Feud between Florida governor and Hialeah mayor rolls on

HIALEAH, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Hialeah on Tuesday morning to announce more vaccination sites.

In doing so he highlighted a “murderers row here of elected officials” before ticking them off and asking “did I miss anybody?”

Well, yes, he did.

Carlos Hernandez, the mayor of Hialeah, one of the state’s most populous cities, didn’t get a shout-out, and only when the governor was on the way out did he step up to speak out.

“Governor, [it’s] the mayor of Hialeah. How are you, sir? I’d like to speak,” Hernandez shouted out before stepping to the same podium to speak to reporters.

“I was not invited to this, just like I was not invited not to a previous meeting,” Hernandez said.

By now, there is a bona fide pattern.

What started this apparent cold war between a Republican mayor and a Republican governor in this Republican-centric city?

The first inklings may have begun in the spring.

With long unemployment lines and spiking coronavirus cases, Hernandez wanted more attention paid to his city from the get-go. But the governor was dealing more with counties than individual cities.

Then, there was a gathering at county hall over the summer that included some city mayors in Miami-Dade.

Hernandez said he showed up to the Stephen P. Clark Government Center on that July day only to learn from a representative of the governor’s office that the meeting was invite-only and he was not on the list.

Staffers declined to let him in.

The governor said back then that, ”I wasn’t personally the one that invited the folks.”

The mayor called it “a lack of respect” and then aired his grievances nationally on cable news the next day.

Fast forward to Tuesday and the pattern continues. The mayor critiques, the governor goes about business without him, and neither — by all accounts — has made a first move to break the cycle.


About the Author:

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."