Mayor of Miami Beach
Meiner ran for mayor without a party affiliation to succeed Dan Gelber,who was term limited. [7] After the general election,he was opposed by former City Commissioner Michael Góngora. [1] When asked during the campaign about allegations of inappropriate workplace sexual activity,Meiner blamed the reports on antisemitism and claimed that colleagues were motivated by his pro-Israel stance. [5] Meiner won with approximately 54% of the votes,with approximately 10,000 ballots cast. [7]
In March 2024,following several pro-Palestinian demonstrations,Meiner successfully pushed for a resolution for the city to set stricter parameters on planned protests,sparking criticism. [11] In March 2025,Meiner attempted to end the lease of a cinema that met in Miami Beach's Old City Hall after they screened the film "No Other Land",a documentary about the Israel-Palestine conflict. [12] Meiner criticized the film as a "false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people",before freedom of speech concerns prompted him to back down from his threat against the lease. [13]
On November 4,2025,Meiner was reelected to a second consecutive term. [14]
In January 2026,following a complaint from the mayor's office, [15] Miami Beach Police Department officers visited a resident who criticized Meiner via a Facebook comment. [16] The resident commented that Meiner had "call[ed] for the death of all Palestinians". [17] According to the officers,they were looking for the commenter because that person's words could "probably incite somebody to do something bad." The resident who made the comment told The Washington Post that having police visit her over the comment "felt like such a foreign,alien feeling." [13] The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said the visit chilled "the exercise of First Amendment rights and undermines public confidence in the department’s commitment to respecting civil liberties and the United States Constitution." [18]
In January 2026,Meiner condemned right-wing influencers including Nick Fuentes,Clavicular,Sneako,Myron Gaines and Andrew Tate singing along to "Heil Hitler" at the Miami Beach nightclub Vendôme and questioned how they gained access to the venue. [19] [20] [21]
