The candidates are not the only ones who won and/or lost in Tuesday’s elections for county, school board, judicial and state offices. There are other victors and losers, also. People who will ride the winners’ coattails or who depended on the losers. Without further ado, here are Ladra’s winners and losers from the Miami-Dade elections: […]
Longtime Democrat political operative Christian Ulvert — who helped put Sens. Jose Javier Rodriguez and Annette Taddeo, Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine-Cava and Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber into office — wants a seat of his own now. Ulvert is running for city council in Miami Shores and had his kick-off earlier this month. How many chips you think he’s […]
The Miami Herald got it right for once Wednesday in their endorsement of Kristen Rosen Gonzalez for Miami Beach Commissioner. The Miami-Dade College professor is headed to a runoff Tuesday as the last hope to get an independent voice on the commission after the two other open seats went to cronies of Mayor Philip Levine. […]
Lobbyist David Custin is having a fundraiser for Miami Beach Commission candidate Betsy Perez. Oh, it doesn’t say that on the invitation. The invitation is from Mayor Philip Levine and four of the sitting commissioners: Michael Grieco, Joy Malakoff and newly-elected Ricky Arriola and John Aleman. All five of them had Custin as their campaign […]
In one of the few times in politics where money apparently didn’t make the edge, a grass roots activists on Tuesday won their battle against a ballot measure that would have permitted upzoning on Ocean Terrace for a certain developer to build a high rise tower in a historic district with two- and three-story buildings. […]
Miami Beach campaign consultant and lobbyist David Custin is raking in the bucks representing vendors and developers with business deals before the very same people he helped get elected. It’s nice work if you can get it. It also smacks of influence. If you put people in office it stands to reason they owe you. […]
UPDATED: David Custin wasn’t always so successful in Miami Beach. Before he played a crucial role in electing Mayor Philip Levine and Commissioners Joy Malakoff and Michael Grieco in 2013, Custin was really just a glorified mailboy-turned-campaign-consultant who dabbled sometimes as a lobbyist. He only had one client, the red light camera American Traffic Solutions, Miami Beach […]
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine was at Rebecca Towers last week, courting the elderly Hispanic voters that helped propel him to victory two years ago. He also took his whole slate of candidates — Ricky Arriola, John Elizabeth Aleman and Betsy Perez — who he wants elected so they can rubber stamp his decisions. But […]
The new, half million Miami Beach PAC funded by vendors and special interests and chaired by the termed-out Commissioner Jonah Wolfson has also had some interesting expenses. My bad for not mentioning before. Ladra got too caught up in the specter of a possible shakedown scenario. And it could be a war chest for Mayor Philip Levine‘s […]
It was a short-lived honeymoon and Ladra sees the pending end of the bromance between Miami Beach Mayor Philip “Fix It Phil” Levine and Commissioner Michael Grieco, who ran on the Levine slate last year to overcome longtime Beach incumbents. At Wednesday’s city commission meeting, Levine lashed out at Grieco for being the sole nay […]