Doral candidate claims ‘political persecution’ by mayor after PAC spending revelations
After a complaint was filed challenging her place of residency, Doral City Council candidate Irina Vilarino received good news earlier this month when a judge dismissed the claim and determined that she was qualified to run in the November election.
At a press conference she held Wednesday, Vilarino said she has a theory about why more people like her don't get involved in politics.
"Because when you do, they make your life a living hell," said Vilarino, a candidate for Doral's council seat 3.
Vilarino, a longtime co-owner of her family's restaurant, Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, first ran for office in 2019 in the race for Florida's 26th District in the U.S. House of Representatives but withdrew in 2020 when then-Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez was endorsed for the seat by then-President Donald Trump.
After filing to run for the Doral seat earlier this year, she faced another public challenge when Doral Chamber of Commerce CEO Emmanuel "Manny" Sarmiento filed a complaint challenging her candidacy on the grounds that she had not lived in Doral for the past two years, a requirement to qualify for office in the municipality. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Peter Lopez determined on Aug. 15 that she had provided enough proof of residency in Doral to be considered a valid candidate.
READ MORE: Doral candidate caught up in residency dispute is qualified to run, judge determines
Vilarino said that when Vice Mayor Oscar Puig-Corve decided not to seek reelection for Seat 3, she thought that campaigning would be a "fairly innocuous process" and a good opportunity to give back to the community as a resident and business owner. Instead, she alleged, she found an enemy in Mayor Christi Fraga that she didn't know she had.
Fraga has endorsed Vilarino's opponent Nicole Reinoso, an executive director with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Fraga served as a member of the School Board between her tenures as a council member and mayor of Doral.
"I thought the mayor would be supportive, as a woman, a business owner, a single mother, an immigrant and a staunch supporter of freedom. I checked off all the boxes," Vilarino said. "Ironically, she immediately pegged me as an enemy because I was not on her team."
During her press conference, Vilarino alleged "political persecution" by Fraga. She presented evidence that the Leaders of Tomorrow PAC, a fundraising committee chaired by Fraga, paid $10,000 in legal fees to Cabrera Hoopingarner, the firm that represented Sarmiento in his complaint about Vilarino's residency.
In addition, Vilarino claimed that her business had been targeted. She highlighted a recent eviction notice for one of her Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine locations in Downtown Doral, a matter she intends to contest in court.
During an impromptu press conference of her own following Vilarino's event, Fraga defended her actions, stating that the PAC's involvement was a matter of transparency and public interest. Fraga told the press that she runs Leaders of Tomorrow to advocate for various issues within the city.
"A resident came to us with evidence suggesting that Irina did not meet the residency requirements. We supported the investigation and legal representation to address the claim," Fraga said.
Fraga emphasized that the PAC's mission is to advocate for issues that impact the city's well-being and combat corruption, maintaining that its actions were aligned with those goals.
Although the advocacy in this case was against a political adversary, Fraga said the PAC would do "any advocacy that has to do with protecting the well-being of this city and anti-corruption, and we will fund anything that will protect the integrity of elections in our city."
Regarding the eviction matter, Fraga stated, "These are private issues. I have nothing to do with that. I wasn't even aware there was a legal case."
Vilarino disagreed with Fraga's overall assessment, asserting that rather than protecting residents, the actions of the PAC and Fraga were aimed at disrupting local politics and targeting her personally.
Sarmiento, meanwhile, denied any political motivations behind his complaint, although he acknowledged that he is friends with the mayor and her husband. He criticized the judge's decision and insisted that if he aimed to harm Vilarino politically, he would have pursued more severe charges like voter fraud. He denied Vilarino's claims that he is a political operative of Fraga, saying he filed the complaint because he believed Vilarino did not live in Doral two years before she qualified to run for office in July. His complaint provided property records, voter registration paperwork and driver's license records that suggested Vilarino recently lived in Pinecrest.
"The judge made a decision that nowadays is common, avoiding a political decision," Sarmiento said. "He didn't want to be the one to take away her opportunity to run and left that to the residents."
Vilarino's candidacy is set against a backdrop of contentious local issues, including a dispute that saw former city employees, including ex-mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez, file a lawsuit after their pensions were revoked. While Bermudez supports Vilarino, she has stated that she does not favor reinstating the pensions.
