The cost of last year’s election fiasco for Miami taxpayers may double this week, if the Miami City Commission agrees to pay $150,000 in legal fees incurred by former mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez. Gonzalez went to court last year to prevent the city from moving the 2025 general election to 2026. Gonzalez won three times in court – once at the circuit court level and twice on appeal – but ultimately lost the election to Miami’s current mayor, Eileen Higgins. On Thursday, the Miami City Commission is scheduled to vote on a proposed settlement agreement, authorizing City Manager James Reyes to write a check for $150,000 to the law firm that represented Gonzalez on appeal. If approved, the payment would double the cost to taxpayers. The city itself incurred at least $150,000 in outside legal fees to defend its decision to move the election without voter approval. The judges who decided the case said that was unconstitutional. The mayor and the City Commission are now exploring ways to move the city’s election calendar from odd to even years through a public referendum, perhaps as soon as August.
Cost of Miami’s Election Fiasco Could Double
More in News Briefs:
-
From Curtain Calls to Cannonballs
April 23, 2026
- Pardo Seeks Funding for Park Improvements in Coconut Grove April 20, 2026
- PZAB Votes to Protect Neighborhoods from Density Transfer Ordinance April 16, 2026
