Two incumbents unseated during Miami-Dade election

Amy Garcia, Staff Writer

November 25, 2023

An “I Voted!” sticker provided by the Miami-Dade County Elections Department. Via the Miami-Dade County Elections Department.

Two Miami Commission seats were up for grabs on Nov. 21, when the City of Miami headed to the polls to vote on who will represent them on the city commission.

In district 1, which includes Allapattah, Flagami, and parts of Little Havana, the race headed to a runoff as none of the candidates during the election received 50% plus one votes in total.

Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Miguel Gabela were the top two. In the end, Gabela defeated suspended commissioner, Diaz de la Portilla, receiving more than 54% of the vote.

The three other candidates, Francisco Pichel, Mercedes Rodriguez, and Marvin Tapia did not make it to the runoff.

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In district 2, which includes downtown Miami, Coconut Grove, Brickell, and Edgewater, there was a total of eight candidates for the district 2 seat, which led to a runoff.

Damian Pardo received about 53% of the vote, beating incumbent commissioner Sabina Covo.

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About the Contributor

Amy Garcia, Staff Writer

Amy Garcia is a freshman and student journalist at MAST Academy at Virginia Key. She came to MAST because she had heard of its reputation and believed it was a good school and would be an interesting location. This is her first year at MAST and on The Beacon. Garcia joined the school newspaper because she likes to know what is going on at her school and enjoys interviewing and talking to others. She is very social and likes to get to know people. She wants to cover MAST sports and tackle the controversial and sensitive topics that often need to be written. Garcia likes to know more about people and the reason behind their personalities and interests. She is interested in studying psychology and is reaching for schools like Stanford and Yale.