A county commission race heated up this week, when George Lopez filed to run for the District 2 seat against incumbent commissioner Michelle Lincoln, who is currently the county mayor.
The race is likely to reopen Republican rivalries in the Florida Keys, as Lopez came out swinging against Lincoln in a statement to the Keys Weekly about his candidacy.
George Lopez is married to Rhonda Rebman Lopez, a Republican firebrand and MAGA devotee who chairs the Monroe County Republican Executive Committee. He currently serves as an elected precinct committeeman for the Republican Party in a precinct that includes the private, gated community of Ocean Reef Club, where he would have had to have declared his residency in order to run for the committeeman position.
George Lopez texted a statement about his candidacy to the Keys Weekly on June 2. That statement appears below in its entirety, with no changes:
“Due to the fact that the current commissioner Michelle Lincoln is working against our great governor DeSantis who is trying to give our Monroe county residents badly needed property tax relief it made my decision to primary her very easy. She’s using her position at the league of counties and mayor of Monroe county to disrespectfully double down against the best governor florida has ever had. She doesn’t represent President Trump’s MAGA agenda and now she’s going against a governor that has been a US congressman veteran grad of Harvard Law & Yale undergrad with her liberal idealogy She claims Monroe county is a purple county that’s why she’s always dressed in purple!! Let me be clear!! Monroe county is Ruby Red country!!Trump DeSantis country!!! and commissioner Lincoln needs reminding. Print that in Bold Letters.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, after Keys Weekly’s print deadline, Rhonda Lopez sent a press release announcing George Lopez’s candidacy.
“Lopez, a military veteran, small business owner, and longtime advocate for lower taxes, has consistently supported efforts to reduce the burden on hardworking Florida homeowners, families, and retirees. He has voiced support for Governor Ron DeSantis’ efforts to provide meaningful property tax relief and return more money to taxpayers,” the release states.
“In Monroe County, government should learn to live within its means just like our families and small businesses do,” Lopez says in the release. “Property owners are being squeezed by rising costs, and they deserve relief. Voters are tired of being told that government always needs more of their money. I believe we can provide essential services while respecting taxpayers and keeping Monroe County government efficient, accountable, and fiscally responsible.”
Lincoln seeks third term
Michelle Lincoln has been a county commissioner representing District 2 for eight years and is currently wrapping up her second term.
“I’m running because I want to continue serving all residents of District 2 and Monroe County,” she said. “My job is to protect the safety, economy and environment of our county, and to accomplish that, I need to take the pulse of the community, which is why I’m everywhere, up and down the Keys. It requires knowledge of and familiarity with all of those aspects as well as what it takes to provide all the services that residents need and deserve.
Lincoln emphasized her commitment to the Marathon, Big Pine and Lower Keys chambers of commerce in particular, “because those are all in my district.”
District 2 is the longest district, geographically, in the island chain. It stretches from Big Coppitt Key to the northern end of Marathon, but only along the gulfside of Marathon.
“When someone calls my office or my cell phone, I don’t ask them if they’re a Republican or Democrat before I try to help them, whether that’s receiving services for an elderly parent, or get a pothole fixed. Whether they have an R or a D behind their name doesn’t matter to me.”
In response to Lopez’s mention of the Florida Association of Counties, Lincoln said she is proud to have been elected president of the association by its members, who represent all 67 Florida counties.
“I’m the very first person in Monroe County to have been elected president of that association,” Lincoln said.
Residency rules for county candidates
George Lopez currently serves as an elected precinct committeeman for the Republican Party in the precinct that includes the private, gated community of Ocean Reef Club, where he and Rhonda live and own a home. He would have had to declare his residency there in order to have run for the committeeman position in that precinct.
When asked whether he lives in District 2, which he is now running to represent, George Lopez told the Keys Weekly, “My family has maintained a home in Sugarloaf since 1971 and earned two fishing IGFA world records in the district.”
Rhonda Lopez texted the Keys Weekly on Wednesday afternoon, “George travels by plane. He lands at Marathon, Key West, Tamiami, Summerland. So calm down about his logistics. He can move/live wherever and be there faster than you or I by plane.”
Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies, when asked about residency requirements for county commission candidates, told the Keys Weekly on June 3, “Mr. Lopez will have to live in District 2 at the time of the election. So I’m assuming he’ll be moving to Lower Sugarloaf at the time of the election. As of now, he can continue being a committeeman in Ocean Reef, but then the county’s Republican Party can transfer him and make him a committeeman in his new district, if there’s an opening in that new precinct.”
Hodies said Florida law is frustratingly vague when it comes to defining residency. There is no specified amount of time that someone must spend in a certain address to be considered a resident there. She added that Florida’s supervisors of elections have requested legislative clarity to define residency.
Currently, an attorney general opinion states, “If one wishes to become a resident in a … district other than the one where he presently resides within the county where he presently resides, all that is required is that he move there and do the things normally incidental to lawfully taking up a residence. One’s residence can be changed within a very short time, given the requisite intent to permanently remain there and not return to the old locality.”
The primary election takes place Aug. 18. If no Democrat enters the race, it will be decided by all voters, regardless of party, on that day.
For more information about county and statewide elections, visit votemonroeflkeys.gov.
