The Miami City Commission voted last week to move this year’s election to 2026 without asking voters to approve the switch. The decision is now being challenged in court.
Former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, one of a handful of candidates competing to be Miami’s next mayor, has gone to court to block the City of Miami from moving this year’s election to 2026.
Gonzalez filed a lawsuit this week against the city to prevent the shift, saying the city “unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade Charter, and the City’s Charter expressly prohibit.”
The Miami City Commission voted last week to move all future elections – including the November 2025 election – to even-numbered years to coincide with state and federal elections. Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo proposed the shift, saying the move would boost voter turnout.
Opponents condemned the move as a power grab, since the shift would allow current mayor Francis Suarez and all five city commissioners, including Pardo, to remain in office for an extra year without voter approval.
Gonzalez is asking a state court judge to reinstate the November 2025 election and block the city from changing the election calendar without a referendum.
Gonzalez filed suit on Monday. Miami City Attorney George Wysong responded on Tuesday with an emergency motion to dismiss the complaint.
“The City of Miami’s decision to move the date of a municipal election by ordinance – and, in the process, extend the terms of sitting elected officials – is not unprecedented. For nearly a quarter of a century, municipalities in Florida have made the same or similar decisions without consequences,” the motion to dismiss states.
The case has been assigned to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr.
