Sitting at a table at her campaign headquarters, Audrey Edmonson insists she’s not hungry to regain the political power she gave up four years ago when term limits forced her out as the county commissioner for Miami-Dade’s District 3. After briefly flirting with challenging Congresswoman Frederica Wilson in 2022, Edmonson tells Biscayne Times she was enjoying her time away from politics.
But a steady drumbeat of residents from Liberty City to Morningside expressing their dissatisfaction with her successor, County Commissioner Keon Hardemon, convinced her to reclaim the office she held from 2005 until 2020. While county commissioners can only serve two consecutive four-year terms, the Miami-Dade charter allows former elected officials to run for their old seats after a brief hiatus.
“I’m back due to popular demand,” Edmonson says. “I have received calls from many residents across District 3 pleading with me to come back because no one returns their calls or they can’t get a meeting with their current commissioner. Some people told me they have been hurt by things he’s done. They feel like he’s only in office to promote his own name and family.”
(Courtesy Audrey Edmonson)
Audrey Edmonson speaking to a small group of voters in the Upper East Side.
As Edmonson guns for Hardemon, another lesser-known contender is aiming to play spoiler in the District 3 race. Brownsville native Marion K. Brown is also vying to unseat Hardemon. District 3 is among the most diverse in Miami-Dade County. It includes City of Miami enclaves such as the Upper East Side, Morningside, Edgewater and Buena Vista; gentrifying neighborhoods Allapattah and Wynwood; historically Black neighborhoods of Little Haiti, Liberty City, Overtown and Brownsville; and the villages of El Portal and Miami Shores.
(Instagram@audreyedmonson)
Then District 3 Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson packing food supplies at the Joseph Caleb Center for distribution during the pandemic.
While he echoed Edmonson’s criticisms of Hardemon, Brown tells Biscayne Times that she’s another career politician who will put the interests of people and companies doing business with Miami-Dade government ahead of constituents.
“Enough is enough dealing with individuals who have name recognition and have been in office far too long,” Brown said. “When Edmonson was in office, she divided the community. And then Hardemon came along and continued to divide the community big time. They are not in it for the people.”
( Miami Times File)
A vandal destroyed Keon Hardemon signs in June.
Edmonson and Brown have a lot of ground to cover if they expect to beat Hardemon, who did not respond to four requests for an interview.
As the incumbent, Hardemon enjoys the financial backing of vendors and developers doing business with Miami-Dade. Between his own campaign and three political action committees supporting him, Hardemon has a war chest of roughly $1 million. Edmonson has approximately $30,000 in her campaign account and Brown has about $1,500 in his coffers, campaign finance reports show.
(Courtesy of Marion K. Brown)
Candidate Marion K. Brown claims Hardemon and Edmonson are both bad for District 3.
ROUND TWO
In 2012, then-27-year-old Hardemon launched his political career by taking on Edmonson, who by then had spent seven years as the District 3 county commissioner. At that time the tables were turned. Hardemon raised about $30,000 for the 2012 August primary election compared to $300,000 that Edmonson collected from individuals and corporations doing business with Miami-Dade, campaign finance records show.
But the Hardemon name carries significant weight in District 3’s predominantly Black neighborhoods like Overtown, Brownsville and Liberty City. Hardemon’s uncle and aunt, Billy and Barbara Hardemon, built a successful political consulting business and until 2012 had worked for Edmonson’s winning campaigns. They helped their nephew force a runoff against Edmonson. But in the 2012 November general election, Edmonson won in a blowout, beating Hardemon by 24 points.
Undeterred, Hardemon ran for the City of Miami’s District 5 Commission seat a year later. He won and became the youngest member of the Miami City Commission. He was the city commission’s chairperson for four of the seven years he served at Miami City Hall. As a county commissioner, Hardemon’s power has grown considerably. He’s chairman of the County Commission’s airport and economic development committee and tourist development council.
On the other hand, Edmonson’s star power has faded since leaving the County Commission in 2020. In June 2022, three months after announcing she would challenge Wilson for the District 24 congressional seat, Edmonson failed to qualify for the race. At the time, she had raised a paltry $3,000.
(Instagram@mrhardemon)
Miami-Dade Commissioner Keon Hardemon with residents on Valentine's Day at Charles Hadley Park.
Edmonson acknowledged that she’s the underdog in her rematch against Hardemon. She alleged that Hardemon and his family are threatening donors into not supporting her.
“I cannot raise $1 million like my opponent,” Edmonson told Biscayne Times. “The feedback I am getting from lobbyists, developers and vendors is that they are afraid of retaliation. That’s not me. When I was in office, the first thing I would do is meet with those who did not support me and let them know that I hold no grudges.”
(Miami-Dade County)
District 3 Commissioner Keon Hardemon with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and other county officials at a tree planting ceremony last year at the Joseph Caleb Center that kicked off the mayor's initiative to increase the tree canopy in low-income neighborhoods.
Already, the race has been marred by juvenile dirty campaign tricks. In June, police arrested and charged George James with four counts of criminal mischief for allegedly vandalizing more than three dozen Hardemon campaign signs. James allegedly cut out Hardemon’s face from some signs, while other placards were knocked down and sliced up, WSVN and The Miami Times reported.
“Anyone who’s participating in a campaign should be free of the worry that someone’s going to damage their campaign paraphernalia,” Hardemon told WSVN. “I hope that now this behavior stops.”
Edmonson denied any involvement in tearing down Hardemon’s signs and noted that about 80% of her signs have been torn down. She also accused the Hardemon campaign of paying residents to put up his signs in their yards.
“I have been told that if I pay them more than $40, which is what they were paid to put his signs up, they will also put up mine,” Edmonson said. “I tell them I am not paying to put my sign up, but some homeowners are letting me put up signs in their yards alongside his.”
DOOR-KNOCKING
Due to the lack of significant fundraising sources, Edmonson is relying on an army of volunteers who still believe in her, she told Biscayne Times.
“Even the younger people, the new generation, are supporting me,” Edmonson says. “I have kids from various colleges going out on Saturdays, walking and knocking doors. They’ve heard what’s been happening [during Hardemon’s first four years] and they don’t like it.”
Edmonson believes that the third candidate, Brown, won’t pose much of challenge and that she would like to win by avoiding a runoff in the November general election.
“I knock on the door, my message is I'm running on my reputation. And most people, when we knock on their doors, they know who I am right away. And they started telling me what all I have done in the past, and they want that back themselves. “I think I have a better advantage now,” Edmonson says. “No one seems to know who [Brown] is. I’m not looking forward to a run-off, but if I have to, I will be ready.”
A native of Brownsville who moved back to Miami two years ago after leaving during Edmonson’s first county commission term, Brown is banking on his outsider status to reel in voters tired of the two same politicians who’ve represented District 3 for nearly two decades.
“These people in power have no compassion or understanding of what progress really means,” Brown said. “I’m not running a political campaign. I understand what it’s like to grow up in poverty in District 3. That’s my message to the people. If Edmonson and Hardemon cared anything about the community, we would have a strong middle-class and people wouldn’t be getting pushed out of their homes.”