In the Nov. 5 election, the race for Miami-Dade Sheriff will be a true test of whether the Republican candidate’s on-the-job experience can overcome her opponent’s Democratic Party credentials.
Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz, the GOP nominee endorsed by former President Donald Trump, spent her entire career with the Miami-Dade Police Department, rising in the ranks over three decades to assistant director. She is squaring off against her boss, Public Safety Chief James Reyes, a Democrat who spent a majority of his career working for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office until Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava plucked him to oversee jails a couple of years ago.
The Republican Party has hacked away at the Democratic Party’s voter advantage in Miami-Dade with Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 becoming the first conservative governor to win the county since Jeb Bush. However, in a partisan countywide race in a presidential election year, Reyes still has a slim advantage as the Democratic candidate, according to political observers and experts.
“In the Republican primary, the Trump endorsement was a huge help [for Cordero-Stutz],” Emiliano Antuñez, a Miami-based political consultant who primarily works with Republican candidates, told Biscayne Times. “I’m not sure it does anything for her in the general election. Trump performed well in Miami-Dade in 2020, but Joe Biden still beat him. The county has gone purple, but it’s not red.”
The race being a partisan stand-off makes it harder for voters to assess the two candidates based on their qualifications to be the first elected sheriff in more than half a century, said Sally Heyman, a former Miami-Dade County commissioner who represented portions of North Bay Village, El Portal, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Aventura. Cordero-Stutz recently touted Heyman’s endorsement of her.
“The district I represented is solidly Democratic and I am a registered Democrat,” Heyman told BT. “But I don’t give a rat’s ass what party anybody is in this race. I don’t believe politics belongs in police work.”
SHERIFF POWER SHIFT
(Courtesy Rosie Cordero-Stutz Campaign)
Cordero-Stutz answering questions at a July forum for Republican candidates for Miami-Dade sheriff.
For more than six decades, a buffer existed between the county police force and Miami-Dade elected officials. In 1966, Miami-Dade voters eliminated the elected sheriff’s office following a grand jury indictment of then-Sheriff T.A. Buchanan for perjury and failure to report campaign contributions. Until 2007, the county’s police director was appointed by the county manager, a non-political position that previously held the chief administrative role over all departments.
Since then, the county mayor – who now holds the power to hire and fire department heads – gets to appoint the police director. The county commission approves the police department’s budget, which now stands at nearly $1 billion.
But in 2018, 63 percent of Florida voters approved a state constitutional amendment mandating that all 67 counties elect a sheriff, an elections supervisor, a clerk of the courts and comptroller, a tax collector and a property appraiser in partisan races commencing this election year. The measure, backed by the powerful Florida Sheriffs Association, applied to only three counties, including Miami-Dade. In addition to a police director, elections supervisor and tax collector were appointed positions. The county clerk and property appraiser have been nonpartisan elected offices.
Miami-Dade’s new elected sheriff will take over the police department’s budget and 5,000 sworn officers and civilian workers in January. The November election is a battle for control of the largest law enforcement force in the southeastern United States and the eighth largest in the country.
(Courtesy James Reyes Campaign)
Reyes campaigning at an early voting site in early August.
Former and current Miami-Dade politicians, including Heyman and Levine Cava, were reluctant to turn over the police department to the new elected sheriff. “I campaigned against it,” Heyman said. “Miami-Dade had a tradition of elevating people from within that had great leadership and were great for morale. That doesn’t come into play in an election.”
In 2022, Levine Cava and county commissioners attempted to dilute the powers of the proposed elected sheriff’s office by seeking to retain control of patrol and investigative services in unincorporated areas of the Miami-Dade, as well as county-owned government sites such as the Stephen P. Clark Center in downtown Miami, public transit stops like Metrorail stations, Port Miami, Miami International Airport, and four general aviation airports. Specialized units involved in homeland security and public corruption investigations would also remain under county government’s purview.
But last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a legislative bill into law that effectively nullified Miami-Dade’s attempt to maintain power over the police department.
THE MAYOR’S CANDIDATE
In the months leading up to the Aug. 20 primary, Reyes and Cordero-Stutz emerged as the frontrunners for their respective parties. Reyes entered the race in January, three months after Levine Cava promoted him to Miami-Dade Public Safety Chief. Reyes moved up in the aftermath of then-county Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez’s suicide attempt following an argument with his wife at a police convention in Tampa.
(Courtesy James Reyes Campaign)
James Reyes jumped into the sheriff's race after Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava promoted him to public safety chief.
Ramirez was a Democratic candidate for sheriff, but withdrew from the race. Levine Cava hired Reyes in 2022 to run the Miami-Dade Corrections Department, which had been the subject of a scathing U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the mental health and safety of county inmates.
In 2001, Reyes began his career as a deputy sheriff in Broward. By 2013, he held a captain’s rank. But he worked in mostly administrative roles after a brief stint on street patrol. A year later, then-Broward Sheriff Scott Israel named Reyes assistant director of that county’s corrections department.
Critics of Reyes, who oversees county police officers, firefighters, and corrections personnel, and Levine Cava have accused the mayor of giving Reyes a prominent job title in order to boost his law enforcement bonafides. If Reyes wins, he will not be independent and will answer to Levine Cava, said John Rivera, a former county police union president and retired Miami-Dade sergeant who ran and lost in the Republican primary for sheriff.
“When Freddy had his unfortunate situation, [Levine Cava] had to find someone else to run,” Rivera told BT. “If [Reyes] is elected, they might as well let the mayor be sheriff. That’s exactly what the people voted against 100 percent.”
Reyes and Levine Cava did not respond to requests for comment through their spokespersons. But in a previous interview in the August issue of BT, Reyes denied Levine Cava would control what he does. “I think they might be naive to the fact that independence does not mean isolated,” Reyes said. “Every sheriff has to have a relationship with the commission and the county and their municipal mayors.”
And the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, the union Rivera previously led, is backing Reyes for sheriff. In a July endorsement, the PBA pointed to Reyes’ experience with the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
“James has demonstrated his commitment to law and order and providing our officers with the resources they need to do their jobs more safely and effectively,” South Florida PBA President Steadman Stahl said in a statement. “We have confidence in Chief Reyes at the helm because of his proven high-level command experience in a Sheriff’s Office, tireless advocacy for our officers, and above all his commitment to public safety.”
Reyes beat his three opponents by garnering 46 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary. His closest challenger, retired Miami-Dade Police Lt. Rickey Mitchell nabbed 21 percent.
THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S CANDIDATE
Cordero-Stutz received a significant boost in April when Trump issued his endorsement on Truth Social, the social media application he owns. “Rosanna has proven she knows how to Crack Down on Crime, Support our Great Law Enforcement, and Keep our People Safe,” Trump’s statement said in part. “I know as your next Sheriff, she will make us all proud.”
(Courtesy Rosie Cordero-Stutz Campaign)
Rosanna "Rosie" Cordero-Stutz is endorsed by former President Donald Trump. In July, she landed in the VIP section of his rally at his golf resort in Doral.
The 28-year Miami-Dade police veteran is among tens of thousands of law enforcement officers across the country who fully support Trump becoming president again despite his role in agitating his supporters who stormed the Capitol building in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. Protesters believed Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, assaulted approximately 140 police officers on that day.
In her response to Trump’s endorsement, Cordero-Stutz sought to appeal to conservative Hispanic voters in Miami-Dade who view Democratic candidates as communists.
“Only in America could a Hispanic woman receive an endorsement from a former and future President of the United States,” Cordero-Stutz said. “We both agree. We cannot allow socialist policies to endanger our community and our values.”
Trump’s endorsement helped propel Cordero-Stutz past 10 Republican primary opponents. She eked out a victory with 24 percent of the vote. Her closest challenger, Florida State Trooper and former Miami City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, got 22 percent.
Heyman, the ex-county commissioner, told BT that she can overlook Cordero-Stutz’s fawning over Trump because she is much more qualified than Reyes. During her three-decade run with Miami-Dade Police, Cordero-Stutz has worked in multiple bureaus, including robbery intervention, homicide, internal affairs, personnel management, and media relations.
Heyman, who served for 20 years, interacted with Cordero-Stutz when the sheriff’s candidate was commander of the county police department’s Intracoastal District and during her most recent tenure as an assistant police director. The pair also worked together in drawing up a transition plan from the county police department to the new sheriff’s office.
“Rosie coming up through the ranks speaks for itself,” Heyman said. “I only know about the other guy because of his role coming over from corrections. Rosie is heads above. She’s been a sworn officer for three decades with Miami-Dade and worked with the legislative body for at least 12 years. And I like that she is accessible and dependable.”
In a phone interview, Cordero-Stutz echoed Heyman’s accolades about her experience. “I have been preparing for the past year-and-a-half to make sure this transition goes well,” she said. “I realized this position needs someone who has the knowledge and the experience. To be able to pass the baton to the new sheriff’s office, you need someone who has been through the trials and tribulations of actually answering a 911 call in a Miami-Dade police uniform.”
THE ODDS ARE A TOSS-UP
An August poll shows Trump tied with Vice-President Kamala Harris, who took over the Democratic 2024 ticket after President Joe Biden bowed out in July. But the survey was commissioned by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Cabrera. Another poll, conducted by Democratic strategist Christian Ulvert, shows the former president losing Miami-Dade by 14 percent. Ulvert is also the chief advisor for Levine Cava, Reyes, and Democratic candidates vying for the other four countywide elected offices on the November ballot.
The disparity in the partisan polls shows that Miami-Dade is a toss-up, but the momentum is on the Democratic side due to Harris re-energizing her party’s voters, who were lukewarm to voting for Biden again, said Antuñez, the political consultant. Levine Cava, whose campaign raised and spent more than $10 million to outright win reelection during the August primary, can now concentrate on fundraising for Reyes and the other four candidates. Levine Cava won a nonpartisan race with 58 percent of the vote, beating six challengers, including four Republicans.
“She’s going to be able to raise money and help these Democratic candidates,” Antuñez said. “It’s hard to tell how much it will help Reyes. These new constitutional offices, including sheriff, are very confusing to voters. It all depends on how he and [Cordero-Stutz] communicate with voters, especially independents.”
As of Sept. 3, Miami-Dade has 517,124 registered Democrats compared to 466,170 registered Republicans. But the county also has 475,159 non-party affiliated voters. Securing an endorsement from a prominent Democrat like Heyman, even though she’s been out of office, could help Cordero-Stutz significantly in winning over independents, Antuñez said.
“Those NPA voters are the ones that jump around on a ballot,” he said. “That’s where the fight really is. They are going to need those NPA voters to get over the top.”