Jesse Scheckner
Lawyer Monique Pardo Pope has enjoyed ample funding support in her bid for the Miami Beach Commission, according to her campaign, which says she raised more than $105,000 in two months running.
The funding haul came from a blend of donors and went into her campaign account and political committee, Miami Beach Together.
Pardo Pope’s team noted that not all the money would appear in her pending campaign finance report because some came in after the last filing period.
Of roughly $53,000 her campaign reported raising between late May and June 30, $38,000 — 72% — came through self-loans.
She also received 24 outside donations averaging $625 apiece, not including $1,000 from her eponymous law firm.
Pardo Pope reported spending $36,000 last quarter on polling, ads, campaign consulting, digital media and canvassing. All but $6,000 of it went to Inroads Consulting, a political consulting firm with an address in Dover, Delaware.
“This campaign is personal,” she said in a statement. “I’m all in — and I’m working every day to earn the trust of voters and make sure every family in Miami Beach feels heard, seen and supported.”
Pardo Pope, 44, filed to run for the City Commission’s Group 1 seat on May 16. She’s seeking public office in a community she’s long served civilly. Her community involvements 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.
She lives in Miami Beach with her husband and two children. Her story, she said, is “Miami Beach’s story — one of resilience, opportunity and community.”
“I’m running to help build a safer, smarter, stronger city for every resident and the next generation,” she said Wednesday.
She faces no shortage of foes in doing so. Six others are competing for the Group 1 seat, which Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez is vacating to run for Mayor.
Others running include Miami Design Preservation League Executive Director Daniel Ciraldo, real estate investor Brian Ehrlich, former Miami Beach Transportation Advisory Committee Chair Matthew Gultanoff, former North Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Board member Omar Jimenez, lawyer and media personality Monroe Mann and Miami Beach Commission aide Monica Matteo-Salinas.
The Miami Beach election is on Nov. 5.
