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By Isabella Rodriguez, Edited by Eduardo Vidal
Miami, Florida — José Regalado lost as a candidate in the special election last Tuesday, June 2 for the Miami City Commission, District 4. He marketed himself as “the only real Republican” in the race to fill former Commissioner Manolo Reyes’ seat on the City of Miami Commission—a claim that reads more like a calculated rebrand. Behind the glossy new branding, investigative reporting by the Mostly Peaceful Latinas revealed a candidate propped up by a familiar last name, and bankrolled by individuals whose backgrounds and interests are steeped in local controversy.
A deep dive into Regalado’s campaign contributions revealed direct ties to individuals and entities involved in the $50 million sale of the Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park—a 16.9-acre deal that ended nearly 70 years of private ownership along South West 8th Street. Among the more alarming contributions are five $1,000 donations from Limited Liability Companies tied to California developer Zan Marquis, all listing the same Malibu address and all sent on the same day. Also listed as a contributor was Global Investments Realty, the firm that represented the seller in that same deal. It looks like Regalado has secured friends on both ends of that controversial Miami land grab. This type of support in a small municipal race—coming from special interests in Malibu of all places -- is the kind of pattern that tends to raise eyebrows for voters who question if access and influence can be purchased in a city where land deals often matter more than campaign promises.
Marquis isn’t the only notable figure with public relations baggage behind Regalado’s fundraising. Among the contributors is Jeffrey Garcia—a known and disgraced political operative with multiple federal election fraud convictions. These include orchestrating straw donations -- the practice of hiding the real source of a political contributions through ”straw voters.” This makes Garcia the poster child against election integrity. Garcia also has strong ties to the United Teachers of Dade as a communications consultant. The same UTD that has acted as the antithesis of parental rights in Miami, by exclusively aligning themselves with LGBT indoctrination, opposing medical freedoms and overall putting social justice over curriculum. Garcia’s support of Regalado’s campaign is telling for those concerned with Democrats faking conservative values to survive a political climate that has made progressive ideology an impediment when running a campaign.
A closer look into Regalado’s MAGA-Lite rhetoric, and a quick scroll through his social media accounts, showed a digital footprint that paints a very different picture than the one we were sold in mass text campaigns. There is no visible history of support for President Trump—no posts, no endorsements, no public engagement. What we did find were posts from 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, when Jose Regalado joined the wave of solidarity posts encouraging the riots that took over our nation. As well as posts showing support for taxpayer -unded climate change relief. We scanned every post, on every platform and not a single one would gave any indication that Regalado was a Republican at all. This is in stark contrast to the text campaigns painting him as the “only real Republican” in the race.
Regalado offered voters little in the way of experience: no public service, no clear policy platform, and no real engagement with the issues facing District 4. His campaign leaned almost entirely on inherited visibility from his father. Tomás Regalado, who served as Mayor of Miami and currently holds office as Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser.
Regalado, whose only known career is “ocean photographer,” raised at least $118, 695 dollars, compared to the other Christian Family Coalition-endorsed candidate Ralph Rosado who raised at least $26,454 dollars.
