In a development that will shock absolutely no one who has lived in Miami since the Bush administration, the Carollo brothers, Frank and Joe, Miami’s answer to the Succession writers’ room, are once again vying to occupy the exact same square of political real estate. Should Frank Carollo win back his old District 3 commission seat on Tuesday, the brothers will have pulled off an impressive political hat trick: 20 consecutive years of Carollo occupancy, a feat rivaled only by cockroaches and condo developers in sheer Miami durability.
Frank, the younger Carollo and a certified public accountant (a career that pairs naturally with lifelong political longevity), first claimed the District 3 throne in 2009. When his term ended in 2017, his older brother Joe stepped in, as if the seat came with a family deed and a home warranty. Joe later secured a second term, and now, having maxed out his time limit, he’s running for mayor, because in Miami politics, doors don’t close; they pivot.
If Frank regains the seat and serves his full term, Miami will reach 2029 having lived through two recessions, several climate-related near-disasters, and one uninterrupted Carollo dynasty.
But Frank wants voters to know this is purely coincidental. As he explained via text,the preferred medium of modern political sincerity, he and Joe are “two very different people with the same last name.” In other news, the ocean is two very different oceans with the same salt.
Still, Frank insists any victory will be earned through trust, performance, and presumably an unspoken appreciation for familial continuity in local government. He faces seven challengers, a number that suggests at least a few Miamians are beginning to suspect that democracy should occasionally rotate its tires.
Miami voters, meanwhile, are also considering a referendum that would limit elected officials to two lifetime terms. Critics argue this could disqualify Frank from serving again, while supporters argue that’s exactly the point. The legal mechanics are, naturally, unclear, a hallmark of Miami governance second only to political families whose reunions double as strategy sessions.
Opponents aren’t shy. Rolando Escalona, one of Frank’s rivals, says voters are tired of “the same political insiders controlling city hall”, a sentiment as old as Miami itself. Denise Galvez Turros predicts the referendum will pass and that Miami’s political dynasties are on their last legs, a bold claim for a city where political legacies are less “leg” and more “palm tree root system.”
Then there’s the possibility, delightful to observers, slightly less so to the HR department, that both Frank and Joe could serve in City Hall simultaneously. They assure voters they operate independently, as every political dynasty member has insisted since the dawn of dynasties. Joe even claims Frank would be the hardest commissioner to deal with, which in Miami is saying something.
Still, both pledge brotherly love and professional distance. “He has his own life. I have mine,” Joe says. It’s the kind of statement that would be more convincing were they not, in fact, aiming to run the same government.
Should term limits pass and challenge Frank’s hypothetical victory, he remains unbothered. He says he’s a “duly qualified candidate” and won’t be distracted. If Miami politics were a sport, this would be known as “playing through the constitutional ambiguity.”
In short: the Carollo era may or may not be ending, depending on voters, legal interpretations, and the gravitational pull of Miami’s dynastic politics. But one thing is certain: in a city built on reinvention, the Carollos remain its most stable infrastructure.
