MIAMI – Before the ballot boxes closed on Tuesday, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal cleared Miguel Gabela’s candidacy for a Miami commission runoff race against the incumbent Alex Díaz de la Portilla.
The court confirmed Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Pedro Echarte Jr.’s Nov. 6 ruling that Gabela, 59, was qualified to run despite the city’s claim that a residency requirement disqualified him.
Díaz de la Portilla, 59, who was suspended and faces money laundering charges and accusations of official misconduct, and Gabela were the top candidates of the general election on Nov. 7.
Díaz de la Portilla defeated Gabela in 2019. Records show Miami commissioners redrew the district’s map to exclude Gabela’s house for over two decades from the area. Gabela moved into the new district, but the city argued he had not lived there long enough to qualify.
Judges Norma Lindsey, Eric Hendon and Alexander Bokor released their opinion.
“We decline the city’s invitation to add by judicial fiat what the plain language of its charter provision doesn’t require.”