Lobbyist Kevin Marino Cabrera raised nearly $528,000 over a 37-day period following the Aug. 23 primary election, when he clinched first place among four candidates vying for the District 6 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission .

That’s more than five times his second-round opponent Commissioner Coral Gables Jorge Forsraised in the same time frame.

Cabrera also spent around $431,375, more than six times what Fors paid.

As of Nov. 1, Cabrera had $278,000 remaining between his campaign account and political committee, Dade Premier PC.

Dozens of people gave to Cabrera’s campaign between Aug. 24 and Sept. 30 with personal checks as low as $100. However, most of his earnings came from corporate and political donors.

None showed up in greater numbers than the real estate companies. Many traceable businesses in Miami”condo king” Jorge Perez donated a combined $16,000. The gifts are remarkable beyond their value; Pérez was a vocal critic of his former friend, donald trumpa former Cabrera employer who approved his candidacy May 6.

Syd Ghermezianwhose company Triple Five is at the origin of the long development American dream mall project in northwest Miami-Dade, gave Cabrera $10,000. So did South Florida development company Crescent Heights, Miami Lakes-based Prestige Builders Group Management, North Miami Beach-based JC30 Consulting and Management, Coral-based Doral SE Property Group LLC. Gables. Coral Rock Development Groupseveral companies related to Miami Lakes Centennial Management Corp.and a subsidiary of general contractor and electrician headquartered in Hialeah Electric power.

Builders and associated contractorsa trade association supporting construction companies, also donated $10,000.

Some companies linked to the South Florida real estate magnate Thomas Korge donated $9,000.

Based in Miami Tamiami Properties Inc.Adonel Concrete Corp., CREI Holdings LLC and Edgewater Management Services each donated $5,000, as did Fort Lauderdale-based construction company Moss & Associates, Miami Lakes-based TMC Naranja 66 Holdings LLC and several Coral Gables subsidiaries including the head office is Century Home Builders Group.

Other $5,000 donations from real estate entities came from a handful of companies linked to Felipe Valls Jr.whose family owns the popular Restaurant Versailles in Little Havana; Kyle ClaytonDevelopment Manager at Fort Lauderdale ZOM Florida; and The Corradino Group, whose chairman, Joseph Corradinois in his second term as Mayor of Pinecrest.

Cabrera’s largest sum of money between Aug. 24 and Sept. 30 was $40,000 from A Bolder Florida, the Miami-Dade Commissioner-elect’s political committee. Anthony Rodriguez.

Rodriguez seems to really want to see Cabrera serve alongside him; between April 30 and September 30, Rodriguez’s political committee alone gave Cabrera $240,000.

The political committee’s other contributions to Cabrera in the month and week after the primary election include $25,000 from Truth is the daughter of timewhat a lobbyist and former Miami city commissioner Marc Sarnoff groceries, and $5,000 each of New Leadership Network PC and the Florida Accountability Project.

Cabrera also accepted $10,000 donations from the Miami Dolphins’ parent company and Hard Rock Stadium, a health care arm of a Miami-based multifaceted logistics company. CDR Maguire and car dealership tycoon Alan Potamkin; $6,000 from charter education company School Development HC Finance; $5,000 from entertainment company Doral Engage Live, South Florida investor Rogelio Tovar and the Service Employees International Union; $4,000 from South Florida Vision; and $3,000 from a local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

An overwhelming amount of Cabrera’s spending between August 24 and September 30 covered advertising and related expenses. His biggest payout was $158,000 to the Coral Gables-based company Miranda Advocacy for direct mail, campaign outreach services and T-shirts.

He spent more than $15,000 on the services of Push Digital LLC, a South Carolina-based Republican campaign advertising firm whose clients include US Sens. Marco Rubio and Lindsay Graham and the Senate hopes Herschel walker.

Consulting companies were also paid. Cabrera spent approximately $51,000 on services BYG Strategies Inc. and another $45,000 on “advice and management” assistance from Dark Horse Strategies. Both companies are in Miami.

Other consulting payments included $21,500 to Groupe Berthier, $13,000 to Tridente Strategies and $3,000 to Groupe MTC Inc.

Cabrera also donated $27,500 to Citizens Alliance for the Florida Economya Jensen Beach-based political committee chaired by the GOP strategist Anthony Pedicini; and $1,000 to the Hialeah Councilwoman’s Campaign Vivian Casals-Munoz.

Fors, meanwhile, raised just under $100,000 between August 24 and September 30 thanks to his campaign account and political committee, NextGen Leadership in Florida. As of November 1, he had $62,500 left to spend.

Much of Fors’ earnings since the primary election have come from fellow lawyers. This included $11,000 from members of his family law firm.

His biggest contribution was a check for $15,000 from Rez Hibiscus, a development company linked to a real estate lawyer. Saulo Perez.

Coral Gables-based Garay Law donated $5,000. Government of Pantin, a self-proclaimed “boutique government relations firm” in Miami, donated $2,000. Alvarez Law Firm in Coral Gables and Deutsch Blumberg & Caballero in Miami donated $1,000 each.

Dozens of South Florida attorneys also handed out personal checks of between $150 and $1,000.

The healthcare and real estate sectors have also come forward for Fors. Manuel NielbaCOO of a healthcare software solutions company JustWell Health, donated $10,000. Miami-based Hoover Family Medicine donated $2,000.

Luxon Construction, Petroleum Realty Corp., FXD Construction LLC, Realtor Sabine Bitel and 1685 Jefferson LLC, a subsidiary of Terranova Corp.each donated $1,000.

Former Commissioner of Coral Gables Wayne “Chip” Withers and his wife, Cynthiathe two gave checks for $1,000 to Fors.

Fors also accepted $7,500 from Reformed governmenta Tampa-based super PAC originally formed to support the former lieutenant governor. Carlos Lopez Cantera.

Fors has spent about $67,000 in the 37 days since voters last went to the polls. Of this amount, $45,000 went to Marin & Sonsa political communications company in Miami, for advertising, text communications, campaign banners, “robocalls” and print.

The rest covered pay for campaign staff and general maintenance, bookkeeping and legal services.

Legal services included a defamation lawsuit Fors filed at the end of September against Cabrera, Pedicini, Miranda Advocacy Principal Alex Mirandapolitical advisors David Milner and Thomas PiccoloTampa society Sim Wins and five anonymous people.

Fors claims in the lawsuit that Cabrera, the consultants and others participated in a ‘civil conspiracy’ to disseminate ‘false and defamatory statements’ against him, including misleading campaign mailings sent to ‘thousands’ of voters. of Miami-Dade for “malicious purposes”.

Some of the documents in question, including a now offline website called ForsTheFraud.comportray Fors as a criminal and former prisoner complicit in human trafficking.

All are lies, says Fors.

Cabrera and Fors emerged from a four-vote primary for District 6 as the top two vote winners, with Cabrara winning 43% of the vote and Fors 26%. Miami–Dade Act requires a county commission candidate to receive more than half of the votes cast in the primary to be elected, otherwise, a run-off is held in the general election.

The Miami-Dade Commission is technically a nonpartisan body, as are its elections. Cabrera and Fors are both Republicans, as is the woman they are competing to replace, Rebecca Sosa. Sosa named Fors as his preferred successor.

Since he launches its campaign in late April, Cabrera raised $1.75 million. Fors, meanwhile, has raised nearly $726,000 since he deposited to run may’s beginning.

District 6 covers part of North Central Miami-Dade, including part or all of the cities of Coral Gables, Hialeah, Miami, Miami Springs, Virginia Gardens, and West Miami. The district also contains Miami International Airportone of the county’s two main economic engines, and a Miami golf course being redeveloped into a football stadium complex for the city’s major league soccer team.

The general election is November 8. Early voting runs from October 24 to November 6.

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