Unofficial Results: Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez Wins Re-Election Easily

Updated: 11:47 p.m., Tuesday

MIAMI, FL — Miami's Mayor Francis Suarez easily defeated his opponents to win re-election Tuesday night.

The mayor won his second four-year term by a landslide, the Miami Herald and Florida Politics reported.

Incumbent Joe Carollo also won re-election in District 3 by a wide margin, the news outlets said.

A third incumbent hoping to retain his position didn't fair as well, though. Christine King defeated Jeffrey Watson in District 5, according to the Miami Herald and Florida Politics.

Based on unofficial results from the Supervisor of Elections office, Suarez has nearly 79 percent of the vote as of 11:22 p.m. With all 145 Miami precincts reporting their results, he has 21,479 votes so far.

He had four challengers in the race: Anthony Melvin Dutrow (1,009 votes), Marie Frantz Exantus (1,187 votes), Maxwell Manuel Martinez (3,166 votes) and Francisco "Frank" Pichel (482 votes).

“You are my bosses, and guess what? The magic is back,” Suarez said during a speech to supporters Tuesday night. “Today we embark on a new chapter, a journey together to finish what we started to create the most…successful city in our country, to create the model that can be scaled into an agenda for America, bringing prosperity and peace not only to Miami, but to this entire nation.”

The mayor added, “And we will do this by keeping taxes low, facilitating the private sector, understanding the time value of money and government’s proper role in our society, creating the most dynamic tech economy in the world, being the home of crypto and finance and the capital of capital.”

An attorney and son of former a former mayor, Xavier Suarez, Francis X. Suarez is a former commissioner who was first elected to the role of mayor in 2017 with 86 percent of the vote, according to his biography on the city website.

Related Story: Election Day Miami: When, Where To Vote, Local Candidates

In other the District 3 city commission race, incumbent Carollo also has a wide lead against his opponents, based on unofficial results. With all 17 precincts reporting in his district, Carollo has 3,998 votes, according to the Supervisor of Elections. Challenger Quinn Smith has 1,355 votes, while Andriana Oliva earned 591 votes and Miguel Soliman received 266 votes.

In District 5, challenger King has a strong lead against her opponents — including incumbent Watson — with 4,123 votes, based on unofficial results. As of 11:34 p.m., all 37 precincts in the district have reported their results.

Watson has 1,003 votes so far, according to the Supervisor of Elections. Meanwhile, Michael A. Hepburn has 575 votes, Stephanie S. Thomas earned 258 votes, Francois Alexandre received 224 votes, Zico Fremont has 128 votes and Revran Shoshana Lincoln has 39 votes.

Return to Patch tonight for the latest vote tally. Subscribe to free News Alerts for election results.

Voters also decided on a proposed charter amendment for the lease and development of Virginia Key Marina.

If approved, this amendment allows the city to waive competitive bidding and to negotiate and execute a 75-year waterfront lease of about 27 acres on Rickenbacker Causeway with Biscayne Marine Partners LLC. The lease would call for a minimum $115 million tenant capital investment, $2.75 million annual rent (with 10 percent set aside for the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust), 6 percent gross boat storage and fuel revenues, and 4 percent gross revenues from other sources.

As of 11:44 p.m., 13,433 residents voted in favor of the deal, while 14,933 opposed it.

Nearby in Miami Beach, residents are voting for mayor. With all 25 precincts reporting results, incumbent Dan Gelbert has a lead against his challengers with 7,936 votes as of 11:46 p.m., based on unofficial results.

Jean Marie Echemendia earned 3,356 votes, Ronnie Eith received 667 votes, Gus Manessis has 402 votes and Carlos “Sp4” Enrique Gutierrez took home 394 votes.

Voters are also showing support of a referendum that changes the time alcohol sales ends daily from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., effectively closing local bars, clubs and restaurants hours earlier.

So far, 7,301 residents have voted in favor of the time change, while 5,616 have voted against it.