Nestor Menendez, the challenger seeking to unseat Commissioner Melissa Castro, has reported $93,120 in monetary campaign contributions — $5,895 more than the other six candidates running for Coral Gables mayor and commission combined.
Menendez also had $65,539.45 left to spend as of Aug. 28. The other six campaigns together had $64,446.27.
But the cumulative comparison comes with an important qualification: Menendez started raising money months before the rest of the field.
His first reported contribution arrived in October 2025, and he had already collected $41,060 by March 31. No other candidate in this year’s field reported a contribution before April. From April 1 through Aug. 28, Menendez raised $52,060 in monetary contributions, while the other six candidates raised $87,225 during that same period. Menendez also reported a $701.36 in-kind contribution that is not included in those monetary totals.
The latest campaign-finance reports, filed Sept. 4, cover activity through Aug. 28 and provide the first broad financial snapshot of the seven candidates running in Coral Gables’ three Nov. 3 races. The city lists three candidates for mayor, two for the Group IV commission seat and two for the open Group V seat.
Mayor’s race has little outside money so far
Outside fundraising has barely begun in the mayor’s race.
Mayor Vince Lago has reported five monetary contributions totaling $3,650. The first was $1,000 from Coral Gables First, the political committee that has supported him in previous campaigns.
Four later contributions came from people or businesses identified in the reports with real estate interests: developer and investor Michael Katz gave $1,000; real estate investor Frank Miguel Veloso gave $500; investor Iliana Blumberg gave $150; and Manuel Chamizo III, PA, listed as a real estate investment business, gave $1,000. Three of those contributions, totaling $2,500, came from Coral Gables addresses.
Lago has spent $819.34, including his $686.12 qualifying fee, leaving $2,830.66.
Neither of his challengers has reported a contribution from anyone else.
Laureano Cancio put $1,000 of his own money into his campaign and has spent $862.12, most of it on his qualifying fee. Jackson “Rip” Holmes loaned his campaign $700 and spent $686.12 on his qualifying fee. That left Cancio with $137.88 and Holmes with $13.88 as of Aug. 28.
Group IV shows a wide financial gap
The sharpest fundraising contrast is in Group IV.
Menendez’s $93,120 came through 134 monetary contribution entries. Seventy-one were for $1,000, the maximum an outside contributor generally may give a candidate per election under Florida law.
An analysis of the addresses reported by his contributors shows $52,270, or 56.1%, came from addresses listed as Coral Gables. The average monetary contribution was $694.93.
Menendez has spent $27,580.55. Most of that — $21,401.75 — went to Big Tuesday Media for social media, political consulting, printing, photography and digital advertising. Another $3,266.30 went to The Artisan Agency in January for door hangers, palm cards, website work and mapping.
Big Tuesday Media also has worked for Coral Gables First. The Gazette previously reported that the PAC paid the firm $13,060.93 in April for websites, video, SMS outreach and advertising, followed by another $20,235.10 in June for political consulting, digital media, outreach, video and email marketing. The use of the same vendor does not by itself establish coordination between the committee and Menendez’s campaign.
Castro’s reports show a different financial profile.
Her campaign has reported $13,604.58 in total contributions, but $4,329.58 of that is in-kind — goods or services rather than money available for campaign spending. Her monetary contributions total $9,275.
The in-kind contributions include yard signs donated by Hernando Delgado, Catalina Mercado and Brad Peach; a two-issue advertisement valued at $590 from Gables Magazine; and $797.08 in website, software and related expenses paid directly by Castro.
Excluding Castro’s own $100 monetary contribution, $7,500 of the remaining $9,175 came from addresses reported as Coral Gables, or 81.7%. Two monetary contributions were for the $1,000 maximum, and the average contribution excluding Castro’s own was $339.81.
Castro has spent $1,956.51, including $1,000 paid to Gables Magazine for advertising — separate from the magazine’s $590 in-kind contribution — and her $595.01 qualifying fee. She had $7,318.49 in cash remaining.
Group V: different fundraising footprints
Dominique “Nikki” Whiting has reported $53,150 in monetary contributions in the race for the Group V seat Commissioner Ariel Fernandez is vacating. Gonzalo Sanabria has reported $19,450, including a $2,000 loan to his campaign from himself.
Whiting’s reports contain 99 monetary contribution entries, 36 of them for $1,000. Contributions from addresses listed as Coral Gables totaled $13,290 across 23 entries, or 25% of her fundraising. Her average contribution was $536.87.
She has spent $13,692.41. Of that, $9,064.60 went to DRC Consulting for photography, website and email communications and door hangers. Another $2,500 went to FEP Entertainment for video production. Whiting had $39,457.59 remaining as of Aug. 28.
Sanabria’s $19,450 total consists of $17,450 in outside contributions and his $2,000 campaign loan.
Of the outside money, $6,750, or 38.7%, came from addresses listed as Coral Gables. Twelve of his 31 outside contribution entries were for $1,000, and the average was $562.90.
Sanabria has spent $4,762.23, including $3,750 to Apex Strategies Corp. for fundraising consulting. His campaign had $14,687.77 remaining.
Some donors appear in both commission races
The filings also show overlap among contributors to candidates running in the two commission contests.
A Gazette comparison found at least six contributors with matching names and street addresses in both the Menendez and Whiting reports: Alice Bravo, Carlos Lago, FXD Construction LLC, George Kakouris, Hermpire LLC and Jorge Navarro.
Hermpire gave $1,000 to each campaign on Aug. 21. Other shared contributors gave on different dates.
The overlap does not establish coordination between the campaigns. It shows that some of the same contributors are financing candidates in both commission races.
The filings contain other cross-race overlap as well. Robert K. Burlington PA, for example, contributed $1,000 to Menendez and $1,000 to Sanabria.
More reports to come
Across all seven campaigns, candidates have reported $180,345 in monetary contributions and $50,359.28 in expenditures through Aug. 28, leaving $129,985.72 collectively available for the fall campaign.
The numbers remain an early snapshot. Menendez’s cumulative total includes nearly a year of fundraising, while several other campaigns did not begin collecting money until June.
The Sept. 4 filings establish the starting financial picture as Coral Gables enters the final two months before its first November municipal election. The Gazette will continue reviewing the reports as new filings become available.
