MIAMI – Tallahassee-based lawyer Jason Gonzalez filed a lawsuit this week on behalf of a mayoral candidate in opposition to the town of Miami, difficult a newly handed ordinance that may cancel and postpone the town’s frequently scheduled commissioner election from this November to November 2026.
Gonzalez, a companion at Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC, described the town’s actions as “un-American” and likened them to authoritarian practices seen in international locations like Venezuela and Cuba.
“This type of factor, you’d hear of in third-world dictatorships like Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua,” Gonzalez stated throughout an interview on Florida’s Voice Radio with Drew Steele. “However there was fast shock that they thought they might do that.”
WATCH: Jason Gonzalez has been named normal counsel to the Florida Chamber of Commerce pic.twitter.com/Ar0P8aDxCK
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) July 2, 2025
The Miami Metropolis Fee voted to approve the ordinance, which additionally seeks to increase the commissioners’ personal phrases with out a public vote—prompting sturdy backlash from state leaders and authorized consultants.
“Town commissioners have been trying to cancel their very own election and provides themselves an extra yr in workplace,” Gonzalez stated. “They’d a wrongful studying of some provisions of an antiquated 1885 structure and some statutes.”
Florida Lawyer Normal James Uthmeier shortly issued an opinion stating the fee lacked the authority to cancel the election or prolong phrases with out a voter-approved referendum.
“You can not do that. That is America,” Uthmeier wrote in a proper opinion. “You would want, on the very least, a voter referendum.”
Regardless of warnings from Uthmeier and direct opposition from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Miami fee moved ahead with the ordinance.
In response, Gonzalez filed go well with on behalf of mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez—not associated—who was making ready to run within the now-canceled 2024 election. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the ordinance and restore the unique election timeline.
“We’ll ask a decide for a listening to fairly quickly to attempt to enjoin the operation of this ordinance,” Gonzalez stated. “If the folks need to vote in a referendum to maneuver their election, that’s one factor. However metropolis officers don’t get to offer themselves extra time in energy.”
Gonzalez emphasised that whereas he typically represents authorities entities, this case warranted motion.
“More often than not we’re on the federal government aspect,” he stated. “However this was an overreach that needed to be stopped.”
Catch Florida’s Voice Radio weekdays from 3 to six p.m. on X, Fb, YouTube, Rumble, the official Florida’s Voice web site.
