The longest-serving state attorney in Miami-Dade County history coasted to a seventh term Friday, when a noon filing deadline passed and no other candidate surfaced.
Katherine Fernandez Rundle, who was automatically re-elected without opposition, no longer has to concern herself with a possible opponent in November and is expected to be sworn in on Jan. 7.
Friday’s victory was the first time the political powerhouse — who spent 15 years as a top assistant before replacing legendary Janet Reno — has not had an opponent in the countywide race. In years past, Fernandez Rundle has defeated a series of challengers, including Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alberto Milian, defense attorney Rod Vareen and former ACLU of Florida deputy director and Florida International University professor Melba Pearson.
A state database for candidates showed no new challengers had qualified to take her on this year.
The 73-year-old democrat — who has recently come under fire for the mishandling of a high-profile murder case in which two prosecutors were tossed by a judge — was first appointed to office in 1993 and elected a year later. Though there has been a string of political and law enforcement arrests in recent years, Fernandez Rundle has also been criticized for never having prosecuted a law enforcement officer over a controversial shooting.
Under her watch, the state attorney’s office has embedded investigators with some police units. They often show up at major crime scenes. State investigators also sit in on interviews for serious crimes — practices unheard of in most other counties.
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The state attorney’s office has also created about a dozen investigative task forces, from human trafficking, to gang units to hate crimes, since Fernandez Rundle has taken office.
But for the first time, Fernandez Rundle could face the unraveling of some, or even all of those units. That’s because for the first time in 57 years, Miami-Dade will have an elected sheriff with the power to scuttle those task forces in November.
The president of Miami-Dade’s largest police union said he expects little change in the dynamics between the state attorney’s office and police even with a new sheriff. And late last year, Fernanez Rundle said she was optimistic the transition would be smooth and promised to remain focused on crime.