Vince Lago’s Coral Gables charter push runs on fumes, burns PAC money

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For weeks, Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has been urging Coral Gables voters to vote yes on all eight charter amendments in the April 21 mail-in referendum. He’s been using his political action committee, Coral Gables First, to get that message out.

And it’s costing him.

The PAC raised exactly $10 in the first quarter of 2026. Not $10,000. Not $1,000. Ten dollars.

That’s not a typo or a rounding error. That’s a big yawn.

And yet the PAC still spent more than $34,000 on consultants while campaigning for the mail-only referendum that Lago has publicly embraced as his own, including the most important one to him, which is moving the elections from April in odd numbered years to November in even numbered years, starting now.

Read related: Coral Gables voters to decide their city’s future — from their mailboxes at home

The collapse in fundraising is nothing short of stunning. During the same quarter last year — when Lago was gearing up for reelection — Coral Gables First pulled in $389,000 from 119 donors.

This year? Ten bucks. That’s a whopping 99.997% fundraising drop, which in political math is somewhere between “bad optics” and “Houston, we have a problem.”

He also went down to one donor, with a name that raises eyebrows. The campaign report shows that Sarah Manzano gave $10 on the day before Valentine’s Day. Manzano is married to Jesse Manzano, Lago’s longtime political consultant whose company, Berthier Group, was the PAC’s largest paid vendor during the last three months.

So, basically, the consultant’s household appears to be the PAC’s only donor of record, With a ten spot. Did someone lose a bet?

Berthier Group collected more than $20,000 from the PAC during the quarter — including payments for political consulting and communications, plus a reimbursement tied to a chamber of commerce expenditure.

Nothing illegal here. But politically? It’s not exactly a confidence builder.

Another nearly $14,000 went to Big Tuesday Media, owned by Jorge Bustamante, who is also a principal at Artisan Media Group, the digital firm that handled major spending during Lago’s 2025 reelection campaign.

Read related: Re-elected Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago’s PAC got $389K in three months

With only $10 coming in but more than $34,000 going out, the PAC tapped into its war chest — built largely during election cycles — to keep the referendum messaging alive.

Since its founding, Coral Gables First has raised more than $2.1 million and spent about $2.07 million, leaving roughly $59,000 in reserves. Those reserves are now paying for email blasts, messaging and the website pushing a “yes on everything” vote. It could leave him with nothing for the election — whether it’s in November or next April.

And here’s the kicker: because Florida campaign finance reports are quarterly, voters won’t see what was spent after March 31 until mid-July — long after ballots are counted. Convenient timing, that. Maybe we’ll see a lot of donations in early April.

But if there’s no surge, let’s talk about what this means politically — because the numbers don’t just look strange, they send signals.

Mayor Lago has been aggressively promoting a mail-only referendum, pushing eight charter changes at once, with ballots landing in mailboxes and zero in-person voting or traditional campaigning.

Mail-in referendums have one undeniable feature: They lower visibility. That means fewer debates. Less press attention. More reliance on direct messaging — emails, digital outreach and carefully crafted narratives.

Exactly the kind of campaign consultants specialize in. Exactly the kind of campaign that burns through reserves instead of raising fresh money.

But is this just about bookkeeping or is it a political mood indicator? When a sitting mayor’s PAC goes from $389,000 to $10 in fundraising in one year, it usually means one of two things: Donors either don’t like the issue, or they think the outcome is already decided.

Or — the uncomfortable third option: They don’t want their names tied to it.

Because unlike an election, where donors invest in a person, referendums are about policy — and policy changes can have long-term consequences voters don’t always understand at first glance. Especially when there are eight amendments bundled together.

Read related: Coral Gables voters to get sweeping charter changes ballot only by mail

But there is also a bigger political takeaway, which is that this ballot is a referendum on Lago himself.

If it passes, Mayor L’Ego will get another reason to beat his chest. Oh, and he’ll make major structural changes to a 100-year old city with minimal public noise.

But if it fails, the mayor will have blown his dwindling funds on a dud.

Because one thing is for sure: Enthusiasm for these changes — at least financially — appears to be missing. And when political money disappears, it’s rarely random. It usually means confidence is, too.

So while the mayor is urging residents to vote yes on everything, the campaign finance reports suggest something else entirely: The money isn’t following the message.

And in politics, that’s a very loud signal.

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