After bitter fight, Carlos Gimenez wins re-election as Miami-Dade mayor

MIAMI (WSVN) – Carlos Gimenez has won the 2016 mayoral election in Miami-Dade County in South Florida against challenger Raquel Regalado.

Regalado conceded the race Tuesday evening after thanking the many people involved with her campaign.

“I respect democracy, and today I respect the will of the people,” she said. “The people have spoken, and they’ve decided to give Carlos Gimenez another four years.”

However, Regalado mentioned that she will still be around with the statement, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Gimenez and Regalado went into a November runoff election after the primary mayoral vote in August. Gimenez received 48 percent of the vote, failing to reach the 50 percent threshold for an outright win. Regalado received 32 percent. In order to have avoided a runoff, Gimenez needed to garner more than 50 percent of the vote.

Then, less than two weeks before Election Day, Regalado filed suit to “disqualify Gimenez and void any votes for him in the Nov. 8 election” in Miami-Dade County Court. She claimed the check Gimenez filed to run for re-election was flawed because it had the wrong year on it.

However, on Nov. 3, a judge dismissed her lawsuit, in effect ruling that the voters would decide the outcome of the race on Election Day.

For more Miami stories visit News 7 Miami.

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