MIAMI — Kenneth James DeSantis, an attorney who specializes in general liability cases, is among the 13 candidates running for Miami mayor on Nov. 4.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has no familial relationship to the mayoral candidate, endorsed Emilio González, a retired U.S. Army Colonel and former city manager.
“I have been told we are distant cousins, but we are not closely related,” Kenneth J. DeSantis said, adding, “My grandmother, who is 98 years old and lives up in Palm Beach, whenever she is at the hospital, they seem to treat her better because she has the name DeSantis, and when they ask her if they are related, she always likes to say, he is her husband.”
Kenneth DeSantis, who lived in Jupiter before moving to the Dadeland area in 2022, said he decided to run because none of those in office have impressed him, and he has fallen in love with Miami.
“I love the culture. I love the arts ... It’s an incredible town, and I have fallen head over heels for it. It’s truly the Magic City,” said Kenneth DeSantis, who has lived in Miami near Coral Gables since June 2024.
DeSantis, who is also known as “K.J.”, has been an associate for the Cole, Scott & Kissane law firm in Kendall’s Dadeland area since Nov. 28, 2022, and also worked for Goldstein & Company in Coral Gables for about 10 months. He said he wants Miami City Hall to be more transparent.
“I think sunlight is the best disinfectant,” DeSantis said. “I think that transparency is the most important thing. I would make sure that any contracts are publicly available.”
The University of Richmond School of Law graduate was admitted to the Florida Bar on Nov. 1, 2022, and is set to serve as an Aviation Law Committee member until 2030. He said he wants to bring honesty to City Hall.
“Miami is at a turning point. I think Miami deserves a City Hall that is free from corruption, and it hasn’t had that for generations,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis, who also earned a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended the University of Cambridge, said that at the top of his to-do list, if elected, would be to fix the city’s permitting system.
“I recently had my bathroom renovated. It should have taken three days, and it took three months, and it was a terrible experience. I can’t imagine what small businesses and other individuals have to deal with just to get things done,” DeSantis, who is a tenant, said.
On affordable housing, DeSantis, who has also lived in Burnside, Kentucky, said it’s very hard for a city municipality to try to address the lack of it, so a multifaceted approach is a must.
“I think that the important thing is to make sure ... that the taxes are low, that there is availability of housing, and you need to protect the affordable housing that already exists,” DeSantis said. “So, that’s what I would focus on.”
DeSantis, who has no party affiliation, said the city has a terrible voter turnout and that needs to change.
“I think that getting young people involved is probably the best way to do it, and that’s getting them to get to the polls,” he said. “That’s where it starts.”
Related link: Campaign page
Related document: Affidavit of candidate (.PDF)
OTHER MAYORAL CANDIDATES
The other candidates in the nonpartisan race are Alex Díaz de la Portilla, Alyssa Crocker, Christian E. Cevallos, Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, Elijah John Bowdre, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, June Savage, Ken Russell, Laura Anderson, Michael A. Hepburn, and Xavier L. Suarez.
Name recognition: Suarez, who served as Miami mayor from 1985 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1998, is the incumbent’s father.
Carollo, a former Metro Dade police officer, served as a city commissioner, a city vice mayor, and two terms as Miami mayor from 1996 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2001.
Legal trouble: De La Portilla is a former Miami commissioner who served from 2020 to 2023 when Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him over a corruption case that prosecutors later dropped.
Carollo, who lives near Little Havana, has an arrest record. In 2001, police officers arrested him for domestic violence, and prosecutors dropped the case after he agreed to attend anger management classes.
Later in 2023, a federal jury in civil court sided with two businessmen who won $63.5 million in damages against Carollo for “weaponizing” city employees to violate their rights after they supported one of his political opponents.
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC
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