A Miami-Dade circuit judge has knocked North Miami District 2 candidate Hector Medina off the November ballot, ruling that the 68-year-old retired medical professional failed to meet a mandatory candidate-qualifying requirement when he personally signed his own qualifying-payment checks instead of having his designated campaign treasurer sign them. The ruling leaves Vice Mayor Kassandra Timothe facing a single remaining opponent, registered Republican Brian Jinks, 64, in the race to represent the district.
Judge Christopher Green found that Medina's wife, Alina Medina, was listed as his campaign treasurer or deputy treasurer, but Medina himself signed the checks used to pay his qualifying fee, according to The Miami Times. Florida law requires a treasurer or deputy treasurer to make a qualifying payment on a candidate's behalf, and the reports describe a requirement that a treasurer or deputy treasurer sign campaign checks. Green ultimately entered a final judgment for Timothe and declared Medina unqualified.
How the Signature Discrepancy Surfaced
The mismatch came to light after Timothe's staff found it while surveying her opponents' paperwork, and Timothe then notified North Miami Clerk Vanessa Joseph of the discrepancy. North Miami's clerk's office had already accepted Medina's qualifying payment on August 11 — nine days ahead of the qualifying deadline — and the checks were later cashed before the campaign's discovery, per Florida Politics. Medina has argued that the city's acceptance and cashing of the checks should have prevented any retroactive disqualification.
North Miami's initial response whipsawed within a single week. The city disqualified Medina from eligibility on August 25 following a demand letter from Timothe's lawyer, then restored his name to eligibility the next day after Medina's attorney, former state representative J.C. Planas, threatened litigation. North Miami filed its own lawsuit seeking declaratory relief on August 27 — the same day Timothe filed a separate complaint seeking injunctive relief, with the city's suit landing just 52 minutes after hers, the outlet's report notes.
A Statewide Precedent Cited in the Ruling
Green's decision leaned on a binding statewide precedent set weeks earlier. In Amador v. Secretary, Florida Department of State, decided August 12, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a state Senate candidate was properly excluded from the ballot for paying a qualifying fee from an unauthorized account, holding that election officials must enforce strict statutory compliance — rejecting arguments, as detailed by CBS Miami, that officials play a purely ministerial role in accepting paperwork. Per Judge Green, North Miami acted properly in disqualifying Medina under that same reasoning.
Medina has defended his candidacy by citing the clerk's office's ministerial responsibility for accepting his paperwork, and he has accused the clerk's office and Timothe's campaign of colluding to remove him from contention. Timothe has rejected that accusation. “The rules are the rules,” she said, adding that she plans to serve the residents of District 2.
Why Medina's Own Signature Once Was Valid
This is not Medina's first run at North Miami office. He has previously run for mayor in 2017, 2019, and 2024, and he lost to Timothe in the 2021 District 2 race, when Timothe led a seven-candidate primary field with 34% of the vote to Medina's third-place 22%, failing to advance to the runoff Timothe went on to win. That victory made Timothe, a Democrat, the first woman of Haitian descent and the youngest person elected to the District 2 seat.
A Tight Window Before Ballots Go Out
Green granted a temporary stay of his disqualification order until 5 p.m. Tuesday, September 8, giving Medina a narrow window to seek expedited appellate review before election officials must post mandatory notices at voting sites and notify voters that Medina is disqualified. Election officials must also ensure any votes cast for him are not counted, though his name will not be removed from the ballots that have already been prepared, and Medina plans to file an appeal Monday.
Medina has estimated an initial appeal would cost about $7,000, with total litigation costs growing exponentially the longer the case drags on — an outlay he has said could take years to fully resolve. Meanwhile, second-quarter 2026 campaign finance reports showed Timothe with $1,600 raised and zero expenditures, a modest war chest that nonetheless leaves her in a strong incumbent position against Jinks in a heavily Democratic municipal race.
North Miami's District 2 contest had included Timothe, Jinks, Medina, and Laury Vanessa Metayer before litigation narrowed the field. The case adds to a run of governance disputes that have drawn scrutiny to North Miami's city hall, including a separate charter ruling involving council oversight.
