The upset was not a surprise. The margin was.
Melissa Castro won the commission runoff race in Coral Gables Tuesday against the better funded, establishment backed Ivette Arango O’Doski by 18 points, 59% to 41%. That’s an even wider margin than the mandate given to Commissioner Elect Ariel Fernandez on April 11.
“Residents are tired of what’s happening in the Gables and they saw me as a door to getting their city back,” Castro told Ladra Tuesday night as she celebrated the victory at Bulla Gastrobar with more than 100 or so supporters, including Commissioner Kirk Menendez — who had endorsed Arango O’Doski — and former commissioners Ralph Cabrera and Jorge Fors.
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“I’m not going to let them down. I’m 100% for the residents,” Castro said.
Castro’s victory Tuesday is another slap in the face to Mayor Vince Lago, who had endorsed Arango O’Doski in Group 4 and attorney Alex Bucelo in the Group 5 race. Lago likely had a hissy fit Tuesday night. He no longer has an easy ride on everything he does before the commission.
The election is definitely a referendum on Lago. People were voting against him, not necessarily for Castro. In fact, if Lago were to run today, if he had been challenged, he would have lost.
Like the April 11 outcome that saw Fernandez elected, the end result Tuesday is yet another sign that (a) money doesn’t necessarily win races in Coral Gables — Castro raised less than 10% of what Arango O’Doski pulled in — (b) partisan politics don’t play well here either and (c) negative attack ads almost never work in the City Beautiful. In fact, they may backfire.
“The dirty campaign turned people off,” said Sue Kawalerski, the president of the influential Gables Neighbors United umbrella group of homeowner associations, reportedly representing at least 16,000 residents, which had endorsed Castro and Fernandez.
Arango supporters hoped that texts about Castro’s non-existing voting record would suppress voters — and they did. They suppressed her own voters. They also came too late, after more than half the voters had already cast their ballots via mail.
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The Arango O’Doski camp raised $223,600 just in her campaign account, according to the latest finance reports. Just counting that, she spent almost $95 per vote. But it was more. Unknown amounts of dark money funded the same kind of misleading and negative texts that were sent on Bucelo’s behalf against Fernandez.
“I’m just glad all the dirty tricks didn’t work,” Castro said Tuesday. “People are tired of not being heard. And that’s exactly what I intend to do. I’m here to represent them. I’m here to make sure this city is a resident city once again.”
The huge margins in their wins are a mandate, both commissioners elect said. “It’s a cry for help,” said Castro, a psychologist who inherited her mother’s permit expediting service.
Said Fernandez: “This is a mandate from residents to change the direction of our local government.
“This wasn’t close.”
Kawalerski said that residents are hopeful that Menendez and/or Commissioner Rhonda Anderson — who was reportedly out of town Tuesday — will join the two newcomers and forge a residents’ fire wall against overdevelopment on the commission dais. She said it’s different from the hope felt two years ago when they elected Anderson as a “voice for the residents,” which has not really turned out that way.
“There’s a tremendous difference,” Kawalerski said. “This is a mandate by a super majority of the voters. Hopefully, it will open the eyes of the city staff and administration and some commissioners.
“It’s time to hit reset.”
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