Mayors Elected In Coral Gables And Miami Shores

CORAL GABLES, FL -- Voters in Coral Gables and Miami Shores elected mayors on Tuesday.

Coral Gables Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli won a close re-election against former city Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick while Crystal Wagar became the new mayor of Miami Shores.

Valdes-Fauli received 50.72% of the vote compared to 49.28% for Slesnick in the city's biennial elections. The total vote count was 8,517 compared to 4,197, according to unofficial results by the Miami-Dade County Elections Department.

Valdés-Fauli has served several terms as mayor. His first began in 1993. He was last elected in April of 2017.

The mayor maintained that the city has become more environmentally sustainable and more of a cultural hub under his watch with no tax increases in 2017 and 2018.

Slesnick campaigned against what she described as over development in the community. She maintained that too many high-rise buildings have been approved in Coral Gables, causing increases in traffic and potentially leading to decreased property values.

Meanwhile, Crystal Wagar earned the most votes out of seven candidates in the village of Miami Shores, making her the town's new mayor.

A 15-year resident of the community, Wagar served as chief policy aide and chief of staff to former Miami-Dade Commissioner Jimmy Morales, who is now the city manager of Miami Beach. Wagar also served as the interim manager for the nearby village of El Portal.

Wagar received 21.43% of the vote compared to 18.78% for Alice Burch and 15.25% for Jonathan Meltz. All three will serve on the village council but the occupant of a fourth seat was still not determined as of Wednesday and may be require a runoff.

A village official told Patch that provisional ballots will be reviewed by the canvassing board at 2 p.m. Friday.

"Depending on what is determined from the provisional ballots, a runoff may be necessary but that hasn't been determined yet," said the official. "Once the determination has been made with the provisional ballots, the canvassing board will certify the results and then determine whether or not the runoff is necessary."

The candidates vying for the fourth seat are Christian Ulvert and Stephen K. Loffredo, both of whom got 893 votes on Tuesday for the same 13.29% of the vote.

In Coral Gables, former commissioner Ralph Cabrera will face a runoff election against attorney Jorge Fors in the Group IV commissioner's race. Cabrera received 39.76% of the vote compared to 39.74% for Fors.

"Our charter requires that the winning candidate receive 50% of the vote plus one vote," a city official told Patch on Wednesday. "During yesterday's election for commissioner none of the candidates received 50% plus one. We have a runoff among the top two vote getters."

The runoff will be held on April 23.

Two other candidates were also vying for the Coral Gables seat but were not successful. Carmen Olazabal received 26.27% of the vote and Jackson Rip Holmes received 3.23%.

Watch below as election results are announced in Miami Shores: