Tuesday’s election in Florida City, Miami-Dade County, produced no outright winners in the mayoral or commission races, sending all three contests to runoff elections.
Voters were choosing a new mayor to replace Otis Wallace, who has led the city for more than 40 years. The mayoral contest included Israel J. Andrews, Alphonso D. Bryant, Sharon “Sheep” Smith-Butler, Charlotte Thompson and Walter P. Thompson Sr.
Charlotte Thompson led the field with 39% of the vote, followed by Sharon Smith-Butler with 26%, meaning the two will face off in a runoff to determine Florida City’s next mayor.
Two city commission races will also move to runoffs. For one seat, Ronda Ferguson Cobb and Richard Brown Jr. emerged as the top vote-getters, while Trina Wilborn and James Brady will compete for the second seat.
Outgoing Mayor Wallace, 74, reflected on the city’s future and the challenges facing Florida City’s immigrant community. “In Florida City we have a substantial immigrant community. People that work thankless jobs. Now when they go home they have to worry about if someone is gonna snatch them and their families up. I didn’t think we’d see that in America,” he told WLRN.
Florida City, with a population of about 13,000, has a significant foreign-born population — roughly 35% — and nearly 63% of those residents are non-U.S. citizens. Nearly half of the city identifies as Hispanic or Latino, and more than half of households speak Spanish at home.
Wallace, re-elected multiple times since first taking office in 1984, has been described as Florida City’s “Mayor for Life” due to the city’s lack of term limits.
