Jesse Scheckner
A possible proposal by the Miami Commission to shift municipal elections from odd- to even-numbered years — effectively extending current officials’ terms by a year — has drawn threat of legal action from one of the city’s mayoral candidates.
In an email, candidate Michael Hepburn warned Mayor Francis Suarez and the Commission’s four current members against pursuing the change. If they insist on doing so, he said he would tap civil rights lawyer Ben Crump “and others to bring a lawsuit against this action and the city.”
The potential election change, first flagged by Tess Riski of the Miami Herald last month, would delay the scheduled November 2025 city elections to 2026, granting Suarez and Commissioners Joe Carollo and Christine King an additional year in office.
Commissioners Miguel Gabela and Damian Pardo, meanwhile, would stay in office until November 2028 rather than November 2027.
That change would align Miami’s elections with state and federal races, likely cutting costs while boosting turnout.
But critics of the move — including Hepburn, Gabela and some of the 16 other candidates running for elected city posts this year — contend that it would disadvantage non-incumbents and grassroots candidates while burying local issues and local candidates under a deluge of higher-profile contests.
In his Monday email shared with members of the press, viewable below, Hepburn told the Mayor and Commissioners the move would further alienate voters who already feel disconnected from local government. He cited a survey his campaign conducted this year of some 10,000 Miami households, which he said found 92% of respondents did not fully understand everything they voted on during the November General Election.
“Moving our elections to even years at this time does not fix this!” he said. “If you vote for changing the election to 2026, without allowing our people to decide our fate — the current climate that you have helped create in our city will continue to hurt working class people in our city.”
Hepburn vowed to mobilize opposition, including pushing potential recall efforts against Commissioners who support the change.
“Please try using your political will, resources, and agency in our city to uplift and empower our people instead of continuing to unilaterally make decisions without the people that have elected you all and financially fund our government,” he said.
“The majority of our residents do not believe in You. And they truly do believe that our government is not working for them now and never will.”
Hepburn, who previously ran for Congress, the Florida House and Miami Commission, is one of nine candidates running to succeed Suarez as the city’s most prominent elected official. Others include Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, former City Commissioner Ken Russell, 2023 mayoral candidate Max Martinez — all Democrats — and former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, a Republican.
The Commission has not yet scheduled a vote on the proposal, which comes alongside another Pardo is backing to establish stricter term limits on city officials. Today, Miami officials can serve for an indeterminate amount of time, provided they take a break from office every eight years before coming back for another stint.
Under Pardo’s measure, a person could only serve for eight years as a Commissioner and/or eight years as Mayor.
In an X post on May 14, Pardo said both changes would make Miami “more accountable, transparent, and responsive to residents through voter engagement and improving the election process.”
He also told the Herald he was willing to sponsor both measures.
An initial vote on Pardo’s term limits item is expected on June 12. By then, Miami will have a new Commissioner — either Jose Regalado or Ralph Rosado, two government veterans competing for the vacant District 4 seat on the five-member panel.
