The District 7 race in Miami-Dade is heating up ahead of Election Day

In 2020, former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner lost by 1,301 votes to school board member and attorney Raquel Regalado for the then-vacant Miami-Dade County Commission seat in District 7.

Four years later, in the August 20 primary election, Lerner and Regalado became the top two candidates of the three who entered the November 5 runoff.

As Election Day approaches, both Lerner and Regalado have used the incumbent president’s history to persuade voters to reject the other candidate, a tactic fueled by mudslinging and personal attacks.

“The first thing you need to do is build relationships across the district,” Lerner told Caplin News. “The current commissioner has ignored most of the district, especially unincorporated Miami Dade. I don’t even know where she is.

Lerner, 72, is a former member of the Florida House of Representatives whose platform rests on climate change reform, curbing social corruption and overdevelopment, and expanding transportation options.

As mayor of Pinecrest, she created a climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and introduced free local transit service. While in office, she also chaired the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee of the National League of Cities.

Regalado, 50, is currently the commissioner of District 7. She won 49% of the vote in the primary election. Caplin News reached out to her for an interview but has not received a response.

Raquel Regalado, daughter of former Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, has a proud record of accomplishments as mayor of Miami, which include her accomplishments as mayor, such as advocating for children and adults with disabilities, improving water quality in Biscayne Bay, creating affordable housing options in unincorporated Miami-Dade and beyond.

“We have done so much and we still have so much to do,” Regalado said podcast episode from the Key Biscayne Independent. “There is no (commune) this does not support me in this re-election and it is an incredible testament, especially in Key Biscayne.”

But Lerner’s campaign tried to frame Regalado as pro-development, anti-environment and catering to special-interest donors who boosted her fundraising efforts to more than $2 million. According to Miami HeraldRegalado’s monetary advantage was fueled in part by donations from developers who wanted the committee’s favorable opinion.

“It’s really indecent. I don’t know what else to call it, but an obscene amount of donations,” Lerner commented. “70% comes from developers, lobbyists, land use lawyers and real estate corporations. The influence they had on her and her voices is very obvious.”

Regalado continues to refute these claims, dismissing Lerner as a politician with a history of rude behavior towards voters. She also called Lerner “corrupt,” claiming she allowed her first cousin to use Pinecrest facilities to host the event rent-free, keeping a portion of the proceeds.

But the turning point came when the attack ad on Regalado sparked some controversy, linking the incumbent to a number of corruption allegations tied to officials including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and suspended Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla. Regalado rejected the allegations and called Lerner’s ad anti-Spanish, grouping politicians of the same ethnic origin.

“The message is this: Cuban Americans are corrupt,” she said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “This is why Raquel Regalado is corrupt.”

Lerner denied these claims, saying critics were playing an ethnic card that wasn’t there.

“These are baseless claims. These are false claims,” Lerner said. “These elected officials were mentioned because each of them made headlines in the Miami Herald and made decisions that had a significant impact on much of District 7.”

“He has connections with people who are under investigation,” she continued. “It’s disturbing.”

There has been no public vote on the District 7 county commissioner race.

Miami Herald Editorial Team supported Regalado over Lerner, writing that Regalado has “an extensive list of accomplishments during his first term.”

District 7 covers south Miami, parts of Coral Gables and Kendall, and Key Biscayne, Pinecrest and south Miami. According to A demographic analysis of the district Miami-Dade County has more than 77,000 Latino voters in District 7, of which more than 31,000 are registered as Republicans.

Adriana Garcia, 43, is a Republican and teacher who previously voted for Regalado at the Coral Gables Library.

“I voted for her in 2020 and this election because she is more in line with my political views,” Garcia said.

Jorge Casas, a 44-year-old Democrat, is a construction project manager and has previously voted for Lerner in both this election and in 2020.

“Raquel Regalado is a nepo child. I don’t agree with her policies,” Casas said. “I think she just keeps trying to defend herself. A good candidate doesn’t have to sit there and defend himself. Their actions will tell their people what they do and what they don’t do.

Alain Diaz Herrera, 36, is a “Hispanics for Trump” activist at the Coral Gables Library. A Republican Party voter and self-employed person, he also voted early for Regalado due to the effectiveness of her policies.

“One of the things I like about her is that (she) knows what works, and (her) ingenuity doesn’t involve changing what already works. I like it. I like that he respects the fact that everything is going well and has no intention of making radical changes.”

This article was originally published by Caplin News, an imprint of FIU’s Lee Caplin School of Journalism and Media, as part of an editorial content partnership with the WLRN newsroom.