Jesse Scheckner
Miami voters in District 4 are heading to the polls in a high-profile Special Election to fill the City Commission seat left vacant after the death of longtime Commissioner Manolo Reyes last month.
They have two candidates to choose from: Jose Regalado and Ralph Rosado.
Both are Republican, though the race is nonpartisan. Neither is unfamiliar with government work.
Regalado worked as the Assistant Director for Miami’s Building Department before launching his run. He also served as an assistant to the City Manager leading COVID response efforts and as Chief Policy Adviser from 2017 to 2019 for Reyes, whose widow reportedly asked him to run.
Rosado, an urban planning and neighborhood revitalization services executive, previously worked as Village Manager for North Bay Village. In 2017, he unsuccessfully ran against Reyes.
Polling shows the two are locked in a tight race, with significant implications for the balance of power on the five-member City Commission.
The winner of Tuesday’s race could cast the swing vote on pivotal decisions the Commission may soon make, including whether to impose lifetime term limits on elected city officials and if the city should move its elections to even-numbered years, which could give current officials an extra year in office.
He’ll also have a say in how to steer the city’s more than $1.7 billion budget and critical issues on zoning, development and infrastructure.
Regalado, 40, brings with him the weight of a political dynasty. His father, Tomás Regalado, was a two-term Miami Mayor and currently serves as Miami-Dade County’s elected Property Appraiser. His sister, Raquel Regalado, is a Miami-Dade Commissioner and former county School Board member.
If elected, he vows to take a “hands-on, results driven approach” to improve public safety, resident services and Miami’s infrastructure while ensuring the city’s government, developers and services “work transparently and effectively for the people,” his campaign website says.
He also promises to cut red tape for businesses and increase resources for police while calling for more accountability in city spending.
Regalado’s fundraising efforts have been robust. Between April 23 and May 16, city records show he reported raising nearly $119,000 through a blend of personal and corporate checks. Notable donors include Pinecrest Mayor Joseph Corradino; former Miami-Dade Transportation Director Alice Bravo; powerhouse lobbyist Ron Book; gasoline magnate Maximo Alvarez; developer Jorge Salazar; and Miguel Díaz de la Portilla, a former state lawmaker and City Commissioner and the brother of ex-Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla.
The political committee of Regalado’s father, Proven Leadership for Miami, has also raised and spent funds for his campaign.
Regalado carries endorsements from the South Florida AFL-CIO, South Florida Police Benevolent Association, Miami Herald, Miami’s Community News and the Miami Young Republicans, which called him a “problem solver.”
Rosado, 52, owns and operates Rosado & Associates and boasts a record of involvement in the Miami community and its government. Among other things, he chaired Miami’s $400 million “Miami Forever Bond” Oversight Board and served as the founding President of the nonprofit Abuelos Foundation, which supports home renovations and repairs for low-income residents.
He worked as Village Manager of North Bay Village from 2019 to 2024.
His campaign website says that, if elected, he will focus on collaborating with residents, Mayor Francis Suarez and other members of the City Commission to make Miami better for residents. That includes improving the city’s parks and green spaces, keeping taxes low and overseeing “responsibly managed development and density in our neighborhoods to maximize quality of life.”
Between April 17 and May 16, he raised about $59,000 from residents and local businesses, a sizable chunk of them from the real estate industry. His givers included two notable Democrats: South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez and former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner, who twice ran unsuccessfully against Regalado’s sister for County Commission. Both are former state lawmakers.
Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, whose weaponization of city staff against local business owners has cost the city millions of dollars, is also backing Rosado by funding campaign mailers and TV ads attacking Regalado, Political Cortadito reported.
Rosado has the support of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, AFSCME Local 1907 and the Venezuelan American Republican Club of Miami-Dade.
Polling this month by Kaplan Strategies found Regalado and Rosado are in a statistical tie, with 27% support for each among District 4 voters and 46% of respondents undecided. However, the Kissimmee-based firm found Rosado to have better favorable ratings at +12, compared to +6 for Regalado.
A third candidate in the race, Latin Builders Association President-elect Ralph Cabrera, was disqualified after the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s Office, led by Tomás Regalado, determined he didn’t qualify and owed $40,000 in fines because the Miami property he listed for homestead exemption was not his primary residence.
Early voting in the Special Election began Friday and will continue Saturday and Sunday. On Tuesday, June 2, polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at designated precincts.
District 4 covers an inland portion of Miami and includes the neighborhoods of Flagami, Shenandoah and Coral Gate.
Reyes served the district from 2017 until he died at 80 last month, just months after he won re-election with 86% of the vote. Serving as an elected official was a “lifelong dream fulfilled,” his family said in a statement.
Following his passing, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags across Miami-Dade County to be flown at half-staff in his honor.
