Early voting for primary elections has already begun.

Why it matters: Miami-Dade residents will vote in local races, but they'll have the opportunity to elect their representatives at the state level, too.

Reminder: The vote-by-mail ballot request deadline is today. (Request one here.)

• Early voting runs through Aug. 16.
• Election Day is Aug. 18.

State representatives

Florida House District 106

Two Democrats are running to be the party's nominee to challenge Republican state Rep. Fabián Basabe, who is seeking reelection.

• Basabe was recently found liable in a civil trial accusing him of sexual harassment, battery and defamation.

Lucia Baez-Geller, a former Miami-Dade County School Board member, is campaigning on defending public education, reducing property insurance premiums, addressing sea level rise and expanding healthcare.

Ashley Litwin Diego, a lawyer and political newcomer, is running to address the property insurance crisis, fix the state's Live Local Act, safeguard the environment and enact commonsense gun control.

Florida House District 108

Three candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed Rep. Dotie Joseph, who is term-limited: Peter Walsh, Dinah Escarment and Daphne Campbell.

Walsh, a Boston native, is pro-union, supports expanding Medicaid, supports closing corporate tax loopholes and is against the state's push for universal school vouchers.

Escarment, a former school teacher, is the chairwoman for Florida Rising in Miami-Dade County and a local business owner who grew up in the district.

• She is campaigning on housing affordability, access to community centers and mental health resources and environmental resilience.

Campbell, a former state Senator who was embroiled in controversy during her tenure, is promising healthcare and public safety reform.

Florida House District 109

Four Democrats are vying for their party's nomination to succeed Rep. Ashley Gantt, who is running for a state Senate seat.

James Bush III, former state representative, is running on economic growth and prioritizing services for seniors.

• While in office, he was the only Democrat to back the state's 15-week abortion ban.

Satin Fye, a political newcomer, told the Miami Herald she wants increased workforce housing oversight, more investment in public education and regulation on data centers.

Broadway Harewood, a property owner in Liberty City, cited affordable housing as a top issue, per the outlet.

John H. Taylor Jr., the Opa-locka mayor, is campaigning on lower costs, expanding affordable housing, economic growth and expanding social services.

Keep reading: House districts 113, 118

South Florida's unemployment rate held steady in June while the national rate edged lower, keeping the metro area's jobless rate at a seasonally adjusted 3.9%, new federal data shows.

Why it matters: While nearly half of the cities and metro areas tracked in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report posted higher unemployment rates, South Florida's low, unchanged figure suggests its labor market remains solid.

By the numbers: South Florida's unemployment rate is 0.3 percentage points below the national average and is lower than 55% of the areas surveyed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The big picture: The lowest rate was Rapid City, South Dakota, which ticked just below 2%

• The highest was Southern California's El Centro at just under 19%, while Visalia, California, also topped 10%.

Context: Our area added 5,300 jobs since last June. The state added 41,200 jobs during the same period.

What we're watching: The Fed's policymaking committee appears to be more focused on inflation than the job market.

• They left their key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, leaving interest rates on credit cards and car loans elevated.

The bottom line: A stable local employment picture can be welcome news, but it doesn't necessarily translate into relief for household budgets.

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🎂 Live music bar Las Rosas is celebrating its one-year reopening anniversary with a lineup of shows this weekend, including Jacuzzi Boys on Saturday night. (Instagram)

📚 Bookleggers, Miami's free bookstore, will now be open on Sundays (12-5pm) beginning this weekend. (Bookleggers)

• The bookstore, located inside Bakehouse Art Complex, is celebrating the new schedule with complimentary drinks and bites.

😔 Yardbird Southern Table & Bar quietly closed its Miami Beach location, the brand's first, after 15 years. (Miami Herald)

Young Latinos are abandoning organized religion at a faster rate than any other demographic in the United States, a new Axios analysis finds.

Why it matters: The declining religious affiliation of Latinos ages 18 to 29 — particularly among Catholics — is challenging long-held assumptions that their explosive growth would boost traditional religious values in American culture.

• Instead, a rising number of Latinos are identifying as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular."

By the numbers: Hispanics make up about 15% of the U.S. population. The percentage of Hispanic Americans identifying as religiously unaffiliated rose steadily from 18% in 2013 to 23% in 2025, according to an Axios review of the latest data from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

• That mirrored a broader national trend PRRI identified in 2026, when it reported that the overall percentage of Americans without religious affiliation was up to 28%.
• Among Catholic Latinos, the declines were historic. An Axios review of Pew Research Center data found that the share of Latino adults identifying as Catholic plummeted from 67% in 2010 to 43% in 2022.
• Meanwhile, the percentage of Latinos in U.S. Protestant churches has remained relatively stable — roughly 21% since 2010.

Read the full article

We love finding whacky mailboxes around South Florida.

• So much so that we started a recurring photo series in 2023 dedicated to it called Hot Boxes.

Why it matters: After a long hiatus, we're back, baby!

Zoom in: This fish-shaped mailbox was spotted in Plantation.

📫 We want to hear from you: Have you noticed any cool, only-in-Florida mailboxes in your neighborhood?

• Send us a pic and we will feature your favorites in our next installment!