Freddy Ramirez, Miami-Dade’s police director, running for sheriff in ’24 as a Democrat

Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III, Miami-Dade County’s police director and a Democrat, announced Monday he will run for sheriff in 2024 in a bid to retain his role as the county’s top law enforcement official.

His candidacy gives Mayor Daniella Levine Cava the chance to turn over the county police department to a top deputy in her administration and for the Democratic Party to have a high-profile law enforcement administrator and former Republican as a candidate for an elected position that hasn’t existed in Miami-Dade for decades.

“I’m running for Miami-Dade County sheriff because keeping our neighborhoods safe and having the trust of our community is deeply personal for me,” Ramirez said in a statement. “As a husband and father, making sure our streets are safe has been my life’s mission — so our seniors, children, and all families know they have trusted law enforcement looking out for them.”

READ MORE: Miami-Dade’s police director left the GOP and became a Democrat. Is sheriff run next?

Ramirez, 52, was named county police director in 2020 under Levine Cava’s Republican predecessor, Carlos Gimenez. At the time, Ramirez was a Republican too. He was promoted by Levine Cava, a Democrat, in 2022 to oversee both the police department as director and fire rescue as interim chief of public safety. Levine Cava later made the appointment permanent.

He joined the county police department in 1995 and worked his way up from patrol duty to deputy director before assuming the top job.

Miami-Dade is the only Florida county where the elected mayor also holds the powers of sheriff, an independently elected position everywhere else in the state.

A constitutional amendment Florida voters approved in 2018 changes that, mandating Miami-Dade elect a sheriff, along with an independent elections supervisor and tax collector — two other positions with powers currently held by Levine Cava.

The voters of what was then called Dade County eliminated the post of sheriff in the 1960s after a string of corruption scandals.

Under state rules, the positions must be elected in partisan contests, meaning Ramirez would need to win the August Democratic primary and then face the Republican nominee in November.

Two other candidates have filed for the 2024 sheriff race: Republican Ruamen Delarua, a Miami police officer; and Democrat Rickey Mitchell, a retired Miami-Dade police officer.

Levine Cava is running for her second term next year but in a non-partisan contest that would be decided in August if a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote.

She has fought to retain most of her current law enforcement authority, with county commissioners last year backing her plan for most of the Miami-Dade police department to remain under the mayor’s control. Under that plan, the new sheriff would be limited to the duties spelled out under Florida law, such as serving warrants and eviction papers.

The Florida Sheriff Association objected and sued, calling the plan an unconstitutional effort to weaken the office of sheriff. The Legislature is lining up against the plan, too. A bill that passed the House of Representatives last week and the Senate on Monday strips Miami-Dade’s county government of its police department and transfer it to the new sheriff.

Ramirez has tapped Christian Ulvert to run his campaign. Ulvert is also Levine Cava’s 2024 campaign manager after running her successful mayoral bid in 2020.

Ramirez had already confirmed his interest in running for sheriff, which would be his first elected office. He left the GOP for the Independent Party in early 2022. He switched his partisan registration from Independent to Democrat in January as he prepared a run.

In a video in English and Spanish, Ramirez highlighted his long career in Miami-Dade’s police department. In an interview, the Miami Sunset Senior High graduate said he had no plans to leave his county post while campaigning and planned to run as a familiar face from Miami-Dade law enforcement.

“I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing. I’m Freddy,” he said. “That’s how this community knows me. That’s how I’m going to run.”