Alligator Alcatraz contractor gave big to Miami-Dade commissioners this spring

This spring, a company helping run Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention camp was the top donor to incumbents in Miami-Dade County government, according to a Miami Herald analysis.

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CDR, a Miami company that specializes in emergency management and has won Miami-Dade contracts in the past, gave a combined $105,000 to four of the 13 commissioners — enough to top the Miami Herald’s tally of donations made in April and May.

The company is owned and run by a husband-and-wife team, Carlos Duart and Tina Vidal-Duart.

Vidal-Duart serves as vice chair of the board that oversees the county’s sales tax for homeless services and domestic-violence shelters. The Duarts are political donors to Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose administration has agreed to pay CDR and affiliates more than $200 million for emergency services work at Alligator Alcatraz and another temporary detention facility in Baker County that the state calls the Deportation Depot.

In a statement, Vidal-Duart said the CDR donations are part of a larger effort to help Miami-Dade. “We support candidates and public leaders from both political parties who we believe are committed to the county’s long-term strength, economic growth and quality of life,” the statement said.

CDR gave to a mix of Republicans and Democrats on the officially nonpartisan commission. The bulk of the donations went to Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, a Democrat running in the primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in the 24th Congressional District. CDR gave his political committee, Common Voices, $70,000.

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The remaining $35,000 went to committees for three commissioners, according to the Herald analysis: Roberto Gonzalez and Vicki Lopez, both Republicans, and Micky Steinberg, a Democrat.

Miami-Dade office holders — the 13 commissioners and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava — rely on a donor circuit of developers, lobbyists, government contractors, labor unions and others with financial interests in government decisions. CDR has been a reliable donor for years in Miami-Dade politics, landing at No. 10 on the Herald’s list of top county donors in 2025.

The latest Herald donations tally is based on reports that were due earlier this month under Florida law, covering contributions made in April and May. The Herald analyzed donations to more than a dozen political committees backing Miami-Dade incumbents, plus campaign committees for the seven commissioners up for reelection this year.

Other top donors in Herald’s analysis of contributions made in April and May were:

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• A political committee run by two registered lobbyists who were on the team interested in building a hotel at Miami International Airport. Miamians for Sensible Government, run by Ralph Garcia-Toledo and Jesse Manzano-Plaza, gave $20,000 each to three commissioners: Gilbert, Marleine Bastien and Natalie Milian Orbis. Garcia-Toledo has worked as a subcontractor on Miami-Dade contracts and is a registered lobbyist for his businesses. He and Manzano-Plaza were hoping to win approval for a second hotel at MIA in 2023 but lost out to a development team that hasn’t yet broken ground. That raises the possibility of Miami-Dade reconsidering the proposal by the two and their partners.

• Two developers who build on county-owned land. The Swerdlow Group gave $60,000 to committees backing four commissioners: $20,000 each for Vicki Lopez and Roberto Gonzalez, with smaller donations for Juan Carlos Bermudez and Raquel Regalado. Terra Group gave $55,000 to committees for five commissioners — $25,000 for Gilbert and smaller amounts for Bermudez, Gonzalez, Lopez and Regalado.

• TMC Naranja, a development group tied to Legacy Residential that builds suburban housing complexes needing county zoning approval. TMC Naranja gave $50,000 to committees for four commissioners: $20,000 for Gilbert and smaller amounts for Gonzalez, Lopez and Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez.

• Related Group, a developer on multiple county housing projects. The Miami-based builder is also part of the development group trying to build a Fisher Island condo complex on a privately owned fuel yard that Miami-Dade wants to purchase through eminent domain. Commissioners voted on June 16 to move forward with a court fight and try to block the condo project. Related gave $50,000 to political committees for two commissioners: Milian Orbis ($25,000) and Rodriguez ($25,000).