 47, maintained that his executive leadership experience should win out, since the Sheriff would have to make major decisions while commanding a massive budget and workforce.

He served briefly as a patrol officer in Broward, according to the Miami Herald, before going into administration. In January 2019, he was promoted to colonel overseeing the Department of Administration, a summary of his Broward career shows. His LinkedIn page lists the role as an Executive Director position.

When Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava hired him in 2022, he was leading Broward’s Corrections Department. He began a similar position in Miami-Dade, bringing the county’s Corrections Department into substantial federal compliance for the first time in more than a decade, before Levine Cava promoted him to Chief of Public Safety last year.

Reyes leaned on his nearly 25 years of experience, a gargantuan war chest and ample political and institutional support to soundly win a four-way Democratic Primary in August. As of Oct. 18, he had raised $2.1 million and spent $1.65 million.

Cordero-Stutz, who narrowly emerged victorious from an 11-way GOP Primary against some better-funded foes, raised $1.36 million and spent $1 million.

Along the way, she notched several high-profile endorsers, including ex-President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, U.S. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, 27 active Florida Sheriffs, the Hispanic Police officers Association, former MDPD Director Juan Perez and former Miami-Dade Commissioner Sally Heyman, a Democrat.

The Trump endorsement helped in the Primary, but in a General Election where most of the county’s voters were Democratic and many deplored what happened during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, it was seen as a potential albatross.

Reyes, meanwhile, gained endorsements from Levine Cava, Sheriffs Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County and Gregory Tony of Broward, five sitting Miami-Dade Commissioners and many other current and former local elected officials, including former MDPD Freddy Ramirez, who last year ran and was considered a front-runner for the Sheriff job until he attempted suicide and withdrew from the race

Reporting by Florida Bulldog this year raised questions about Reyes’ time with the Broward Sheriff’s Office that the agency appeared averse to clearing up. The outlet highlighted a $750,000 purchase Reyes OK’d for bleed-control stations and kits from a company that previously employed Tony, who later sold its products through his own company.

When Florida Bulldog sought records from the Broward Sheriff’s Office about Reyes’ service there and any disciplinary actions taken against him, it was told the records either didn’t exist, couldn’t be found or were destroyed.

He also faced criticism after the Copa América Final erupted into chaos in mid-July, when soccer fans without tickets stormed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, leading to injuries and arrests.

Levine Cava’s office said MDPD assigned “over 550 officers” to work security at the stadium but noted that security responsibilities for the event also fell to Copa América organization CONMEBOL and “other law enforcement agencies.”

But Reyes won points for transparency in September, when he moved quickly to release body camera footage from officers who pulled over and violently detained Miami Dolphins player Tyreek Hill. Both Reyes and Cordero-Stutz criticized the interaction and agreed problematic behavior patterns and discrepancies within the Department regarding race should be addressed.

Before Tuesday, Miami-Dade voters had not elected a Sheriff since 1966, when the county eliminated the position after a grand jury indicted the Sheriff then, Talmadge “T.A.” Buchanan, for perjury and failure to report campaign contributions. For decades, Miami-Dade was the only county in Florida without an elected Sheriff.

But in 2018, 58% of Miami-Dade voters joined a supermajority statewide in approving a constitutional amendment requiring that it have an elected Sheriff by January.