Committee for Renier Diaz de la Portilla is a B-list minus big brother Miguel

Committee for Renier Diaz de la Portilla is a B-list minus big brother Miguel

A ragtag group of attorneys and former elected officials have formed a committee to elect none other than one-time State Rep. and former Miami-Dade School Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla. And it’s just…meh. The committee is chaired by attorney Bill Reily, who just got his client Centner Academy everything they wanted before the […]

American Dream megamall seeks first county approval

American Dream megamall seeks first county approval

Plans for the Amerian Dream megamall — billed as the largest retail center/amusement park in the U.S. — will go before the Miami-Dade County Commission for the first time Wednesday as they seek changes to the county land use and development master plan maps. And the two big topics will be traffic and tax breaks. […]

The 305 votes: A round-up of Election Day news

The 305 votes: A round-up of Election Day news

Most of us have been preoccupied — perhaps obsessed is a better word — with the presidential or the Miami-Dade mayoral election. But there were a lot of other races that culminated with Tuesday’s vote. Here are some highlights: Sen. Marco Rubio beat Congressman Patrick Murphy back to gain another six years in office. He […]

Republicans and Democrats get together for living wage

Republicans and Democrats get together for living wage

It may be a contentious election year with many close races as the Democratic Party tries to snatch up some red seats and Republicans try to hold on and/or turn a few of their own. But that doesn’t mean they can’t still get along, right? A bi-partisan group of electeds in three contested races got […]

November state candidates start early, target independents

November state candidates start early, target independents

While everybody was concentrated on the primary last week, several Republicans without August challengers were eager to get to November, with mailers and TV ads already — since even before qualification and the Fourth of July. That would be State Rep. Frank Artiles, who is running for Senate in District 40 against incumbent Sen. Dwight Bullard, who won […]

County officials honor Natacha Seijas for 1999 living wage law

County officials honor Natacha Seijas for 1999 living wage law

She’s been known as the body bag commissioner because she once threatened a colleague with those words in a late night, early morning budget hearing.  But on Tuesday — er, I mean, on “Honorable Natacha Seijas Day” — the former Hialeah commissioner who was ousted in an ugly and historic recall in 2011, was re-christened The Mother […]

Public employees labor union backs three GOP legislators

Public employees labor union backs three GOP legislators

Despite having Democratic opponents in a Hillary presidential year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Florida are endorsing two Republican incumbents in this year’s election: Sens. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and Anitere Flores. They’ve also endorsed Sen. Rene Garcia, but that’s different. Garcia has no opponent. Miguel DLP and Flores, however, are […]

Miguel DLP vs J-Rod make it a hard choice in Senate 37

Miguel DLP vs J-Rod make it a hard choice in Senate 37

Even though the challenge was looming, we knew it was coming for sure when Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R-Coral Gables) and State Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez (D-Little Havana) were invited as guests to speak about the just-ended legislative session on WPLG’s This Week in South Florida — and it turned into sort of a debate. […]

Miguel DLP is ‘Papi’ again as he, associate expect baby girl

Miguel DLP is ‘Papi’ again as he, associate expect baby girl

Today, Baby DLP refers to someone other than the youngest brother in the well-known political family. But Papi DLP still refers to the oldest. Congratulations go out to Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R-Coral Gables) and his longtime associate/assistant Elinette Ruiz — who are expecting a baby girl in July. The parents are registered […]