Coral Gables commissioner Melissa Castro challenges election date change
On the heels of an opinion from the Florida Attorney General about the change in election year approved by city of Miami commissioner, Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro wants to reverse a decision by the City Beautiful to move their municipal elections from April of 2027 to November of 2026, effectively shortening everyone’s terms by five months.
Castro, who voted against the May 20 “unconstitutional” ordinance that changed the election date, will introduce legislation at Tuesday’s commission meeting that would repeal the ordinance and restore the April election date. She said the change should be taken to voters and is leaning on a letter sent to the city of Miami last week from Attorney General James Uthmeier that challenges that city’s authority to make the change without taking it to voters first.
She has also asked Uthmeier to weigh in on the Gables decision.
“Let me be clear: Residents — not politicians — should decide when elections are held and how long elected officials serve,” Castro wrote in an email sent Monday to Coral Gables residents. She had urged the city attorney to seek Uthmeier’s opinion on the matter in May. “When that didn’t happen, I submitted a formal request myself,” Castro wrote in her email.
https://www.politicalcortadito.com/2025/06/30/coral-gables-commissioner-melissa-castro-challenges-election-date-change/