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Two years after he lost control of Miami's Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Miami Police Department Capt. Javier Ortiz has lost his latest attempt to become union president.
Last night, Sgt. Tommy Reyes, the current president of Miami's FOP, beat Ortiz in a runoff election and will keep his spot as union leader.
Ortiz, who has been suspended with pay since last January pending an ongoing investigation by an outside law enforcement agency, announced his candidacy in December. On his campaign website, Ortiz listed weakening Miami's civilian-led police oversight board as one of his accomplishments as past president.
In the first election in mid-December, Ortiz led against Reyes and a third contender, Lt. Ramon Carr, who is vice president of Miami's Black police union. But the margin between Ortiz and Reyes— a mere 47 votes— was enough to set off a runoff between the two frontrunners.
In the runoff, Reyes beat Ortiz by a margin of 322 votes, according to an FOP announcement last night. Reyes won with more than 60 percent support from the 1,465 union members who participated in the election.
Ortiz previously held the position of union president from 2011 to 2018. During his time as president, he falsely claimed that he was Black on two promotional exams, made Islamophobic comments about a fellow officer, doxxed a private citizen, and repeatedly used his authority as union leader to embarrass the City of Miami.
At one point in 2014, members of the FOP attempted to impeach Ortiz, accusing him of unethical behavior that was damaging to the union, but that effort ultimately failed.
New Times reached out to both Reyes and Ortiz for comment on the election results but has not yet received a response from either candidate.
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