Kevin Burns goes against Dr. Smith Joseph in North Miami Mayoral Race

Can a White Man Win in Haitian-Dominated North Miami? Two-time former North Miami mayor (2005 and 2007) Kevin

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Burns is doggedly trying to beat out Dr. Smith Joseph in a second runoff race for a third term as the city's mayor. Unfortunately for Burns, he happens to be white, and the black electorate makes up 59% of North Miami (35% Haitian-American) citizens. Last year, 2013, Burns faced black candidate Dr. Smith Joseph and Haitian-American Lucille Tondreau in a mayoral special election. He pushed Joseph out of the race and entered a runoff against Tondreau, who defeated him with 56% of the vote.

The reason for this year's mayoral race is the highly publicized $11 million mortgage fraud scheme that targeted Tondreau as its operator. Authorities arrested her in May, and Councilman Phillip Bien-Aime has been acting mayor since.

In August Burns ran in a primary for mayor against Joseph, who is bereft of any political experience, but with a loyal black electorate got 38% of the vote to Burns' 45%, forcing a runoff in November. As a result of battling each other repeatedly for the mayoralty they are mounting personal attacks instead of addressing campaign issues.

With the Tondreau scandal all over the media and an embarrassment for City Hall, they need someone, who can restore dignity and ethics to local government. Kevin Burns may have an opportunity to use the Tondreau scandal as a lever for a let's clean up the government call-to-arms, and run on his prior record.

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Read more: North Miami, Kevin Burns, North Miami Election, Smith Joseph, North Miami Mayor, United States

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