In another win for Miami mayoral candidate Emilio T. Gonzalez, a Florida appeals court has rejected the City of Miami's attempt to delay the city's 2025 mayoral election and move it to November 2026. The major ruling comes after another judge sided with Gonzalez to keep Miami's election in place this fall, calling it unconstitutional to change.
"VICTORY! The Appeals Court just blocked the City of Miami’s corrupt attempt to cancel this November’s mayoral election," Gonzalez said. "As predicted, we won… AGAIN! The courts agree: the people of Miami have the right to vote, and no backroom deal can take that away. Democracy prevails. ALL of Miami wins."
In June, Miami Commissioners voted 3-2 to cancel the city's election, setting off a firestorm from Gonzalez, who has since accused the commission of trying to steal the election by moving it back to next year.
The court again seemingly agreed.
“(Miami) may not enact an ordinance which effectively amends its Charter without submission of the issue to the will and vote of its constituents by referendum,” the ruling said, declaring it once again "unconstitutional."
But the battle might now be over yet, as indicated by Miami officials.
"We are exploring further appellate options. We believe the court's expedited review may have led to an oversight of binding Supreme Court precedent that is central to the outcome of this dispute," Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told Local 10 news.
Moreover, Saurez doubled down on the city's argument during a recent preliminary hearing on the appeal to The Floridian, where he even blamed Gov. Ron DeSantis. The battle has also opened up questions about whether the issue could make it up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The governor called the entire case a scheme at a news conference last week.
"It was very strange for me and unexpected, particularly given the fact that we're relying on a state law," Suarez said of DeSantis. "If he didn't like the state law, which he is perfectly entitled to not like, he should have changed the state law. He's smart enough to know that."
