The 2005 Hialeah mayoral election took place on November 15, 2005. Incumbent Raúl L. Martínez declined to seek re-election.[1] Six candidates ran to succeed him, including City Council President Julio Robaina, City Councilman Roberto Casas, and perennial candidate Nilo Juri.
Robaina and Casas emerged as the leading candidates. Robaina significantly outraised and outspent the field, and was endorsed by Martínez as his successor.[2] The Miami Herald endorsed Casas as an "elder statesman" who "honed his political skills" and "works quietly, listening and building consensus," whom it endorsed as "an ideal mayor for Hialeah's transitional period."[3] Though the race was formally nonpartisan, Robaina and Casas sent out mailers that advertised themselves as Republicans, running afoul of a state law that prohibited partisan affiliation in nonpartisan elections.[4]
Ultimately, Robaina won the election by a wide margin and avoided the need for a runoff, winning 60 percent of the vote to Casas's 25 percent and Juri's 12 percent.[5]
Government