Jesse Scheckner
Monique Pardo Pope just made the race to succeed Kristen Rosen Gonzalez on the Miami Beach Commission a six-person contest.
Pardo Pope, a Hialeah-born lawyer specializing in family law and guardian ad litem matters, became the sixth candidate actively vying for the City Commission’s Group 1 seat.
She’s running on a platform to fight for working families and restore “the promise of a safe, affordable, and accountable community.”
“I grew up believing that if you worked incredibly hard, played by the rules, and gave back to your community, you could build a beautiful life,” she said in a statement.
“But for too many families in Miami Beach today, that promise is slipping away.”
Pardo Pope, whose campaign says she was born into a working-class Cuban American family, vows to stand up for residents “who feel left behind by City Hall.” That includes homeowners concerned about rising taxes and overdevelopment, and parents worried about their children’s safety and education.
She supports government transparency initiatives, quality-of-life enforcement and some development — as long as it’s “thoughtfully and responsibly” done, she said — and wants to improve public safety.
Making sure the city’s senior residents aren’t left out of the equation is also at the top of her to-do list.
“I’m running to bring common-sense solutions back to our beloved city,” she said.
Pardo Pope, 44, holds a bachelor’s degree in history and Spanish from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor from UCLA, according to her LinkedIn page. Her campaign said she began her career in finance before returning to South Florida to practice law.
State voter registration records show she moved from West Miami-Dade County to Miami Beach in 2020 or 2021. She and her husband have two young children.
Pardo Pope’s civic engagements include serving as Co-Chair of the Nicklaus Children’s Young Ambassadors, where her campaign said she helped raise more than $400,000 for Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and as a current member of the Miami Beach Commission for Women.
She has also served as Vice President of the Women’s Cancer Association of the University of Miami, a member of her neighborhood association and her children’s PTA, and as a Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committeewoman.
“I do not come from money, nor have I built my career in politics — I come from a Cuban family that believed in deep sacrifice, service of others, and standing up for what’s right,” she said. “That’s precisely the kind of leadership I intend to bring to City Hall.”
Pardo Pope faces five others — Daniel Ciraldo, Brian Ehrlich, Monroe Mann, Luidgi Mary and Monica Matteo-Salinas — who hope to take the Group 1 seat, which Rosen Gonzalez is vacating to run for Mayor.
Ciraldo, Ehrlich and Matteo-Salinas are Democrats like Rosen Gonzalez. Mann and Mary are Republicans, as is Pardo Pope.
The City Commission is nonpartisan, as is its Nov. 4 election, meaning all candidates will be on the ballot.
