By Coral Gables Gazette staff
(UPDATED 6.12.26) Coral Gables’ first November municipal election took shape Friday as seven candidates qualified for three city races, including the mayor’s office and two commission seats.
The election follows a voter-approved charter amendment moving city elections from April to November, aligning Coral Gables contests with the countywide and statewide election calendar. The change will shorten the terms of several current elected officials by approximately four months.
The qualifying period opened Monday, June 8, and closed at noon Friday, June 12. The city’s final candidate list shows contested races in all three groups.
Mayor: Lago seeks final consecutive term in three-way race
Mayor Vince Lago is seeking reelection to a fourth consecutive term as mayor. Under the city’s term-limit rules, a victory in November would be his final consecutive term in the office unless he takes a break from serving before seeking the position again. Lago has previously expressed interest in running for elected office in Miami-Dade County after his tenure in the city is over.
Lago is one of the longest-serving elected officials in recent city history. He spent eight years as a commissioner before winning the mayor’s race in 2021 and subsequently prevailing in two additional elections.
He will face Jackson “Rip” Holmes, a familiar face at City Hall who regularly attends commission meetings and previously sought a commission seat, and Laureano Cancio, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for the Group II commission seat in the city’s spring 2025 election.
Group IV: Castro faces Menendez in closely watched race
The Group IV commission race features incumbent Commissioner Melissa Castro, who was first elected in 2023 and is seeking a second term. Castro faces challenger Nestor Menendez, a former member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, Transportation Advisory Board and Charter Review Committee. Menendez reported more than $41,000 in campaign funds as of March 31.
Menendez’s race against Castro is likely to draw attention because Castro has frequently opposed Lago on major commission votes, while Menendez has been viewed as a potential shift in the commission’s balance.
Group V: Fernandez exit opens two-way contest
The Group V seat currently held by Commissioner Ariel Fernandez will be an open race after Fernandez announced earlier this week that he would not seek reelection.
Two candidates have qualified for the race: Gonzalo Sanabria and Dominique “Nikki” Whiting.
Sanabria may be the better known of the two candidates as a longtime presence in city civic affairs and a current member of the Planning and Zoning Board. He also made news in recent years as a result of a contentious exchange with Fernandez during a commission meeting last year that generated significant public attention.
Whiting is a newcomer to candidacy in Coral Gables but enters the race with experience in government, communications and campaigns. She currently serves as director of development for the Adam Smith Center at Florida International University. Her background also includes work for Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez.
Jose A. Riera, who had earlier been associated with the Group V race, was not among the candidates listed on the city’s final qualified candidate roster.
Balance of power and election dates
While the election guarantees at least one new face on the commission, the overall political dynamics at City Hall may not change dramatically.
For much of the current term, Castro and Fernandez have been at odds with the mayor on many high-profile issues, with Lago often joined by Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara in the commission majority.
The mayor has publicly expressed a desire to see both commissioners removed from office.
Fernandez’s decision not to seek reelection has already ensured one significant change. Should Menendez defeat Castro in November, the commission’s current balance of power would move even more in favor of the mayor.
Another former commissioner, Kirk Menendez, who challenged Lago in the spring 2025 election, the city’s last under the old April calendar, announced earlier in the week that he would not seek a return to the commission.
With several months remaining before Election Day and campaigning only beginning, voters will have ample opportunity to hear from candidates on issues ranging from development and zoning to public safety, parks, traffic and the city’s long-term financial future in light of likely property-tax reductions that could mean millions in lost revenue for the city.
The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3, with a runoff, if required, scheduled for Dec. 1. The voter registration deadline for the general election is Oct. 5, according to the city’s candidate handbook.
This Post Has 8 Comments
Something very mysterious is going on in City government.
A dark, unexplainable, DISCONNECT from the Will of the Voters of Coral Gables, who do not want runaway development.
From 2011 through 2019, THE HIDDEN HAND DISCONNECT WAS CITIZENS UNITED.
We will at some point learn what sinister, “hidden hand”, is thwarting The Will of The People now.
If people want less development, Vote for Me.
Sincerely,
Jackson Rip Holmes
not sure is about LESS development, Rip. but definitely about DIFFERENT development. LESS development I interpret to mean NO development or worse, STAGNANT development and that helps nothing. but the backroom deals, the zoning plans that get ripped up the second they’re done, the volume of these new buildings coming to the curb, teh canyons that get created, the disappearance of pedestrian friendly areas, these are all reasonable concerns. w Vinnie Lake, its always about Vinnie. your campaign slogan can easily be: “I’m not him” and we will all know what and who you mean.
Menendez is on the planing and zoning board and the transportation board. That right there eliminates him because look at the mess he has created supporting Lago’s wants. Look at the zoning changes, the mess of poor planing and the traffic issues from density. Sanabria is another planning and zoning board member. Is there any common sense that we would elect those who voted to make our city the mess that it is. They approved the Garden, Dog parks and more. wake up people. Do you want more of the same on steroids. With these 2 it will be a Lago controlled vote and city operations. NO, NO, NO. No one is perfect but the track record of some prove they should not be allowed to have control of our city.
First, I would not vote for Lago if you gave me a million dollars. If King Lago thinks he will run for a Miami Dade County seat, then all his dirty laundry will be hung out. No one wants an autocratic misogynistic, above the law politician who does not show respect for others nor follows policy like in his home construction. You can disagree with someone, but to continually trash someone is totally unacceptable ( calling someone Chat GBT), and to not listen to your residents and think you know better is wrong. Anyone who has worked under his administration should not be considered because they will be more of his puppets, like Anderson and Lara, and have a voting block. We need to start over with someone who will listen to the residents of Coral Gables, who these elected officials really work for. Examples are the Garden, Dog Park, Fritz and Franz, more construction starting, a million dollar painting for a garage?, and millions to decorate a circle that the developer should be doing ( since he got our public alley). We pay your salaries but Lago seems to forget that.
Love “Never Lago”.
Hoping there are some independent thinkers/voices in this group.
And again, a significant measure of real leadership means knowing when it’s time to step down.
That time is long overdue.
~vlra.
As for independent thinkers/voices, there is Melissa Castro. Nestor Menendez is likely a respectable person who would refrain from mansplaining during Commission meetings if he became a Commissioner (not like Lara). But Mayor Lago’s brother, Carlos Lago (who does not live in Coral Gables but tried to expand Coral Gables by annexing Little Gables) gave Mr. Menendez $1,000 on February 12, 2026. When you see Lago’s PAC (Coral Gables First) and his blogs (Coral Gables Magazine and Aesop Gables) push lies about Castro, it is Lago trying to eliminate any dissent on the Commission. Without dissenting voices, Lago is able to recuse himself from ugly things like upzoning variances that Vice Mayor Anderson championed for money-launderer and tax evader Rishi Kapoor for the 1505 Ponce development while Kapoor was paying Lago rent for space that he never occupied. Without dissent, there is no democracy. I am hopeful that Nikki Whiting will also vote independently. Vice Mayor Anderson and Commissioner Lara are Lago pocket votes.