Miami-Dade Candidates Hardemon, Regalado, McGhee Shatter Fundraising Records With Over $7M Fueled By Developer Cash

Aug 19

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Editor's note: After conducting further research, we now believe that the political committee named "Common Voices" is primarily linked to Commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert. Although it is accurate that Keon Hardemon claimed "Common Voices" on his solicitation disclosure form in 2019, we are no longer counting donations to "Common Voices" in Commissioner Hardemon's totals. Therefore, Mr. Hardemon's total raised should be $1,794,045.00, not $4.2 million, as we previously reported below.

Fourteen years after the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision wiped out campaign donation limits nationwide, three Miami-Dade commission candidates are breaking records raking in over $7 million fueled primarily by developer cash.

If accepting big donations from developer interests were an Olympic Sport, Commissioner Keon Hardemon would be on the podium taking the gold. Mr. Hardemon has raked in $4.2 million since being elected in 2020 to the County Commission. Over his political career, the number is far higher, but we are focusing on the last 4 years.

Taking silver and bronze in the county commission political fundraising competition? Commissioner Raquel Regalado takes silver, taking in $1,660,569 to her campaign committee and her political committee, and bronze goes to Commissioner Kionne McGhee, who has taken $1,261,532 into his committees.

So Commissioner Hardemon is not the only one with a lucrative donor network. But the $4 million benchmark for a county commission race is a remarkable feat, so let's dissect his fundraising.

How Did A Politician Raise $4.2 Million for a County Commission Race?

Candidates for Miami-Dade County Commission are only allowed to accept campaign donations of $1,000 or less per donor. Now, imagine trying to raise $4 million with $1,000 contributions. It’s possible, but you would need 4,000 people to donate the legal maximum of $1,000 apiece. Unrealistic, right? And for a truly grassroots campaign, where the average person gives around $25, a candidate would need 160,000 donors. In a county commission district of around 150,000 residents, that would be every voter.

Instead, we will show you how commissioners rely on a handful of wealthy corporations to donate tens, and sometimes hundreds, of thousands of dollars, through political action committees. This makes a mockery of the idea of “people-powered” campaigns, and certainly raises questions of whether these politicians are indebted to special interests.

The Hardemon Family Money Machine: PACs Run by Family Members

According to Miami-Dade County code (ordinances 16-46 and 16-75) county and municipal candidates must declare which committees (PACs, 501c4 orgs and ECO’s) are supporting them.

Commissioner Keon Hardemon disclosed raising funds from four different PACs according to his 2024 Miami-Dade County Form 28 filings.

All Miami Dade — President: Zakiya Kelley, daughter of Billy and Barbara Hardemon (Keon Hardemon’s uncle and aunt).

Do Good — Chair: Keon Hardemon

One Miami Dade – Chair: Barbara Hardemon, Keon Hardemon’s aunt

Better Leadership ECO — Chair: by Barbara Hardemon, Keon Hardemon’s aunt

These four committees (some are listed as ECO’s, or “Electioneering Communication Organizations”) are all controlled by Keon Hardemon or his family members. Keon Hardemon’s uncle and aunt, Billy and Barbara Hardemon, own and operate B&B Consulting. Barbara Hardemon and her daughter Zakiya Kelley have opened and operate several active PACs in both Miami-Dade and Broward.

In 2020, Keon Hardemon also listed “Common Voices PC” on his solicitation disclosure form. Since the Miami-Dade County code only requires a “one-time” disclosure, we believe that Mr. Hardemon is still soliciting funds for this committee.

Common Voices PC — Chair: Willie E. Miller

Collectively, Commissioner Hardemon’s campaign committee and his political committees brought in over $4 million for his 2024 race.

Commissioner Keon Hardemon’s $4,222,367.78 Haul: The Breakdown

Common Voices: $2,518,607.78

All Miami-Dade: $883,000

Do Good PC: $346,000

Better Leadership ECO: $284,100

Keon Hardemon Campaign: $211,160

The Donation Bundling Game Pays Off

For Commissioner Hardemon to hit that $4 million+ donation target, their donors “bundled” donations—business owners with multiple businesses donate to the PAC and/or the candidate’s campaign account from each business entity they own. Detecting this requires sorting campaign finance reports by address and date. Spotting the same address with multiple donations on the same day? Bingo.

To dig even deeper, we searched Sunbiz records for other businesses owned by the same individual/s and/or registered at the same address. We cross-referenced business ownership records, often hidden behind registered agents. We’ve done the work, and it’s clear: big real estate developers are bankrolling the Hardemon campaign.

Top 25 Donors to Political Committees Associated with Keon Hardemon:

"RQ Vending LLC" and "Multi-C LLX" are both Roversi Family companies. (See below for more on the Roversi Family).

Follow the Money

Hardemon’s top contributor? The Roversi Family, real estate developers and vending machine moguls vying for county contracts and county land. RQ Vending is the family’s vending machine company, and their real estate company is named House Park Investments. RQ Vending bids on county contracts and House Park Investments bids on surplus county land.

Vicente Roversi (Linkedin); Rendering of project by House Park LLC, managed by Vicente Roversi and Guillermo Roversi in Miami, for a the 1.31-acre property at 2301 N.W. 54th St. Miami-Dade County gifted the property to the developer in September 2022. (Image by OLR Architect)

The Roversi family members and their vending machine business have funneled $240,500 to Keon Hardemon since his 2020 election win, with a staggering $100,000 donation just last November.

Editor's note: After conducting further research, we now believe that the political committee named "Common Voices" is primarily linked to Commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert. Although it is accurate that Keon Hardemon claimed "Common Voices" on his solicitation disclosure form in 2019, we are no longer counting donations to "Common Voices" in Commissioner Hardemon's totals. Therefore, the total in the chart above should be $171,000, not $240,500.

We also identified another $80,000 in donations from Roversi family members and affiliated businesses given to a separate PC called "Improve Miami" which was started and is managed by Barbara Hardemon (Keon Hardemon’s aunt). Ms. Hardemon owns B & B Professional Consultants, which operates as both a consulting and lobbying firm in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

Billy and Barbara Hardemon of B&B Professional Consultants in 1999. Miami Herald file

A Herald report from 2019 explained that it is actually legal for Barbara Hardemon to lobby the same government bodies where her nephew was an elected official saying, “Hardemon’s City Hall lobbying shop is allowed under state and local laws, which prohibit elected officials and their immediate family from profiting personally off the contracts they oversee but say nothing about their extended family. Her husband, local activist and community consultant Billy Hardemon, told the Miami Herald that lobbying “is as American as apple pie.”

Donations to Improve Miami ECO from Roversi Family members and associated businesses:

The Roversi Family’s Businesses in front of the Miami-Dade County Commission: A Massive Vending Machine Contract

RQ Vending recently bid and won a $1,000,000 Miami-Dade County vending machine contract. The company with the runner-up bid has filed a bid protest, so the bid was pulled prior to the June 11, 2024 Commission vote. (see screenshot from Commission Committee Meeting agenda below).

The Roversi family also own and operate a real estate development business, House Park Investments LLC, which has contracted with Miami-Dade County to purchase and develop 34 surplus plots of county owned land. (See Miami-Dade County Property Conveyance Report).

Most of the 34 are located in Keon Hardemon’s County Commission District 3. Amidst the housing crisis, Miami-Dade County has been incentivizing developers to build new units quickly. The plan, called the Infill Housing Program, involves selling government-owned properties at below-market value to developers who must either rent or sell these properties to households earning under 120% of the area's median income. If not developed within two years, the land reverts to the county.

Screenshot from Miami-Dade County Property Conveyance Report, April 26, 2022.

More Roversi Family Business in front of the Miami-Dade County Commission: Real Estate Developments

One of the Roversi Family-controlled House Park Investments’ recent proposals is a 248-unit workforce housing project in the Brownsville neighborhood. It is one in a series of developments the Roversi family plans to build on former county-owned properties deemed “surplus” that they purchased for nominal prices in exchange for providing more affordable housing inventory.

Rendering of Brownsville proposal by OLR Architect.

Between December 2019 and April 2020, the Roversis received deeds to 19 county-owned properties under the condition that they would build affordable housing within two years. However, two years after the first deed transfer, the developer, House Park Investments, had taken no substantial steps to develop the land.

On September 3, 2021 House Park Investments donated $12,500 to Barbara Hardemon’s electioneering committee (ECO) named Improve Miami.

On November 2, 2021, House Park Investments returned to the County Commission, urgently seeking assistance. The Board approved amendments to the deeds, permitting the developer to raise rental rates and/or sale prices. The revised deeds also granted the flexibility to either rent or sell both single-family and multi-family units. Additionally, the Board granted a two-year extension for the developer to complete construction and obtain final certificates of occupancy.

The connections between the Roversi family and elected officials like Keon Hardemon highlight a troubling reality in our political landscape. The influence wielded by wealthy business owners often outweighs the voices of the constituents who are supposed to be the true power behind elected representatives. When campaign funds are predominantly sourced from a select group of deep-pocketed developers rather than a broad base of ordinary voters, it raises serious questions about whom these officials are truly serving. This financial dependence fosters an environment where special interests hold an outsized voice, skewing priorities and policy decisions in favor of those with financial leverage rather than the broader community they were elected to represent.