MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Florida International University played host to a town hall Wednesday evening as some of the 15 candidates vying to become Miami-Dade County’s first elected sheriff since the 1960s made their case to win over voters.
Two big endorsements loom over the race: Republican Rosie Cordero-Stutz, a Miami-Dade Police Department veteran, has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, while Democrat James Reyes, the county’s public safety chief, has been endorsed by the union representing MDPD officers.
11 Republicans and four Democrats are in the race in total.
In May, Local 10 News moderated a town hall forum put on by local labor unions, one of several to help voters decide who should be the county’s top cop.
Miami-Dade County hasn’t had an elected sheriff since 1966, when voters in then-Dade County eliminated the position.
It’s back thanks to voter approval of a 2018 Florida constitutional amendment.
The forum was hosted by students and College Republicans.