MIAMI — A crowded playing field of more than a dozen candidates has qualified to run for Miami mayor.

If it feels like deja vu, that’s because the race features two old rivals from the 1990s.

Former Mayor Xavier Suarez, the father of current Mayor Francis Suarez, and current Commissioner Joe Carollo, also an ex-mayor, are both running.

The elder Suarez, 76, was the city’s first Cuban-American mayor, serving two stints from 1985 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 1998.

Carollo, 70, both preceded and succeeded Suarez, serving two mayoral stints from 1996 to 1997 and 1998 to 2001.

Other notable candidates include former city Commissioners Alex Diaz de la Portilla ― who lost his seat amid corruption charges he was later cleared of ― and Ken Russell, along with current Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins and former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez successfully sued to keep the election on Nov. 4 after commissioners voted 3 to 2 to postpone the race until next year, to coincide with the higher-turnout 2026 elections.

Two city commission seats are also up for grabs. They are District 3, which covers a large part of Little Havana, western Brickell, along with the Shenandoah and The Roads neighborhoods, and District 5, which covers neighborhoods including Liberty City, Little Haiti and Overtown.

If no candidate gets 50% of the vote, the races will head to runoffs.

13 candidates qualify for Miami mayor, including old rivals Joe Carollo, Xavier Suarez

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Janine Stanwood

Chris Gothner