Jesse Scheckner
Rhonda Anderson won another four years on the Coral Gables Commission, defeating two challengers Tuesday for the panel’s Group two seat.
With all 16 precincts reporting, Anderson had 58.3% of the vote to win her seat outright. Candidates Felix Pardo and Laureano Cancio took 37.3% and 4.4% of the vote, respectively.
Tuesday’s election was a referendum on Coral Gables’ elected leaders after two years of increased conflicts at City Hall and growing concerns over development within the Miami-Dade County municipality.
Anderson, the city’s current Vice Mayor, and ally Vince Lago, the incumbent two-term Mayor, have frequently been on the losing side of controversial votes, including ones to hire and fire multiple City Managers and give hefty pay raises to Commission members.
Tuesday marked the first time they were both on the ballot since 2021, since the Mayor’s term is two years and Commissioners serve four-year terms.
Anderson, a 64-year-old lawyer, was active in her community long before she sought public office. She ran in 2021 vowing to fight development incongruous with the city’s character and generally kept that promise, pushing to increase development setbacks, improve pedestrian safety provisions and expand green spaces.
She voted with all four of her Commission peers last May to approve what will be one of the city’s tallest buildings, Regency Parc, but with a sizable reduction to the project’s proposed density to mitigate traffic impacts.
Heading into Election Day, Anderson touted the city’s septic-to-sewer conversion program, undergrounding utility lines, increased tree canopy and expanded recreational provisions among her first-term accomplishments.
She raised $77,500 through her campaign account and had $42,000 left on March 21.
While campaigning, Pardo, a 70-year-old architect, boasted a deep and broad history of community involvement. He has served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, Board of Architects, Board of Adjustments, Culture Grants Board, Construction Regulation Board, Parks and Recreation Board, and Charter Review Board, among others.
Anderson counted Pardo among her supporters in 2021, but he later lost faith in her, blaming “unbridled construction” across the city as proof she hasn’t followed through on her commitment to preserve the city.
Pardo raised $29,500 and spent close to $10,000 by March 21. He carried endorsements from the city’s police, fire and general employee unions and the anti-development Coral Gables Neighborhood Association, which backed Anderson four years ago.
Cancio, a 74-year-old lawyer specializing in labor law, similarly wanted to tamp down on development. He told the Herald he also planned to increase arts funding and ensure sufficient school options for resident children.
To do that, he proposed establishing a city-run school system separate from Miami-Dade County’s.
From Dec. 13, when he filed to run, until March 21, the last day for which campaign finance data is available, Cancio raised and spent about $1,700, all of it from his or his wife’s bank accounts.
Anderson and Pardo are Democrats, while Cancio is a Republican. Coral Gables’ elections are technically nonpartisan.
