Surfside Election Sets Mayoral Runoff and Likely Recount as Voters Approve November Shift

Overview

• Preliminary results gave Shlomo Danzinger 49.3% and Tina Paul 36.3% for mayor, short of a majority and pointing to a runoff tentatively set for April 7.
• Donna Benmergui, Dovid Weingot and Andrea Travani appear to have secured three of the four Town Commission seats based on Tuesday’s count.
• Incumbent Gerardo Vildostegui leads Yonathan Berdugo by 16 votes (about 0.3%) for the fourth Commission seat, a margin within Florida’s recount threshold.
• Voters approved moving Surfside municipal elections to November of even-numbered years beginning in 2028, with current terms extended to align and future runoffs held in December.
• A proposed charter change requiring a 4–1 supermajority for certain single-family zoning changes failed, with 54% voting no.