Voters in Miami-Dade will be deciding on three commission seats in next week's primary, including a pair of rematches involving political rivals and a third race that pits two newcomers against a commissioner who's been on the job for less than two years.
The 13-seat Miami-Dade Commission has three races on the Aug. 20 Primary ballot, for Districts 3, 7 and 11.
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Here's a look at who's running in each race.
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District 3
District 3 is in the heart of Miami and includes some of the area's poorest residents as well as some of the wealthiest. It includes Wynwood and Overtown, stretching north into Miami Shores.
The race has some familiar faces, as the incumbent, Commissioner Keon Hardemon, is taking on former Commissioner Audrey Edmonson. Also running is business owner Marion Brown.
Edmonson represented the district from 2005 to 2020, and served as chairwoman of the panel before she termed out. She's allowed to run again after sitting out for several years.
Hardemon challenged Edmonson for the seat in 2012 but lost, then joined the Miami City Commission in 2013 before he became a county commissioner in 2020.
The bad blood between the two persists, with Edmonson saying Hardemon isn't available to his constituents.
"The response I’m getting from the community, they all know nothing has occurred in District 3, they all say, 'well, he changed the name on the signs and took credit,'" Edmonson said.
Hardemon was sharp with his response.
"Audrey M. Edmonson is a mean person, I believe, I think the M stands for mean. I think that most people that interact with her know that to be true, however it’s OK. Because we moved on, and I think that is what our community will continue to do. We will move on to better leadership," Hardemon said.
Both candidates laid out what they feel are the community's priorities.
"My priorities have always been the same since I was in the city of Miami, that’s economic development, it’s affordable housing, right, and it’s ensuring that we reduce gun violence in our community," Hardemon said.
"If you go on the southside, eastside, where you have Downtown and the Edgewater area, they don’t want affordable housing so that is not a priority to them, gun violence is not a priority to them, What is a priority to them is flooding, the bay walk, traffic congestion," Edmonson said. "When you come into areas like Liberty City, or Brownsville, or Overtown, it is affordable housing or gun violence."
District 7:
Another rematch is being held in District 7, which includes Pinecrest, Key Biscayne, South Miami, and portions of Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, and segments of unincorporated Miami-Dade County, including sections of Kendall.
Incumbent Raquel Regalado is facing Cindy Lerner, who she narrowly beat for the seat in 2020.
Regalado is a lawyer and former school board member. Lerner previously served as the mayor of Pinecrest.
Also running for the seat is Richard Praschnik, a Miami-Dade Schools Police officer and COO of a corporation specializing in real estate and rental properties.
District 11:
District 11 covers a southern and western area of the county that includes parts of The Hammocks and Country Walk.
The current commissioner, Roberto Gonzalez, was appointed to the position in 2022 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after the governor suspended then commissioner Joe Martinez after Martinez's arrest on corruption charges.
Martinez is running for Miami-Dade Sheriff while his court case is on hold.
Gonzalez, an attorney, served on the Republican Party of Miami-Dade’s Executive Committee as Secretary from 2016 to 2020.
Challenging Gonzalez are Bryan Paz-Hernandez and Claudia Rainville.
Paz-Hernandez is a high school teacher and Rainville is an elementary teacher.
If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote on Aug. 20, the top two finishers will compete in a run-off on Election Day.
