One Miami-Dade commissioner falls short, will face challenger in November runoff

Miami-Dade Commissioner Vicki Lopez fell short of the votes needed to win on Tuesday, pushing her election fight into the fall against retired Marine Rob Piper in a contest that could hand Democrats a majority on the County Commission.

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While the 13-member commission is nonpartisan, Piper was the only Democrat in a three-way District 5 race against two prominent Republicans: Lopez, a former member of the Florida House, and Joe Sanchez, a former Miami City Commission chair who ran for sheriff in 2024 in the Republican primary.

Lopez led by a wide margin once all precincts had reported shortly before 9 p.m., with Piper narrowly ahead of the better-known and better-funded Sanchez. In an interview, Sanchez said he was met with GOP blowback while door-knocking at a time when polls show high unpopularity ratings for President Donald Trump.

“I had many people tell me: ‘I’ll never vote for a Republican again,’” Sanchez said.

Marleine Bastien and Danielle Cohen Higgins — the two other incumbent commissioners on the ballot Tuesday — won their elections outright and won’t face November runoffs. Both are Democrats.

The County Commission holds elections every other year, alternating between the even-numbered and odd-numbered districts. Though she represents an odd-numbered district, Lopez was on the ballot due to a Miami-Dade rule requiring appointed commissioners to face voters in the next regular election.

While a Republican in a nonpartisan seat, Lopez ran as a moderate, touting her support for the environment while criticizing GOP-backed plans to halt diversity spending in local governments and slash property taxes across Florida.

A bipartisan majority of commissioners appointed her to the District 5 seat last year. Lopez had Democratic backing in the race, too: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava endorsed her, and Christian Ulvert, a leading consultant for local Democrats, oversaw Lopez’s campaign.

Piper ran as a “lifelong progressive” with a focus on the environment and more accountability in county government. He said local Democrats helped his campaign in a race where his reported spending was relatively tiny. He reported raising $3,000 for his campaign account and did not have a political committee. Sanchez reported raising $240,000 and Lopez, more than $1.5 million.

“It tells me money doesn’t buy votes,” Piper said. “Engagement and infrastructure does.”

In a statement, Lopez said she was honored with voters’ support on Tuesday and “excited to continue those conversations in the weeks ahead.”

“Over the past nine months serving as your commissioner, we have made meaningful progress on issues that matter to District 5 — but there is still more work to do,” she said. “I remain committed to bringing people together, tackling our community’s biggest challenges, and ensuring every neighborhood has a strong voice in the decisions that shape our future.”

The fall contest will be officially nonpartisan, but party stakes may matter. The District 5 seat was previously held by Eileen Higgins, who resigned it last year for her successful run for Miami mayor — the first Democrat to hold that position in nearly 30 years.

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Lopez had 42% of the ballots reported shortly after 9 p.m. Piper had 29% and Sanchez, 28%, with about 200 votes separating the two.

Seven incumbent commissioners faced an election this year, but four won their terms automatically in June when no challengers filed to run against them. Those four were Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez and Commissioners Juan Carlos Bermudez, Natalie Milian Orbis and Micky Steinberg.

Here is how the other two County Commission elections ended Tuesday night:

District 2: Hialeah, Miami, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Opa-Locka

Bastien, 67, was elected to an open District 2 seat in 2022. For reelection, she faced challengers Ernst Jean Louis, 66 and a security guard, and Miguel “Skip” Quintero, 47 and owner of a home-based trapeze school. This was Jean Louis’s first run for office; Quintero ran for county mayor in 2024.

Jean Louis pledged to put the everyday resident on the forefront of his agenda. Quintero centered his campaign around a transparency plan, including installing livestream cameras in the District 2 office.

Bastien, until recently head of a social services charity that helps immigrant populations, ran on her record of promoting affordable housing, advocating for economic development and securing county dollars for the district she represents.

Shortly before 9 p.m., Bastien had 78% of the vote, followed by 13% for Quintero and 9% for Jean Louis.

Financially, there was no contest in the election for a district that includes the neighborhoods of Biscayne Gardens, Liberty City and North Dade Central. Over the last four years, Bastien raised more than $1.2 million for her campaign account and Moving Forward Together, her political committee. That’s compared to about $13,200 by Quintero and $2,200 by Jean Louis.

District 8: Cutler Bay, Homestead, Palmetto Bay

Cohen Higgins, 45, joined the County Commission in 2020 when commissioners appointed her to the District 8 seat left vacant when Levine Cava won that year’s race for county mayor. Cohen Higgins, a lawyer, won her first four-year term in 2022.

This year, she faced two challengers: DuBois, 64, who owns a video-surveillance company; and Martha “Vega” Hero, 61, who owns a consulting firm.

Cohen Higgins ran as a commissioner willing to make enemies, citing support for an auto bridge fought by Palmetto Bay and opposition of an industrial project outside the county’s Urban Development Boundary. DuBois cited traffic in suburban District 8 as a neglected problem he would tackle on the commission. Hero promised to help expand affordable housing, particularly for seniors.

Shortly after 8 p.m., Cohen Higgins had 55% of the vote, followed by 28% for DuBois and 17% for Hero.

Like the other two incumbent commissioners on the ballot Tuesday, Cohen Higgins brought a much larger war chest to the race than her two challengers did. After the 2022 election, Cohen Higgins raised more than $2 million for two political committees, Fight for Our Future and We are Miami-Dade, and her campaign. That’s compared to about $146,000 raised by DuBois, who self-funded the bulk of his campaign, and $47,000 by Hero.

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