Screenshot via City of Miami media archives
Audio By Carbonatix
A recently defeated candidate for Miami City Commission is testing an ordinance voters approved on Election Day, accusing Frank Carollo of being the first to violate new term limits, according to legal documents.
Oscar Alejandro, a candidate who came in third for District 3 Commissioner, is accusing Carollo, who served two terms from 2009 to 2017, of violating a new city ordinance by attempting to serve a third term as city commissioner. It comes in an election cycle filled with controversy, as candidate Emilio Gonzalez had to sue to prevent commissioners from rescheduling the mayoral election.
As it stands, Carollo is headed for a runoff election in December against Rolando Escalona, but Alejandro argues the ordinance should erase Carollo’s name from the ballot in favor of his own. Alejandro filed the legal complaint alongside Miami residents Victor Milanes and Alejandro Almirola, asking a circuit court judge to issue an injunction to keep Carollo’s name off the ballot, according to legal documents.
“The plaintiffs, and the residents and voters in the City of Miami will suffer irreparable harm if the court fails to grant injunctive relief and allows any ineligible candidate to have their name appear on the ballot for the December 9, 2025, runoff election,” the emergency injunction reads.
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“As the Miami City Charter now prohibits candidates who have previously served eight years as mayor or as a city commissioner from being reelected, the inclusion of any such name would harm the voters in as they could vote for an ineligible candidate or be confused if a replacement ballot must be issued,” it continues.
City commissioners in June approved the ballot language before residents could approve the referendum with more than 27,000 votes on Tuesday. Commissioner Damian Pardo proposed the move in an effort to halt the veritable carousel of familiar faces ruling Miami politics for decades, as the Carollo family has done for decades.
Magic City voters already ousted one Carollo this election cycle — Frank’s more famous, or infamous, brother Joe, who held the seat Frank is running to fill and competed in Miami’s mayoral race on Tuesday alongside 12 other hopefuls. The District 3 race is set for a runoff December 9, along with a runoff election for mayor between Gonzalez and Eileen Higgins.
