A Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge ruled Monday that the Miami City Commission cannot move its general election from 2025 to 2026 without first asking Miami voters to change the city’s charter. The City Commission voted 3-to-2 by ordinance last month to delay the November 2025 election and grant each commissioner and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez an extra year in office. Miami City Attorney George Wysong had argued that the City Commission had the power to do so under three Florida statutes. The judge disagreed. “A careful review of those statutes, however, reveals that they do not individually or collectively grant the City the authority to enact the ordinance,” the judge wrote, ruling in favor of Miami mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez who had sued the city to reinstate the 2025 election. In deciding the case, Judge Valerie Manno Schurr said Miami is bound by its charter, which stipulates that elections for mayor and city commissioners shall be held in odd-numbered years. To push the 2025 election to 2026, Miami must first change its charter, which only voters can do, the judge ruled. The city said it will appeal the ruling to the Third District Court of Appeal.
City of Miami Can’t Move Election, Judge Rules
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