A Junkanoo band leads a procession of campaign volunteers for various candidates near the entrance of the North Dade Regional Library in Miami Gardens. The jovial display energizes the dozen or so Miami-Dade citizens casting ballots on the last Saturday of early voting before the Aug. 20 countywide election. Dressed in a Panama hat, white polo and gray khakis, former state legislator Juan-Carlos “JC” Planas courted voters as a first-time Democratic candidate.
Five years after leaving the Republican Party, Planas is seeking to become Miami-Dade’s first elections supervisor chosen by the people as a result of a successful 2018 state constitutional amendment that mandated three positions that currently report to the Miami-Dade Mayor’s Office become independent, elected offices. In addition to elections supervisor, voters will get to elect a new sheriff and a new tax collector.
Planas, an attorney who practices election law and teaches at St. Thomas University, won the Democratic primary on Aug. 20, narrowly defeating second-place finisher and political consultant Willis Howard by 46 percent to 39 percent. A third challenger, Arnie Weiss, captured 15 percent.
As he turns his attention to the general election in November, Planas insists he can convince Independents and Republicans that he’s got the bonafides to oversee elections unlike his next opponent, Alina Garcia, a Miami Republican, who gave up her state House seat and is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who still falsely claims the results of the 2020 presidential election were illegitimate.
“I’m running for everybody,” Planas told Biscayne Times. “There’s probably going to be a bunch of Republicans for Planas. We’re also going to be reaching out a great deal to non-affiliated registered voters. They want competency in this office as well. And I’m the only one who can bring it.”
Another big change in the November election involves the elected positions of county clerk and county property appraiser. For the first time, both races – as well as the races for elections supervisor, sheriff and tax collector – will be partisan affairs. Biscayne Times examined the candidates running for elections supervisor and property appraiser, which are two key positions that have a significant impact on the lives of residents along the Biscayne corridor and northeast Miami-Dade.
Former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado won the Republican primary for property appraiser outright after another candidate, Armando Martinez Jr, withdrew from the race. Marisol Zenteno, an income evaluation specialist for the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s Office, also won the Democratic primary without opposition.
“I see that voters are ready for a new vision,” Zenteno said. “Voters are tired of what they are calling ‘recycled politicians’ that are just looking to land in a space even though they may not be qualified or have the experience for that office. I will be ready on day one and won’t have a learning curve like [Regalado] may have.”
PLANAS VS. GARCIA
(Courtesy JC Planas))
Elections Supervisor Democratic candidate Juan-Carlos “JC” Planas (center) speaks to voters at the North Dade Regional Library in Miami Gardens during early voting Saturday.
While waiting for a couple of friends to cast their ballots on election day on Aug. 20, Garcia told Biscayne Times she decided not to run for reelection to keep her state House seat because the Republican Party needed a viable candidate to run for elections supervisor.
“A lot of people asked me to please do it,” Garcia said. “My message is simple: We need to have fair and balanced elections. I want more transparency.”
While Garcia’s career as a politician launched in 2022 when she won House District 115 against an unknown Democrat, her GOP credentials go back two decades when she worked as a legislative aide for then-state legislator Marco Rubio, who is now one of two Republican U.S. Senators alongside Rick Scott. Garcia has also been chief of staff for Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo, deputy chief of staff for Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, and regional director for state CFO Jimmy Patronis.
While she doesn’t have direct experience in the operations of elections, Garcia said she learned the nuts and bolts of ballot counting working on campaigns of her Republican bosses. “I have been involved in elections for 30 years,” she said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and I know what I am doing.”
If elected, she would ask Christina White, the current appointed elections supervisor, to remain on board as her office’s new director, Garcia said.
Garcia’s ability to beat Planas will be a true test of the Republican Party’s recent statewide surge in voter registrations, surpassing Democrats by 1 million. Miami-Dade has been a blue stronghold in presidential election years for decades, but the margins have gotten closer in terms of turnout. In the Aug. 20 primary, the Democratic Party finished with 117,961 ballots cast, a razor thin lead of 1,586 more votes than the Republican Party, which had 116,375 casted ballots.
Garcia declined to discuss her campaign strategy against Planas, but she said she will campaign just as hard as Planas for Democratic and independent voters. “Yes, next to my name it will say Republican,” she said. “But I still need all voters to vote for me.”
Garcia’s campaign and Florida Always First, a political action committee supporting her, have built up a war chest of $366,890 for November’s general election, while Friends of JC Planas, a PAC backing Planas, has collected $482,286 so far. Both candidates expect to raise close to $1 million each in the next two months, as well as receiving support from the Miami-Dade Democratic and Republican parties.
When voters compare his resume to Garcia’s, Planas said they will realize that he’s got more experience running elections. “I’ve been an elections attorney for over 15 years,” he said. “I teach election law. This is my passion.”
For example, Planas said his opponent has not attended canvassing board meetings when ballots are being counted or been a poll watcher. “She doesn’t have in-depth knowledge of how this process works,” he said. “I’m bringing my experience, my integrity, and my desire to continue the phenomenal job that the Miami-Dade Elections Department has done.”
ZENTENO VS. REGALADO
(Courtesy Marisol Zenteno)
Marisol Zenteno, the Democratic nominee for Miami-Dade Property Appraiser, waves to voters outside a polling precinct during early voting for the Aug. 20 election.
For the second time in four years, Zenteno is running against an older male candidate with name recognition. In 2020, she unsuccessfully challenged her current boss, Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia, who at the time was 82 years old. But even though Zenteno was a first-time candidate, it was a close contest. She garnered 47 percent of the vote compared to 53 percent for Garcia.
“Last time around, it was a two-and-a-half-month race and we were under [Covid-19] restrictions,” Zenteno said. “For this race, I’ve been campaigning since September of last year. I’ve been able to engage a lot more with the community.”
Over the last 12 months, voters she’s interacted with are ready for new leaders, Zenteno said. Aside from criticizing Regalado’s desire to re-enter politics five years after his Miami mayoral run ended, he lacks experience in appraising property values, Zenteno said.
On the other hand, she’s been a state-licensed real estate appraiser for two decades, including the past eight years working for the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser, Zenteno said. “At the same time [Regalado’s daughter Raquel Regalado] is on the county commission,” she said. “With this office going independent, I don’t know how voters will see two members of the same family dynasty working separately from each other at the county level.”
During a brief phone interview, Regalado said he decided against mounting another run for Miami mayor in 2025 because he believes he can lobby state legislators in Tallahassee to provide tax relief for homeowners and apartment building landlords to combat the housing affordability crisis in Miami-Dade.
“Whoever is in charge of the property appraiser’s office will now have the ability to speak without any ties to county government,” Regalado said. “There are some supporters who are upset with me because they wanted me to run for Miami mayor again. But I think I can help more people running the property appraiser’s office.”
Regalado did not respond to subsequent requests for comment about Zenteno’s criticisms. Aside from name recognition, Regalado is also outraising Zenteno for campaign funds. His campaign account has $103,802 compared to $51,992 in her campaign account. Proven Leadership for Miami, a PAC that’s supported Regalado since 2009, also raised $153,580 for his property appraiser run and will likely drum up more donations for the general election.
Several Miami-Dade Democratic clubs have endorsed her, but she has not yet received official support from the Florida and Miami-Dade Democratic Party executive committees, Zenteno said. “I think they were waiting until after the primary election passed,” she said. “We’ll see how that works out. I do believe they will support me in whatever capacity. I’m running because I believe I am the better choice so I’m not waiting on anybody.”