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Doral, Florida — The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners has a troubling habit: when vacancies arise, it fills them through internal appointments rather than special elections. This allows politicians to handpick their colleagues instead of letting the people choose their representatives.
These appointed commissioners are not elected by the voters they serve. They resemble Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential bid — elevated by insiders, not the consent of the governed. Yet the Declaration of Independence is clear: governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. The people of Miami-Dade have never consented to this self-perpetuating system. See: https://miamiindependent.com/politics/2026/06/21/democracy-dies-in-sunny-south-florida/.
As Algernon Sidney warned in the 17th century, governments must rest on the consent of the governed — a principle for which he was beheaded at the Tower of London by King Charles II in 1683. Today, too many local politicians appear to have forgotten the sacrifices made to secure our liberty.
Recent examples of this practice include:
Danielle Cohen Higgins (D-Palmetto Bay), District 8: Appointed by the Board in 2020 to replace Daniella Levine Cava after her election as County Mayor. She later won election as an incumbent in 2022 and is seeking re-election this year with the built-in advantages of office.
Natalie Milian Orbis (R-West Miami), District 6: Appointed in 2025 to replace Kevin Cabrera after his appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Panama. She ran as an incumbent this year, faced no opposition, and now holds an office to which she has never been elected by the voters.
Vicki Lopez (RINO-Miami), District 5: Appointed to replace Eileen Higgins after her election as Mayor of the City of Miami. This district includes Downtown Miami, parts of Brickell, Little Havana, Fisher Island, and South Beach. Lopez, who was then serving as State Representative for House District 113, is now running as an incumbent but faces a serious challenger.
The Challenger
That challenger is Joe Sanchez (R-Miami) — a former Florida State Trooper, Miami City Commissioner, and 2024 Republican candidate for Sheriff. In that primary, Joe earned 22% of the vote and carried every precinct in what is now District 5. Though he did not prevail in a crowded field without runoffs, his performance demonstrated strong local support.
Joe’s record of public service is exemplary. He served 38 years with the Florida Highway Patrol and 11 years in the U.S. Army Reserve. As a Miami City Commissioner for 11 years, he championed transparency, public safety, and fiscal responsibility. In 1996, the County Commission awarded him the Medal of Valor for his leadership in the ValuJet crash search-and-recovery operation in the Everglades.
Joe believes Miami-Dade County government has lost its way — prioritizing special interests, developers, and nonprofits while ordinary taxpayers bear an ever-heavier burden. His campaign slogan captures his guiding principle: “Not worried about the next election, but about the next generation.”
Joe’s commitments to District 5 voters are straightforward and principled:
Represent the interests of ordinary citizens, not politicians, donors, or partisan agendas.
Govern with integrity and transparency.
Protect the unique environment of South Florida.
Advance both affordability and economic opportunity.
Prioritize public safety and support law enforcement.
Eliminate property taxes for senior citizens living in their homesteaded homes.
He supports Governor DeSantis’s push to reduce property taxes and favors reforming the Live Local Act to restore greater local control. By contrast, his opponent, incumbent Vicki Lopez, was a leading sponsor of that legislation during her time in the Florida House.
A Disconnected Commission
Too often, the County Commission appears disconnected from the residents it serves. Commissioners have been observed scrolling on their phones while citizens wait to speak during public comment. Joe Sanchez is committed to restoring transparency, accountability, and fiscal discipline. He understands a simple truth: the more money government receives, the more it tends to spend.
Recent examples of county mismanagement — the troubled PortMiami fuel depot project and a short-lived $400 million budget deficit that vanished as suddenly as it appeared — underscore the need for new leadership. See: https://miamiindependent.com/politics/2026/06/04/more-fisher-island-fiasco-600-million-failure-and-no-one-left-to-lead/.
Establishment Protection
Joe is not seeking a seat at the establishment table; he aims to challenge it. He has been barred from participating in events at county-subsidized venues where his incumbent opponent was welcomed:
At Brisas del Sol, a county-funded apartment building in Little Havana, Related Group first approved then withdrew permission for a Sanchez campaign meet-and-greet.
At the City of Miami Beach’s “Sock Hop Prom” for seniors (partly county-funded), Joe was prevented from campaigning while Lopez was allowed to do so.
In both cases, taxpayer-supported events were open to the incumbent but closed to the challenger.
Campaign Realities
Related Group is a major donor to Lopez, who enjoys a significant fundraising advantage. Some may question Joe’s chances because of this disparity. Yet those same skeptics would have dismissed the American Revolution itself, given the Continental Army’s precarious finances. America remains a revolutionary republic.
County Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez has claimed incumbency confers no advantage. If that were true, why do so many politicians maneuver for appointments rather than risk open elections? Incumbents benefit from name recognition, donor access, and influence over vendors and lobbyists.
As Mr. Grok has noted: “Incumbents generally have a significant electoral advantage… Incumbents win re-election at very high rates, due to structural, fundraising, and name-recognition edges over challengers. In Florida, incumbent win rates were around 94-96% in 2024.”
The Board appointed Vicki Lopez to fill the District 5 vacancy at the end of last year. One commissioner who opposed a special election cited an estimated $1 million cost. But what price should we place on a representative republic? Patrick Henry declared in 1775 that life without liberty was not worth living — and then risked everything to secure it.
In any case, the cost of special elections could be dramatically reduced by eliminating no-excuse vote-by-mail, limiting it to true absentee voting, and shortening the early voting period from two weeks to one.
Miami-Dade voters deserve representatives who earn their trust at the ballot box — not through insider appointments. Joe Sanchez offers that principled alternative. He deserves your support on Election Day.
In Britain, Nigel Farage, a member of Parliament and leader of the surging Reform Party, has just resigned from Parliament, so that he may run in the special election that must be held to fill his seat.
He is doing this so that he can raise issues in his campaign for his old seat. Chief among these issues is that the government should be dissolved and a new general election should be held!