Tag - Miami

Former Pétion-Ville deputy Jerry Tardieu submitted his presidential candidacy documents on Monday, November 2, to the West 1 Departmental Electoral Office (BED) on the Frères road, according to a press release from the En Avant pour Haïti (EAPH) political group.⁠ ⁠ Tardieu, the candidate of En Avant pour Haïti (number 85), was accompanied by supporters carrying the party’s colors and the Haitian national flag. After completing the filing formalities, he spoke to the press and sought the confidence of citizens by highlighting his background as an author, entrepreneur, and parliamentarian.⁠ ⁠ “I have credit with the Haitian people for my journey, my fights, my ideas and my values,” he stated, according to the EAPH communiqué. He recalled writing his first book on Haiti in 1991 at age 22 and said his writings and reflections have since focused on the country’s political, economic, social, and cultural realities. He also pointed to his private-sector investments and job-creating businesses, as well as legislative proposals and reform initiatives during his time in parliament.⁠ ⁠ Tardieu emphasized that Haiti needs competent, honest, courageous leaders who are respected nationally and internationally and who love the country. He referenced his family’s long engagement in politics, education, scouting, cooperatives, and sports, and called on former national team soccer players, including his brother Patrick Tardieu and Donet Désilus, to join the effort. He encouraged young people to get involved in public life, urged the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to facilitate voter registration, and asked the government to remain impartial in the electoral process.⁠ ⁠ Tardieu first announced his candidacy on October 21. The filing comes as Haiti’s electoral calendar has been pushed back; the CEP has set the first round for July 18, 2027, after earlier plans for December 2026 proved unworkable amid ongoing security and logistical challenges. The definitive list of approved candidates is expected in January 2027.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

President Donald Trump congratulated Democrats on their string of victories in Tuesday’s midterm elections while insisting the outcome was not a referendum on his administration.⁠ ⁠ In a late-night call with Fox News, Trump acknowledged the Democratic gains that handed the party control of both the House and Senate. “Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it,” he said. He added that Democrats “fought hard” and “worked very hard,” noting they had been competing against him for years.⁠ ⁠ Trump rejected the idea that the results reflected dissatisfaction with his record. “I don’t view it as a hit on me,” he told the network. “I think we’ve done … We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.” He repeated a claim he had posted earlier on Truth Social: that Republicans would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE” if he had been on the ballot.⁠ ⁠ Democrats flipped multiple Republican-held Senate seats in states including Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, and Iowa, while also securing a House majority. The results marked a significant shift after two years of unified Republican control of the White House and Congress. Analysts described the night as a broad rebuke of the president’s agenda, with cost-of-living concerns and the ongoing conflict involving Iran frequently cited as factors.⁠ ⁠ Trump, who had urged voters throughout the campaign to treat the midterms as a referendum on his leadership, later distanced himself from that framing. He also blamed Fox News coverage in social media posts even as he called into the network. Democratic leaders celebrated the outcome as a mandate to check presidential power in the final two years of Trump’s term.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican #haitian

In his election night speech, Florida Governor-elect Byron Donalds addressed President Donald Trump directly, saying, “Mr. President, I want you to hear from Florida that we are still red.”⁠ ⁠ Donalds, a Republican U.S. representative, defeated Democrat David Jolly in a close race that the Associated Press projected shortly after 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. With nearly all votes counted, Donalds led with roughly 50 percent to Jolly’s 48.7 percent. The win makes him Florida’s first Black governor and the first Black Republican elected governor of any U.S. state. He will succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis.⁠ ⁠ Speaking to supporters, Donalds said the second call he received after the race was called came from Trump. “Mr. President, I also want to tell you thank you for your support and thank you for being in my corner,” he said. He noted that the first call was from Jolly, whom he congratulated for running a hard-fought campaign.⁠ ⁠ Donalds also praised DeSantis’s tenure. “Governor DeSantis has done a great job leading Florida these last eight years,” he said, adding that as the next governor he would work to keep Florida “the very best state in all of America.” He pointed to priorities including lowering costs, reducing insurance premiums, and making housing more affordable.⁠ ⁠ The remarks came as Donalds celebrated with supporters at a watch party in South Florida, where the crowd responded with applause. The contest was tighter than recent statewide Republican margins, including DeSantis’s nearly 20-point reelection in 2022.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

In a stunning midterm election night on November 3, Texas voters delivered a political earthquake. Democrats won the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat, and other major statewide offices for the first time in a generation, ending more than three decades of Republican dominance in the nation’s second-most populous state.⁠ ⁠ State Representative Gina Hinojosa defeated three-term Republican Governor Greg Abbott, becoming Texas’s first Latina governor and the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards left in 1995. In the U.S. Senate race, state Representative James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton, securing the first Democratic Senate seat from Texas since Lloyd Bentsen’s reelection in 1988. Democrats also won the lieutenant governor’s race (Vikki Goodwin over Dan Patrick), the attorney general’s race (Nathan Johnson), and other statewide contests.⁠ ⁠ These results reverse a long Republican streak. No Democrat had won a statewide race in Texas since 1994. Just two years earlier, in 2024, Donald Trump carried the state by roughly 13–14 points (about 56% to 42%).⁠ ⁠ Texas holds 40 electoral votes. Its status as a reliably Republican state in presidential years has long been a cornerstone of GOP strategy. With Democrats now holding the governor’s office and a Senate seat, both parties are expected to treat the state as more competitive heading into 2028. Control of the Texas House was also in play, with Democrats making gains despite Republican-led redistricting.⁠ ⁠ Whether the shift represents a lasting realignment or a strong midterm wave driven by national conditions remains an open question. Texas remains a diverse, growing state with a large conservative base, and future elections will test whether Democrats can hold the gains. For now, the 2026 results mark the clearest break in Republican statewide control in Texas in a generation.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican #haitian

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has delivered another message to the Haitian people, this time in Haitian Creole, comparing those who support Haiti’s armed gangs to the people who betrayed and killed Jean-Jacques Dessalines.⁠ ⁠ In a statement shared on Tuesday, November 3, Bukele accused gang members, their financial backers, and those supplying them with weapons of contributing to Haiti’s suffering. He argued that while foreign powers have played a role in Haiti’s struggles, some Haitians have also helped criminal groups gain control of communities.⁠ ⁠ Bukele also addressed concerns about the presence of Salvadoran soldiers in Haiti, insisting that his forces are there to help, not to invade the country.⁠ ⁠ “We are not invaders,” he wrote in Haitian Creole, before promising to stand alongside Haitians as they work to regain control of their communities.⁠ ⁠ His message comes as El Salvador has deployed more than 2,000 troops to Haiti, initially to help search for four Salvadoran aviation personnel who disappeared following an armed attack near Port-au-Prince on October 18.⁠ ⁠ Bukele ended his message by promising to help Haitians reclaim their country from those he described as betraying Dessalines’ legacy.⁠ ⁠ His latest remarks raise important questions about the role of foreign troops in Haiti and what their involvement will mean for the country's security and future.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

#BREAKING : Democrats are projected to win control of both the U.S. House and Senate in the 2026 midterm elections, according to CNN’s Decision Desk, delivering a sweeping rebuke to President Donald Trump and breaking the Republican hold on Washington for the final two years of his presidency.⁠ ⁠ The projections, issued late Tuesday night, mark one of the most significant midterm shifts in recent decades. Democrats capitalized on Trump’s deep unpopularity, economic concerns, and voter discontent to flip key races even in deeply red territory. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to become the next Speaker of the House, the first Black person to hold the gavel in the chamber’s history, once the new Congress convenes in January.⁠ ⁠ - In Texas, state Rep. James Talarico, a former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. It is the first Democratic Senate win in Texas since 1988 and ends a decades-long statewide drought for the party. The race was among the most expensive in U.S. history.⁠ ⁠ - In South Carolina, pediatrician Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham. Andrews becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state since 1998 in a state Trump carried by a wide margin in 2024.⁠ ⁠ - Additional flips were projected in North Carolina (former Gov. Roy Cooper), Kansas, Iowa, and other battlegrounds, giving Democrats the majority they needed.⁠ ⁠ In the House, Democrats are projected to secure a comfortable majority, some estimates put it in the range of 235–244 seats. This ends the narrow Republican majority and hands Democrats the power to control committees, issue subpoenas, and conduct investigations into the Trump administration.⁠ ⁠ Jeffries, the Brooklyn congressman who has led House Democrats since 2023, is widely expected to win the speakership vote. He has emphasized delivering for working families and conducting rigorous oversight.⁠ ⁠ The results give Democrats significant leverage to check the White House on legislation, spending, nominations, and executive actions. Trump has said he will accept the results. ⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

Late on Election Night, as Democratic gains mounted across the country, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.” It was his first post in several hours.⁠ ⁠ The message is both literally true in one narrow sense and thoroughly contradicted by everything else that happened in this election, including Trump’s own words for weeks beforehand. He framed a vote for Republican candidates as a vote to protect his agenda and second-term record. The post on election night is a sharp reversal of that message once the results started coming in.⁠ ⁠ Midterms have long functioned as partial referenda on the sitting president’s party. When presidential approval is low, that party typically loses seats. Trump’s post tries to separate himself from results after he had spent the campaign tying candidates to himself.⁠ ⁠ White House officials also moved to create distance, with at least one telling reporters that “Trump was not on the ballot.” The reaction echoes 2018, when Trump similarly said “I wasn’t on the ballot” after Republican losses despite campaigning as if he were.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican #haitian

History has been made in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On November 3, Stacey Plaskett, the territory’s longtime Delegate to Congress, won election as Governor in a decisive landslide, becoming the first woman to lead the U.S. Virgin Islands and the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. territory.⁠ ⁠ Plaskett and her running mate, Senate President Milton Potter, secured 11,865 votes, or 62.8 percent of the gubernatorial vote, according to unofficial returns from the Elections System of the Virgin Islands. The Democratic ticket defeated four independent challengers, winning more votes than all opponents combined and avoiding a runoff. She will succeed term-limited Governor Albert Bryan Jr. and is scheduled to take office on January 4, 2027.⁠ ⁠ The victory ends more than five decades of exclusively male elected leadership in the territory and marks a national milestone. While former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also won Georgia’s governorship that night (becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state), Plaskett’s win is the first for a Black woman in any U.S. territory.⁠ ⁠ Her campaign focused on accelerating disaster recovery, reforming the Water and Power Authority, improving healthcare and public safety, and converting federal resources into tangible results for Virgin Islanders. She received an endorsement from former Vice President Kamala Harris and built on a strong primary victory earlier in the year.⁠ ⁠ Governor-elect Plaskett’s win is more than a local milestone. It expands the map of Black women’s leadership in American executive offices and underscores the growing political power of communities across the U.S. territories and Caribbean diaspora. As she prepares to move from advocating for the Virgin Islands in Congress to leading them from Government House, the territory and the nation will be watching what comes next.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

Democrat David Crowley has won the Wisconsin governor’s race, defeating Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and becoming the first Black person elected governor in the state’s 178-year history, according to NBC News projections.⁠ ⁠ At 40, Crowley is also the youngest person elected to the office in nearly a century. He succeeds two-term Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is retiring after endorsing Crowley in the primary and helping revive his campaign. Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, will take office in January alongside his running mate, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who was elected lieutenant governor.⁠ ⁠ Tiffany, a Trump-endorsed congressman from northern Wisconsin, conceded the race around 9:45 p.m. on election night. Early returns showed Crowley leading by roughly 8 to 9 points, with shares in the 54–55% range to Tiffany’s 45–46%. Strong margins in Milwaukee and Dane counties powered the victory. The Associated Press had not yet called the race at the time of Tiffany’s concession, but multiple outlets and projections confirmed Crowley’s win.⁠ ⁠ Crowley and Godlewski will be sworn in in January, extending Democratic control of the governor’s office beyond eight years. The win keeps Wisconsin, a perennial presidential battleground, under Democratic executive leadership heading into future cycles. Crowley has pledged to govern with a focus on affordability, education, and practical solutions drawn from his experience running one of the state’s largest local governments and his own life story.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

Florida voters approved a significant property tax reduction for homeowners on Tuesday, passing Amendment 3 while rejecting two other constitutional amendments on the ballot.⁠ ⁠ Amendment 3, which expands the homestead property tax exemption on primary residences for non-school taxes, received 62 percent of the vote, two points above the 60 percent supermajority required to amend the Florida Constitution. The measure increases the current roughly $50,000 exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with future adjustments for inflation. School district taxes remain unchanged. It also lowers the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties (such as commercial, rental, and second homes) from 10 percent to 5 percent and restricts how counties and municipalities may spend property tax revenue.⁠ ⁠ Gov. Ron DeSantis championed the amendment, touring the state for more than a year to argue that rising property valuations had driven up tax bills and that homeowners needed relief. Supporters, including the Florida Realtors, said the change would put money back in homeowners’ pockets. Opponents, including some public safety groups, warned that the reduction in local revenue, estimated in the billions once fully phased in could strain funding for police, fire, infrastructure, and other services. The amendment takes effect January 1, 2027, with changes appearing on later tax bills. Newer Florida residents (those who establish residency after December 31, 2026) face a five-year waiting period for the full higher exemption.⁠ ⁠ The other two measures fell short. Amendment 1, which would have raised the cap on the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund (its rainy-day reserve) from 10 percent to 25 percent of net general revenue and required larger annual transfers into the fund, received only about 40–41 percent support. Amendment 2, which sought to exempt certain farm equipment and agricultural or agritourism tangible personal property from property taxes, came closer at roughly 58 percent but still failed to clear the 60 percent threshold.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz defeated Republican Brent Andersen on Tuesday, November 3, to win Florida’s 20th Congressional District. The seat was previously held by Haitian-American Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned earlier this year.⁠ ⁠ The Associated Press and multiple South Florida outlets projected Wasserman Schultz’s victory shortly after polls closed, around 7:09 p.m. EST. With the majority of votes counted, she led by a wide margin—typically reported in the mid-to-high 70% range compared to roughly 20% for Andersen. An independent candidate, Kedner Maxime, received a small share of the vote.⁠ ⁠ Florida’s newly configured 20th District covers predominantly Black and Caribbean communities in central and western Broward County, including portions of Fort Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Tamarac, North Lauderdale, Plantation, Sunrise, and Pompano Beach.⁠ ⁠ Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the first Haitian-American Democrat elected to Congress, represented the prior version of the 20th District from 2022 until she resigned on April 21. She stepped down minutes before a House Ethics Committee hearing. The committee had found she committed 25 ethics violations tied to allegations involving roughly $5 million in federal COVID/FEMA disaster relief funds connected to her family’s healthcare business and her 2022 campaign. She also faces federal criminal charges; she has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations. Her trial was delayed until 2027. Cherfilus-McCormick ran again in the Democratic primary and finished fourth with about 9.2% of the vote.⁠ ⁠ Wasserman Schultz, who has served in Congress since 2005 previously represented a different South Florida district. Republican-led mid-decade redistricting, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May 2026, substantially altered her old district and made it more competitive.⁠ ⁠ The modern version of the 20th District had been represented by Black lawmakers for roughly 30–34 years, most notably longtime Rep. Alcee Hastings, followed by Cherfilus-McCormick. Wasserman Schultz’s win makes her the first white representative of this configuration of the seat. ⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

Democrats are projected to flip control of the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to Decision Desk HQ, setting up the first real check on President Donald Trump’s power in Washington since he returned to the White House two years ago. The projection ends four years of Republican control of the chamber and ushers in divided government for the final two years of Trump’s term. With a Democratic majority, the House will gain the power to control the legislative agenda, set committee schedules, and issue subpoenas, tools that will immediately complicate the administration’s priorities on immigration enforcement, government spending, global tariffs, and the Iran war. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of NY is expected to become Speaker when the new Congress convenes on January 3, making him the first Black Speaker in U.S. history. Jeffries has said Democratic investigations will begin immediately, stating ahead of the election: “Our promise to the country in the new Congress is that, beginning on Day 1, we’re going to hold the crooks accountable.” Democrats have outlined plans to expand probes into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, violence tied to the administration’s deportation operations, and the personal and family finances of the president. They will also move early legislation aimed at lowering costs for groceries, gas, housing, & health care, including efforts to restore expired Affordable Care Act subsidies and reverse Medicaid cuts enacted by the previous Republican majority. While Trump retains veto power, these bills are expected to force difficult votes for vulnerable Republicans and establish a public record heading into 2028. The result fits a long historical pattern in which the party holding the White House typically loses House seats in midterms. That trend was reinforced this cycle by voter concerns over the cost of living, economic volatility linked to tariffs, an unpopular war in Iran, and historically low presidential approval ratings. Republican leadership is now expected to shift into the minority. While the House projection is clear, control of the Senate remains a separate contest as results continue to come in. #lunionsuite