A circuit judge has scheduled an expedited hearing this week to weigh whether the City of Miami had the right to postpone the November 2025 election by a year.
Lawyers for the City of Miami and former manager Emilio Gonzalez are headed to court this week to argue over whether the city had the right to postpone the November 2025 election when voters were scheduled to choose two commissioners and a new mayor.
Gonzalez, one of several candidates competing to be Miami’s next mayor, says no. City Attorney George Wysong argues otherwise. The lawyers are due in court Wednesday for an expedited hearing before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr.
The City Commission voted last month to move the election to 2026 and Gonzalez filed suit almost immediately. If the decision stands, all five commissioners and current Mayor Francis Suarez will stay in office an extra year – something critics call a power grab.
Despite rumors to the contrary, however, Miami voters will be headed to the polls in November regardless of how the case is decided.
The Miami City Commission voted last week to place two charter reforms on the fall ballot – lifetime term limits for elected officials and the creation of a citizens redistricting committee to prevent political gerrymandering when the city’s voting map is redrawn.
Voters will be asked to decide both issues in November.
The first measure – lifetime term limits – was proposed by District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo. If voters approve, the charter change would prevent elected officials from ever serving more than two four-year terms, as a commissioner or as mayor (an exception applies for officials elected to serve a term of less than four years).
Miami District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo, a lifetime politician first elected in 1979, voted against the ballot measure last week. So did Commission Chair Christine King.
The second reform – redistricting – was forced upon the city as a result of a 2024 legal settlement. A handful of organizations – including GRACE in Coconut Grove – sued the city to overturn the 2022 district boundaries adopted by the City Commission, saying those boundaries were “racially” gerrymandered.
A federal district court agreed, forcing the city to redraw the boundaries (and reuniting Coconut Grove in one district). The settlement agreement obligated the city to submit a proposed charter change to city voters to prevent future gerrymanders.
Carollo was the lone “no” vote last Thursday against the redistricting measure. Miami voters will have the final say on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.
So the City of Miami Commission has decided it has the power to postpone City Commission elections without approval from the voters, despite what the City Charter says, and they’ve postponed the 2025 election to 2026, giving themselves (and Mayor Francis Suarez) an extra year in office.
(Commissioners Damian Pardo, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted yes for the election postponement, while Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela and Carollo voted no. Mayor Francis Suarez declined to veto the move.)
Does that mean that a year from now they can postpone the 2026 election to 2027, giving themselves two extra years in office? What’s to stop them? Their conscience?
It’s one more reason why I don’t trust the City of Miami.
Elvis Cruz
Morningside