Florida › Miami Dade County › Miami-Dade County Commission — District 5
2 candidates are tracked for Miami-Dade County Commission — District 5, headed to a November 3, 2026 runoff: Vicki Lopez and Rob Piper. Candidate information follows official Miami Dade County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
August 18 result: incumbent Vicki Lopez (42.3 percent) fell short of a majority and meets Rob Piper (29.5 percent) in a November 3 runoff; Joe Sanchez was eliminated by 211 votes, per Florida Politics.
Vicki Lopez
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Vicki Lopez is the appointed incumbent District 5 commissioner, facing her first commission election on the August 18 ballot. A former state legislator, she was appointed in late 2025 after Eileen Higgins resigned to run for Miami mayor, and has drawn endorsements from the Miami-Dade Sheriff, the county firefighters union, and the South Florida PBA while raising nearly $1.2 million, per Florida Politics coverage.
2026 priorities
- Housing and condo-safety policy
- Transportation
- Constituent services
Rob Piper is a retired Marine Corps officer who served from 1993 to 2016 with three combat tours in Iraq, later a Florida House legislative aide with a PhD in international relations, per his campaign site. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party endorsed him in this race, per the party's voter guide.
2026 priorities
- Transparency and accountability in county government, per his campaign site
- Lower housing costs and expand affordable housing, per his campaign site
- Climate resilience and flood protection, per his campaign site
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-19.
Campaign site →
