Jesse Scheckner
She’s unopposed so far, but Natalie Milian Orbis is wasting no time building up a war chest to defend her District 6 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission.
In her first campaign finance filings since she was appointed to the panel, Milian Orbis reported raising more than $301,000 between her campaign account and political committee, Dade Families First PC.
Most of that haul is being held in reserve; she spent just $13,500 last quarter, most of it on accounting fees, bank charges and voter data and outreach.
Milian Orbis, who left her post as West Miami Vice Mayor in early May for a seat at County Hall, received 178 donations between mid-April and June 30. Her average donation came in at just under $1,700.
“I am incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support I’ve received from residents, neighbors, and community leaders since my appointment,” Milian Orbis said in a statement.
“It’s an honor to serve the people of District 6, and this early momentum reflects the trust our community has placed in my leadership. I am committed to delivering results and earning the opportunity to continue working on behalf of the hardworking families of District 6 next year.”
Milian Orbis received several five-figure donations in her first round of county-level fundraising, most of them from the real estate sector.
Her biggest check, $20,000, came from Sunrise developer GL Commercial.
Miami-based builder GLC Development Ventures, engineering company CDR Enterprises, and developers Terra Group and Swerdlow Group each gave $10,000.
Miami multifamily developer Reisa donated $6,000. AUM Construction and 1672 Calle Ocho LLC, a real estate company owned by construction services executive Hector Ortiz, gave $5,000 each.
Legal and lobbying firms gave generously too. The Southern Group chipped in $10,000. So did LSN Law, with half the funds coming from its sister company, LSN Partners.
Lobbyist Ron Book’s eponymous firm gave $5,000, as did AGI LLC in Miami and government and business relations firm Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman.
Milian Orbis also benefited from the retail company contributions, including several with contracts at Miami International Airport: $10,000 from Duty Free Americas, $5,000 from Newslink, $5,000 from Master ConcessionAir and $2,500 from Concessions International.
Other corporate contributions included $10,000 from Transportation America, which has a contract with Miami-Dade for transit services; $7,500 from Hialeah-based freight forwarding company Eagle Express; $5,000 from red light camera company RedSpeed, which now operates systems in 11 Miami-Dade school zones; and $5,000 from RG Ambulance Service Inc., which provides emergency transport services in Miami-Dade and 21 other Florida counties.
Several notable people wrote Milian Orbis personal checks. She got $1,000 from lawyer and former state Sen. Miguel Díaz de la Portilla, lobbyist and ex-state Rep. José Félix Díaz, construction executive Pedro Munilla of rebranded MCM and auto magnate George Williamson.
She also took $500 from engineer Alice Bravo, the former Director of the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works; $250 from biologist Meg Daly, who founded the Friends of the Underline initiative; and $100 from Kevin Marino Cabrera, who left the County Commission in mid-April for his current role as U.S. Ambassador to Panama.
Milian Orbis’ spending included about $4,500 paid to consultant Alex Miranda’s Coral Gables-based firm Miranda Advocacy; a $2,200 reimbursement to her husband Manuel Orbis, who served as Cabrera’s Chief of Staff and now works at the county Tax Collector’s Office; and a $1,500 contribution to Do Better PC, the political committee of West Miami Mayor Eric Díaz-Padron.
District 6 covers a Hispanic-majority area of Miami-Dade covering all or part of Coral Gables, Hialeah, Miami, Miami Springs, Virginia Gardens and West Miami.
The district leans heavily conservative. Milian Orbis is a Republican, though county elections are nonpartisan.
Miami-Dade’s next General Election is on Nov. 3, 2026. Candidates faced a Thursday deadline to report all campaign finance activity through June 30.
