Campaign #99: Maryin Vargas for Miami-Dade County Commission District 6
It wasn’t long ago that we pulled together to write for a longshot to win in a Special Election for Miami-Dade County Commission. Eileen Higgins’s stunning upset victory has shaken the area’s political establishment – for the better, since her win gave the Commission a Democratic majority.
Now, we’re facing the regular election for the same Miami-Dade County Commission. And there’s a Republican incumbent who has held her seat in West Miami since 2001. Marco Rubio himself often describes the Republican entrenched in this district as his “political godmother” from his time serving in West Miami.
So, who do voters have as an alternative to the status quo?
Who would decide to go up against a multi-term Republican with over $300,000 raised? How about a 30-year old who landed onto the scene last year with her successful organizing efforts to stiffen protections for condo owners across the state?
Maryin Vargas describes herself as having been an activist since high school. Her debut, though, was with Reform Florida and the pressure they put on the state legislature to pass a new law that requires better record-keeping, stricter financial reporting, and other accountability measures for condo associations to follow. In our meeting recently in Miami, Maryin explained to me that property theft crimes within condo buildings were not required to be investigated by law enforcement. What’s more, condo owners were not entitled to any reports from the associations on crime statistics in their buildings.
Recently, a 2017 County Commission vote, the incumbent voted with the Republican majority to support federal immigration detainers. It led to undocumented immigrants being turned in to I.C.E. for minor infractions. Another difference between the two candidates is how they’re financing their campaigns. Maryin is not accepting any money from developers, lobbyists, or county contractors. In fact, she quit her job at a major bank because some of the clients had business before the County and she felt it would not look appropriate to be running for a seat on the Commission while handling these clients’ financial interests at her job.
There are other local government issues where the two are different. You can read more about her and her incumbent Republican here: https://www.miamiherald.com/…/election/article216386140.html
What’s important is that Democratic voters heed our call to vote for a progressive candidate who will add one more blue vote on the Commission to resist the kind of cooperation with I.C.E. that is tearing families apart.
As always, thanks for taking these chances to help real Democrats win. We are lucky to have you with us in each of these postcarding campaigns!
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