As early voting begins, North Miami mayor is disqualified from ballot. Here’s why

North Miami - NMB admin October 20, 2026 0 Comments

As early voting begins, North Miami mayor is disqualified from ballot. Here’s why

A lawsuit over cashier’s checks has led to the disqualification of incumbent North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme from next month’s election, effectively handing victory to his sole opponent.

That opponent is George Morgan, who filed an emergency complaint in Miami-Dade County court on Oct. 8 alleging Desulme was ineligible to run because he paid his candidate qualifying fees with two cashier’s checks from TD Bank rather than from his “candidate campaign account.”

The mayor disputed the premise of the lawsuit, saying the check was drawn from his campaign account. He also denied being served with the suit and said his opponent didn’t have “clean hands,” accusing Morgan of underpaying his own qualifying fees by 80 cents.

Desulme’s attorney, Ben Kuehne, told the Miami Herald his client was disappointed in the ruling and would be appealing it, in addition to filing a counterclaim against Morgan for the 80-cent shortage.

“The mayor, given his experience not only as mayor but as clerk, knows that the city of North Miami has always viewed its qualification procedure differently than the state statute, including the payment of the qualifying fee, and has not turned down qualified fees by cashier’s checks in the past,” Kuehne said.

Judge Beatrice Butchko Sanchez ultimately sided with Morgan.

In a ruling issued Monday evening, she wrote that a cashier’s check doesn’t count as a check drawn on the candidate’s campaign account, invalidating the two checks Desulme submitted on Aug. 10 for $4,494 and $898.80.

The judge wrote that she weighed whether the check mishap was minor enough that it could be overlooked, and ultimately decided the answer was no.

“The Court does not wish to disenfranchise any voter,” she wrote. “The Court therefore considered whether the doctrine of substantial compliance — in other words, ‘no harm, no foul’ — could excuse the defect. It cannot.”

The city of North Miami declined to comment on the ruling. The city’s legal counsel previously opted not to take a stance on the qualification matter but did say it would generally be “opposed to removing any party from the ballot,” saying that the city’s priority is “safeguarding the rights of its citizens to vote and run for office.”

The Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office is expected to post the news of Desulme’s disqualification at polling locations, on outgoing vote-by-mail ballots and on its website.

Early voting began Monday in Miami-Dade County, and mail-in ballots were sent out starting last month. The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Thursday, Oct. 22.

Miami Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks contributed reporting.

This story was originally published October 19, 2026 at 7:15 PM.