Florida News

DeSantis suspends North Miami Beach mayor amid illegal voting charges

WLRN 91.3 FM | By WLRN News Staff

Published June 6, 2023 at 5:40 AM CDT

City of North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony F. DeFillipo flanked by Commissioners Phyllis Smith (far left) and Fortuna Smukler listen as a resident speaks at the City chambers as they discussed the hiring of a new city attorney during the first meeting where all commissioners attended after a judge ordered them to do so, on Tuesday March 21, 2023.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday suspended North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony F. DeFillipo from office, following his arrest last week for illegally voting in the city.

DeSantis issued the suspension through an executive order that was released by the governor's office.

In a statement posted late Monday afternoon, North Miami Beach officials sought to distance themselves from the mayor. "The circumstances surrounding the former Mayor is not a reflection of the City staff or the rest of the City Commission," the statement said.

DeFillipo was arrested and charged with voting illegally three times last year, according to the Miami−Dade State Attorney’s Office.

At the time he voted in North Miami Beach, DeFillipo was not a city resident because he had moved to a new home in Broward County, said Miami−Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle at a news conference last week in Miami.

Using property and cell phone records, Miami−Dade investigators said DeFillipo and his wife sold their North Miami Beach residence in December 2021 and bought a home in Davie in July 2022. He later illegally voted in three North Miami Beach elections — the primary, the general and the run−off.

He was charged with three felony counts of being an “unqualified elector.”

DeFillipo previously said the votes were not intentional.

"I totally forgot, it was an oversight and I had it fixed immediately when I noticed," DeFillipo told NBC6 earlier this year. "We’re human, we make mistakes."