Former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, one of nine candidates running for Mayor in the now-canceled November election, has filed a lawsuit challenging the City Commission’s decision to delay the vote until next year.
Doing so without voter consent was both an “outrageous abuse of power” and illegal, he said in a statement, citing prior warnings from Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier against it.
“We are stunned by the brazen actions of Miami’s elected officials,” said Gonzalez, who served as Miami City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer from December 2017 to February 2020.
“Disenfranchising voters undermines our democracy and robs citizens of their voice at the ballot box. If they can steal an election, what else can they steal!?”
Attorneys from the law firm Lawson Huck Gonzalez filed suit on Gonzalez’s behalf Monday in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court. The complaint names the city, Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioners Damian Pardo, Christine King and Ralph Rosado as defendants.
It seeks declaratory and injunctive relief — meaning that if Gonzalez wins, the court would say he is right and that the city must halt plans to reschedule the election from its original date this year on Nov. 5.
Gonzalez’s lawsuit follows the Miami Commission’s 3-2 vote last week to adopt an ordinance moving the city election from odd- to even-numbered years, effectively extending the terms of sitting officials by one year, including Suarez, who is term-limited.
“In passing (the ordinance), the City of Miami Commissioners unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, Miami-Dade Charter, and the City’s Charter expressly prohibit,” said Alan Lawson, a former Florida Supreme Court justice and lead counsel for Gonzalez.
“This repugnant and deliberate act was done without a single electoral vote in defiance of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s clear warning that doing so was illegal.”
The election change, approved Thursday with support from Pardo, King, and Rosado, has ignited backlash from candidates, elected officials and legal authorities. Commissioners Joe Carollo and Miguel Gabela opposed the move.
Proponents argue that aligning the city’s elections with higher-turnout federal contests could save money and increase participation. Critics, including several candidates running for Mayor and the City Commission, say the decision disenfranchises voters and illegally bypasses the city and county charters, which require voter approval for election date changes.
Uthmeier has argued, with DeSantis’ support, that the action violates both the Florida Constitution and the Miami-Dade County Home Rule Charter, which mandates a voter referendum for any charter amendments, including changes to election dates.
Uthmeier warned in a June 25 letter that Florida “will not tolerate such an unconstitutional deviation” and threatened legal action if the ordinance was enacted.
“The citizens of Miami deserve — and are entitled to — the right to make this decision, directly,” he wrote.
Miami City Attorney George Wysong has defended the ordinance, citing Florida Statute 101.75(3), which permits local governments to move elections by ordinance. He also referenced the 2023 Medina v. City of North Miami ruling, in which a court upheld a similar date change.
Uthmeier rejected that argument, stating that Miami-Dade’s home rule protections, enshrined in the Florida Constitution, override general state statutes.
The controversy has already influenced politics beyond Miami. In Coral Gables, Commissioner Melissa Castro introduced legislation Thursday to undo a similar election shift her peers approved in May, calling it a power grab that robbed residents of their rights.
“Residents, not politicians, should decide when their elections are held and how long their elected officials serve,” she told Florida Politics.
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, who supported the change, has insisted that the issue is being politicized.
“Quite frankly, the current controversy is a manufactured non-issue,” he said, “driven not by legal merit but by politicians and aspiring politicians looking to settle personal or political scores at the expense of our voters and our democracy.”
Michael Hepburn, another candidate for Miami Mayor, has also threatened to sue the city with help from civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
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