Miami Herald: Joe Carollo may run for state Senate
Jan 12, 2010
The Miami Herald publised this article on January 12, 2010.
BY BETH REINHARD
breinhard@MiamiHerald.com
Joe Carollo, the pugnacious former Miami mayor who narrowly lost a reelection bid in 2001, is likely to launch a Florida Senate campaign next month.
Carollo recently helped his brother, Frank Carollo, win a seat on the city commission. He is best known for ousting Xavier Suarez from the mayor’s office in a voter fraud scandal and for leading the city during the vitriolic dispute over rescued Cuban rafter Elián González.
Another blast-from-the-past politician and former Miami mayor, Maurice Ferre, is running in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. Carollo, 54, is a Republican.
“Once you’ve been in public service, you always have it in the back of your mind that maybe you will serve again,” Carollo said Monday. “You can go anywhere you want in Miami and you’ll see people urging me to run for office.”
The Senate district includes parts of the city of Miami, Coral Gables, South Miami, Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay.
Carollo would face former Miami-Dade Commissioner Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and state Rep. Julio Robaina in the 2010 Republican primary. Carollo served about 14 years in city government.
“If I ran, it’s because I feel I could do a much better job than either one of them,” Carollo said. “I think I would create more consensus. I’d be in a position to bring more to Miami than they would.”
Robaina, who is serving his eighth year in the House, disagreed with that assessment.
“Working in city government is a whole other world compared to Tallahassee,” he said.
Robaina has raised about $150,000 so far. Diaz de la Portilla is the fundraising leader with about $380,000 in donations.
“If Carollo were to run, I would welcome him to the race, but I’m confident the public will recognize my track record in the public and private sectors,” he said.
Diaz de la Portilla also may benefit from voters’ familiarity with his last name. His brother, Alex Diaz de la Portilla, has represented the district since 2000. Term limits will force him out at the end of the year.