In connection with the November 3, 2009 City of Miami Beach General Municipal Election the SAVE Dade Action PAC endorses the following candidates:
 
 
In the race for Miami Beach Mayor, SAVE Dade endorses the incumbent, Mayor Matti Bower.  Mayor Bower championed equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people long before she became Mayor, and has continued to do so after being elected, doing everything she promised, and more, to support equality for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.  She supported efforts by the City to promote equality through strengthening the existing domestic partner ordinance. She supported the first ever Miami Beach Pride Festival in 2009. And she appointed openly gay civic leader Victor Diaz to fill an empty commission seat in 2008 when the previous commissioner stepped down.
Matti Bower
Mayor
 
 
 
 
In the race for Miami Beach Commission Group I, SAVE Dade endorses incumbent Commissioner Jerry Libbin.  While his opponent, Oduardo Segui, expressed full support for LGBT equality, Commissioner Libbin has a track record of support for equality during his service to the City, having voted in favor of every pro-equality measure on LGBT issues that has come before him.  By his voting record, he has earned the support of the LGBT community in his bid for re-election.
Jerry Libbin
Commission
Group I
 
 
 
 
In the race for Miami Beach Commissioner, Group II, SAVE Dade endorses Sherry Roberts.   Sherry Roberts has demonstrated strong community leadership and is passionate about representing the interests of all Miami Beach residents.  In the contentious world of Miami Beach politics, she stands above the fray as a candidate clearly focused on serving the people she hopes to represent.  SAVE Dade always strives to endorse the best candidate regardless of sexual orientation, and we believe Sherry Roberts is the best candidate.  In addition, we believe that Sherry Roberts, as an openly lesbian candidate, a caring mom, and a successful business woman, will bring her courage, her generosity and her intelligent leadership to the Miami Beach commission, and by doing so will provide a great role model for young gay people, proving by her example that they too can make a positive difference in society.

Sherry Roberts
Commission
Group II
 
 
 
 
In the race for Miami Beach Commission, Group III, SAVE Dade interviewed three candidates, Alex Fernandez, Michael Gongora and Gabrielle Redfern. All three were fully supportive of equal rights regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Two of these candidates, Alex Fernandez and Michael Gongora, are openly gay. The third candidate, Gabrielle Redfern, is a strong supporter of LGBT issues and the Miami Beach residents who served as volunteer panelists on SAVE Dade's endorsement interview panel were very impressed with her detailed proposals for improving life for Miami Beach residents. After careful consideration, SAVE Dade has decided to make no endorsement in this race based on the fact that all three candidates proved themselves to be equal on the LGBT issues.

Commission Group III
 
 


Our Endorsement Process

SAVE Dade Action PAC works to end discrimination in Miami-Dade County by electing fair-minded candidates to office. We support candidates who will work to pass and defend legislation guaranteeing equal treatment under the law for all including individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. We urge you to vote for these candidates.

The endorsement process is as follows:

The SAVE Dade Action PAC is a political committee of Safeguarding American Values for Everyone, Inc. (SAVE). SAVE’s Candidate Endorsement Committee and SAVE’s Board of Directors are tasked with overseeing the candidate endorsement effort. For the 2009 elections, one member of the Board of Directors, Elizabeth Regalado, serves as the chair of the Candidate Endorsement Committee

SAVE’s Board and Candidate Endorsement Committee work with SAVE’s staff to undertake the necessary steps that will result in an endorsement decision.

These steps include:
  • Candidates fill out a candidate questionnaire which includes questions concerning the candidates’ positions on LGBT issues, such as employment discrimination, relationship equality, etc., as well as other questions to help gauge the candidate’s overall effectiveness and electability.

  • Interviews are conducted with candidates who return the questionnaire by a panel made up of SAVE board members and volunteers. SAVE strives to include panel members from the respective municipality when endorsing in municipal races. The endorsement panel conveys the information gleaned through the interview to the SAVE Board of Directors. Interview panelists are requested to disclose any potential conflicts of interest, and no one who has committed to a particular candidate or who has a conflict of interest in the race in question is permitted to participate in that interview process.

  • Input on impending races is solicited via email from SAVE’s membership.

  • The Board of Directors votes on which candidate to endorse, striving to select the candidate which, as best as the Board can discern (based on the questionnaires, candidate interviews, and community input), has the best chance to advance the cause of LGBT equality based on the candidate’s positions, commitment, efficacy and electability. As with the interview panel, Board members are requested to disclose any conflict of interest, and are required to abstain from the discussion and vote on any race where the Board member has a conflict of interest.

  • As soon as the Board decides on an endorsement, the decision is communicated to the candidates, to SAVE’s membership, and to the public.

  • When a race is of particular importance to the LGBT community, and as resources permit, SAVE then provides assistance to the endorsed candidate in the form of volunteers and other forms of assistance within the limits provided by applicable election laws.
SAVE realizes that endorsing a particular candidate will some times elicit strong emotions outside of and within the SAVE membership. SAVE is fortunate to have an informed and diverse constituent base, with well-rounded views on a number of issues. Accordingly, SAVE recognizes that as voters, individual constituents will consider other factors in personally deciding which candidate to support. However, SAVE’s members depend on SAVE to provide the valuable service of requiring candidates to commit to positions on issues impacting the LGBT community, and to hold candidates and elected officials accountable for their positions by helping those that have a track record of supporting equality, or who show the most promise for supporting equality in the future.

Click here to view our ensorement archive