Miami-Dade County commissioners voted on Tuesday to cancel the scheduled November 2025 election, moving all countywide races to 2026 to align local elections with federal and state contests, according to reports. 

The 8–3 vote means that elections for Miami-Dade mayor and three open commission seats will now take place in August and November of 2026 instead of this year. As a result, incumbents in those seats will serve an additional year in office without facing voters at the originally scheduled time. 

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a written opinion saying the city can’t legally reschedule the election date without voter approval in a ballot referendum. 

However, City Attorney George Wysong has said otherwise. 

“We believe we’re in good standing with the Florida Constitution,” Wysong said before the commission. “We believe it’s legal and consistent with Florida law,” Wysong said, referring to a precedent in which the city changed its elections to even years. 

He continued: “No matter how you slice it, if you move the dates of the election, somebody is gonna get an extra year,” Wysong said. “This doesn’t necessarily benefit anybody.” 

Some commissioners feel the move is just a power grab and is happening for the wrong reasons. 

“This commission is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons,” said Rammel Guzman, who, according to the Miami Herald, said the move is reminiscent of the autocratic rule that drove him to immigrate to the United States from his home country. “I was born in Venezuela, and in 1999 the constitution was reformed by Chávez, and even he put it to a vote — we need to do better than that.”

Miami's elected officials will only be able to serve two terms as mayor and two terms as commissioner in their lifetimes if voters approve the lifetime term limits proposal. Those who want to maintain term limits as they are will fight against the measure, despite some right-leaning commissioners’ claims that it has broad support.