Rolando Escalona is still in a race for a Miami Commission seat after a Judge ruled that he is indeed a resident of District 3.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko Sanchez found Escalona sufficiently proved that he has rented and lived in an apartment since June 2024, like he claimed, and should not be disqualified from running for the seat, as demanded by his opponent, Denise Galvez Turros.
The ruling came at the end of a roughly five-hour hearing Wednesday, during which Escalona provided multiple items as evidence of his residency. Among them: his driver’s license, voter information card, and Amazon furniture and TV orders — all listing the District 3 apartment as his home — and the lease he signed for it June 4, 2024.
Galvez Turros, meanwhile, provided as evidence Escalona’s 2024 tax return, broker’s license, property tax assessment, property tax deed and other documents listing a duplex he owns in District 4.
Citing Escalona’s evidence as satisfactory, Butchko Sanchez denied Galvez Turros’ request for an injunction to disqualify Escalona from the contest. A source close to the case told Florida Politics Galvez Turros has since filed a notice that she will not appeal the ruling.
In a statement, Escalona called the ruling “a decisive victory for truth, integrity and the voters of District 3.”
“The court saw this lawsuit for exactly what it was, a politically motivated and orchestrated effort by the same insiders to silence voters and distort the democratic process. I have said from the beginning that I am a proud resident of District 3, and today’s decision confirms that fact. I have always been honest about where I live and why I’m running,” he said.
“While others wasted time and taxpayer dollars on this baseless political stunt, I’ve stayed focused on what really matters: making our neighborhoods safer, supporting small businesses, expanding access to affordable housing, and improving public transportation so residents can move through our city with dignity and opportunity. This case was meant to distract us from those priorities, but it failed. This election is about values, fairness, and the kind of leadership Miami deserves. I’m running to serve the people, not the political establishment, and I’m more determined than ever to deliver for the families, workers, and small business owners of District 3.”
Galvez Turros sued Escalona last week, alleging that his claimed residence inside the district’s bounds is a “sham” and should disqualify him from the ballot. Under a year-old charter amendment, eligible Miami candidates must have lived continuously within their district for at least a year before qualifying.
Escalona swore in an affidavit that he has rented and lived in an apartment in District 3 since June 2024, three months beyond the required period.
Galvez Turros, a fellow Republican and the co-founder of “Latinas for Trump,” contended that records showed Escalona actually lives in the District 4 duplex, where he and his wife signed a mortgage refinance in February.
In her court filing, she argued Escalona “cannot simultaneously swear to his bank that his primary residence is outside the district while swearing to the city clerk that his continuous residence is within it.”
Escalona, a restaurant manager and real estate broker, called the suit an “eleventh-hour” political hit job and insisted to the Herald that he meets all residency rules. He has said previously that he moved after redistricting pushed his property outside of District 3.
A Florida Politics analysis of all Miami candidates’ residency records found Escalona is among the newest arrivals to the city. He previously lived in North Miami and the unincorporated West Little River neighborhood.
Escalona and Galvez Turros are among eight candidates competing to succeed term-limited Commissioner Joe Carollo, who is running to again be Miami’s Mayor. Carollo’s brother, former Commissioner Frank Carollo, is also running, as are U.S. Navy veteran Oscar Alejandro, Code Enforcement Abatement Board member Yvonne Bayona, real estate broker Brenda Betancourt, Marine Corps veteran Rob Piper and City Hall aide Fayez Tanous.
Galvez Turros, a “Latinas for Trump” co-founder, also ran for Commission in 2017. She was arrested in 1994 on credit card theft charges and in 2010 for disorderly intoxication charges, both later dropped or dismissed, and has since corrected a LinkedIn entry that wrongly claimed she held a journalism degree.
Piper led a 2020 recall PAC targeting Joe Carollo.
Bayona, Betancourt, Carollo and Tanous are also Republicans. Alejandro and Piper are Democrats.
City races are technically nonpartisan, but party politics are frequently still a factor.
Miami’s General Election is Nov. 4. If no candidate tops 50% in a race, the top two advance to a Dec. 9 runoff.
