STRONG-MAYOR VOTING SPLIT ALONG ETHNIC LINES

Blacks voted overwhelmingly against the strong-mayor referendum in Miami-Dade County, while Hispanics strongly supported it. White non-Hispanic voters were divided.

That’s according to a postelection analysis by Dario Moreno, director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University.

About 78 percent of Hispanic voters, 57 percent of white non-Hispanic voters and 8 percent of black voters said yes to Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s proposal.

The four black county commissioners ran a vigorous campaign against the measure, arguing that it would diminish their community’s voice. It worked. Those four commission districts were the only areas that voted down the referendum.

A Miami Herald analysis showed that heavily Democratic precincts strongly opposed the measure boosting the Republican mayor, while Republican-majority precincts favored it.

Another interesting factoid: early and absentee voters mostly favored the referendum, while the Election Day vote was split. Had the county commissioners gotten their act together earlier, they might have prevailed.

Source:
STRONG-MAYOR VOTING SPLIT ALONG ETHNIC LINES
Miami Herald