Maureen Porras leads Fernanda Gomes by 16 votes for Doral council Seat 2, inside Florida's recount margin. Peter Espinosa wins Seat 4; term limits pass.

Council member Maureen Porras leads challenger Fernanda Gomes by 16 votes in the race for Doral City Council Seat 2. Almost 19,200 votes were cast in the race. The gap is small enough that Florida law calls for a recount.

In Doral’s other two contests Tuesday, the results were not close. Peter Espinosa won Seat 4 with 59% of the vote. Voters approved lifetime term limits for the mayor and council by nearly three to one.

The figures are from the Miami-Dade Elections Department’s results page, as updated at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday. All eight Doral precincts have reported. The county says all results are “preliminary and unofficial until provisional ballots and cure affidavits are reviewed and the official results are certified by the Canvassing Board.”

The results

Race Choice Votes Share
Council Member, Seat 2 Maureen Porras 9,595 50.04%
Fernanda Gomes 9,579 49.96%
Council Member, Seat 4 Peter Espinosa 11,117 59.02%
Gustavo Garagorry 7,718 40.98%
Term limits charter question Yes 14,287 73.23%
No 5,223 26.77%

Unofficial results, Miami-Dade Elections Department, 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4.

How the Seat 2 votes broke down

The two candidates won different parts of the vote. Gomes led among people who voted on Election Day and in early voting. Porras won the mail ballots by 467 votes, enough to put her ahead overall.

How the vote was cast Porras Gomes
Election Day 2,738 3,146
Early voting 4,430 4,473
Vote by mail 2,427 1,960
Total 9,595 9,579

Why a recount is likely

A 16-vote gap is 0.08% of the 19,174 votes cast in the race. Section 102.141 of Florida law says a recount “shall be ordered” when the unofficial returns show a candidate lost by one-half of 1% or less. That recount runs every ballot back through the counting machines.

The same section lets the trailing candidate ask in writing for no recount. Neither candidate’s position on a recount has been published.

A second step can follow. Under Section 102.166, if the machine recount still shows a margin of one-quarter of 1% or less, a hand count of overvotes and undervotes must be ordered. Those are ballots where the machine read too many choices or none in the race. The current margin is inside both limits.

The order of the two candidates could still change before any recount. Provisional ballots and mail ballots with signature problems have not yet been fully counted, according to the county’s results page.

Seat 4 and term limits

Espinosa beat Garagorry by 3,399 votes for Seat 4. He led in all three ways of voting.

The charter question passed with 73% of the vote. It caps any person at four terms as mayor and four as a council member over a lifetime, and terms already served count. The rule that limits members to two terms in a row stays in place. Our explainer on the term limits question has the full ballot wording and what changes.

The mayor’s seat was not on this year’s ballot.

What it means for you

  • If you voted by mail and got a notice about your signature, you have until 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, to return a cure affidavit to the Supervisor of Elections. That deadline is set by Section 101.68 of Florida law. In a 16-vote race, a few cured ballots matter.
  • If you cast a provisional ballot, you have the same deadline to give the Supervisor of Elections written evidence that you are eligible to vote, under Section 101.048.
  • The Supervisor of Elections office is in Doral, at 2700 NW 87th Ave.
  • Watch the count on the county’s live results page. We will update this story when the recount is ordered and when results are certified.

Our Miami-Dade voting guide covers registration and mail ballots for future elections. For city contacts, see who to call at City Hall.

Doral Now does not endorse candidates or ballot positions.