In 2020, former Pinecrest mayor Cindy Lerner came within two percentage points of beating school board Raquel Regalado in the election for what was then an open District 7 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission.
Four years later, Lerner is challenging Commissioner Regalado for the same non-partisan seat and each candidate sees the incumbent’s voting record as the main argument for voters to reject the other this time around.
“You deserve better. We all deserve better,” Lerner, a lawyer, said at a June 27 candidates forum. “That’s why I am running.”
Lerner, a former Democratic state representative, is trying to position Regalado, a Republican, as pro-development, anti-environment and catering to the special-interest donors who have given the incumbent about a 10-to-1 edge in fundraising this year.
Regalado has raised more than $1 million in the last four years and Lerner nearly $200,000 since filing for the Aug. 20 election last fall, according to campaign-finance reporting.
Regalado, 50, is brushing off Lerner, 71, as a politician with a record of rudeness to constituents while portraying herself as a heavy-lifter on the commission with a string of legislative accomplishments for her Miami-area district and beyond, including approval of a new Key Biscayne library and bringing Tri-Rail to downtown Miami while heading the tri-county board that oversees the rail service.