Miami Gardens, Florida sample ballot 2026

Marleine Bastien is the incumbent District 2 commissioner, seeking re-election on the August 18 ballot. She is the founder and executive director of Family Action Network Movement, a Haitian-American social services nonprofit she started in 1991, and was first elected in 2022, per Miami Herald race coverage.

Vicki Lopez is the appointed incumbent District 5 commissioner, facing her first commission election on the August 18 ballot. A former state legislator, she was appointed in late 2025 after Eileen Higgins resigned to run for Miami mayor, and has drawn endorsements from the Miami-Dade Sheriff, the county firefighters union, and the South Florida PBA while raising nearly $1.2 million, per Florida Politics coverage. No campaign website was found as of September 8, 2026.

Rob Piper is a retired Marine Corps officer who served from 1993 to 2016 with three combat tours in Iraq, later a Florida House legislative aide with a PhD in international relations, per his campaign site. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party endorsed him in this race, per the party's voter guide.

Danielle Cohen Higgins is a trial attorney and first-generation American who grew up in Miami-Dade public schools and has served as Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 8 since 2020, per the campaign site.

DuBois previously served two consecutive four-year terms as Vice Mayor of Palmetto Bay, from 2012 to 2020, per the campaign site. A Miami-Dade County resident for more than 25 years, he has also served on boards for faith-based organizations addressing homelessness and healthcare, per the campaign site.

Cothiere Aristide has more than a decade of classroom experience teaching in Miami-Dade public schools and has built adult-education programs connecting neighbors to careers, per the campaign site. Her husband served the district for more than 30 years, including as principal of Miami Northwestern Senior High, per the campaign site.

Wilson has spent more than 30 years in education as a teacher, principal and district administrator, and she previously served as a Miami Gardens city councilwoman, per the campaign site. She led the Miami Gardens Juneteenth Experience for six consecutive years and has mentored emerging community leaders throughout her career, per the campaign site.

Monica Colucci is the incumbent District 8 school board member and board vice chair, per Miami Herald coverage. She is an elementary school teacher with 26 years in Miami-Dade public schools and briefly served as a special assistant in Gov. Ron DeSantis's office, per her campaign site.

McNeil began his legal career at the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office and was promoted to Senior Supervising Attorney, overseeing as many as 20 attorneys, per the campaign site. He has tried more than 65 cases, mostly jury trials through verdict, and ran a private law practice handling criminal and civil matters from 2008 to 2016 across Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, per the campaign site. He is a Florida Supreme Court certified circuit civil court mediator, per the campaign site.

Baez has practiced law for 30 years in private practice, litigating thousands of cases with extensive experience in civil litigation, bankruptcy, and family law, per the campaign site. She holds a J.D. from St. Thomas University School of Law and a B.S. in International Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami, per the campaign site. A lifelong Miami native, she is the daughter of Cuban immigrants; her father was a physician who served on the medical team for the April 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, per the campaign site.

Jones-Peabody has spent more than 35 years practicing in Florida courtrooms, conducting 200 criminal jury trials and handling 75 civil cases, per the campaign site. She was born and raised in Miami-Dade and has served the community as an attorney and civic leader, per the campaign site.

Ashley Moody is Florida's incumbent U.S. senator and the Republican nominee in the 2026 special election for the final two years of Marco Rubio's term. Appointed in January 2025 when Rubio became secretary of state, she previously served as Florida attorney general and as a circuit judge.

• Voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the 2025 tax-and-spending package, which passed the Senate 50-50 in July 2025 with the Vice President breaking the tie. Supported
• Voted yes on the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026, which passed the Senate 77-20 in October 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the November 2025 funding agreement that ended the government shutdown, which passed the Senate 60-40 in November 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the March 2025 full-year stopgap funding bill, which passed the Senate 54-46 in March 2025. Supported

Nixon is a Florida state representative from Jacksonville and a former union organizer running for the U.S. Senate, per the campaign site. She has said her mother worked two jobs and that she lost a cousin to gun violence, and she has led opposition to congressional and legislative maps drawn under Governor DeSantis, per the campaign site.

Donalds is a member of Congress representing Florida's 19th District since 2020, per the campaign site. Before Congress, he worked in the finance, insurance and banking industries in Southwest Florida and served in the Florida House of Representatives, where he chaired the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee and led the effort to enact Hope Scholarships for school choice, per the campaign site. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Florida State University in 2002, per the campaign site.

• Voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the 2025 tax-and-spending package, which passed the House 218-214 in July 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the Laken Riley Act, expanding federal detention of certain immigrants charged with theft or violent crimes, which passed the House 263-156 in January 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026, which passed the House 231-196 in September 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the November 2025 funding agreement that ended the government shutdown, which passed the House 222-209 in November 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the September 2025 stopgap funding bill, which passed the House 217-212 in September 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the March 2025 full-year stopgap funding bill, which passed the House 217-213 in March 2025. Supported

David Jolly is the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, a former Republican congressman from the Tampa Bay area who left the GOP and joined the Democratic Party in 2025. His campaign emphasizes affordability, property insurance reform, public schools, and ending one-party control of Tallahassee.

James Uthmeier is Florida's incumbent attorney general and the Republican candidate in the 2026 election. Appointed in February 2025 after serving as Governor DeSantis's chief of staff, he is seeking a full term. Per the state qualifying list, he and Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez advance directly to the November ballot.

Jose Javier Rodriguez is the Democratic candidate for Florida attorney general, an attorney and former state senator and state representative from Miami. He served as an assistant secretary of labor in the Biden administration. His campaign emphasizes consumer protection, insurance accountability, and voting rights. No campaign website was found as of September 8, 2026.

Blaise Ingoglia is Florida's incumbent chief financial officer and the Republican nominee in the 2026 election. Appointed in July 2025, he previously served in the Florida Senate and House and as state party chair.

Annette Taddeo is a Florida state senator, the first Latina Democrat elected to the Florida State Senate, first elected in a 2017 special election, per the campaign site.

Simpson is a fifth-generation Floridian and lifelong farmer who operates a large-scale egg-laying operation supplying Florida supermarkets, per the campaign site. He currently serves as Florida's Agriculture Commissioner and previously served in the state Senate, per the campaign site.

Joey Mendoza Atkins is the Democratic nominee for Florida agriculture commissioner. A lifelong Floridian, he earned a political science degree cum laude and a law degree, worked as a family-law attorney, and represented athletes as a Miami-area sports agent. His platform focuses on grocery costs, local farmers, and affordability.