Former Hialeah Mayor Julio Martinez, who jumped into the race for his old job on qualifying day, has a lot of catching up to do.
Hialeah Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez has already amassed more than $170,000 for his re-election campaign so far. And that is not counting any possible PAC money.
Much of his funding is familiar: The same people who gave to his campaign in 2011 and the failed county mayoral campaign of his predecessor, former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina.
They include Demetrio Perez, who gave $5,000 in ten checks, Roberto Blanco, who contributed at least $2,500 through his relatives and companies, same as what auto mogul Gus Machado gave, Stephen and John Brunetti, who gave at least $2,000. Real estate developers were big donors, too: Another $3,000 came from Jorge Ariel Lopez, $4,000 came from Julio Arriaga and $2,000 from Maximo Alvarez.
But the biggest donors so far are Alex Vilarello and Alex Ruiz, who are believed to be business partners of Robaina’s as well as Marty Caparro. With a whopping 32 contributions tied to them through their companies and partnerships, whoever that group of investors is has put $16,000 into the Hernandez campaign.
Why the prolonged interest? Or could this be hush money, now that Robaina has been officially and finally indicted on tax evasion and other charges stemming from his loan sharking side business? Hernandez was implicated in those reportedly illegal high-interest loans last year after he admitted to charging someone 36 percent interest and then quickly backpedaled and said it was principal on the loan.
Martinez better hope something comes out on that before November or else that he wins the Lotto, because Hernandez, who probably won’t have the tens of thousands or more he got last go around from the illegal maquinita industry, still has most of his contributions. He has only spent about $4,800 so far. Mostly for an event that got $650 worth of “entertainment” and $2,500 worth of food from Chez Joseito. Ladra can’t help but wonder what was on the menu and if he had a falling out with Chef Marin from Casa Marin restaurant, who used to boast about collecting hundreds of absentee ballots in the kitchen.
Still, Hernandez still has at least $168,000 on hand, and I say at least because we have not yet seen what his PACs will be up to. There wasn’t any real activity in the Sasha Tirador-controlled PACs that he always uses, but that ugly head always rises later in the campaign cycle.
The other candidates challenging the council members that are up for re-election, will likely be under-funded and have their work cut out for them, too.
Council Vice President Luis Gonzalez has raised almost $36,500 — even though only $5,600 was added in the last quarter. Commissioners Paul “Pablitiquito” Hernandez and Kathering Cue-Fuentes, who ended up the only Seguro Que Yes council member unopposed, raised similar amounts at $38,750 and $33,710, respectively.
But the numbers are not so close by coincidence: The three incumbents share many of the same contributors, some of whom also overlap with Mayor Hernandez’s donors.
The activist Julio Rodriguez, who is running against Gonzalez, and political neophyte Marcos Miralles, who is challenging the junior Hernandez, will be lucky if they can get half as much. They’re campaigns will be different, to be sure, and count on social media and grass roots volunteers. But the other side still has a lot of resources.
Cue-Fuente is supposed to return that $34,000 she got or distribute it to charitable contributions. As of the end of June she had not spent a dime.
But how much do you want to bet that she finds a way to send a mailer that thanks the community for their support — and, oh, yeah, vote for my buddies, will ya? And how much do you want to bet that it comes around the same time or just before the first wave of absentee ballots arrive.
You know, because otherwise it’s a waste: Like Ladra said, those contributors already gave to her colleagues.
Hialeah incumbents lead early in election money race added by Ladra on
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