Elsa Urquiza (left) at her election party at Quarterdeck. Photo by George Barreiro/firedogphoto.com. Deede Weithorn (right)  mingles with supporters at her election party at Café Prima Pasta in North Beach. Photo by Nicole Alibayof

Elsa Urquiza and Deede Weithorn, the two contenders in the runoff for the Group 6 Miami Beach Commission seat, faced each other for perhaps the last time before the Nov. 20 vote, at the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club at David’s Café II.

Although Group 6 has been the least contentious of this year’s Miami Beach races, tension between Weithorn and Urquiza was evident as each told the 35 or so attendees why she deserved to win.

“I stand for you, the rights of the citizens of Miami Beach,” Urquiza said, stressing more than once that because she’s retired, she can be a “full-time” commissioner.

Weithorn, a certified public accountant, talked about her years of service on the PTA, the Budget Advisory Committee and the General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee.

“And by the way, I did it all while I worked,” Weithorn said. “It’s possible for working people to run, and it is possible for working people to serve.”

Urquiza received more votes than Weithorn in the Nov. 6 general election — 3,356 to 3,071. Yet, Urquiza was unable to declare victory since she did not receive 50 percent of the vote in the four-person race. Realtors Frank Kruszewski and Linda Grosz siphoned a combined 30.3 percent of votes cast.

Weithorn and Urquiza also ran against each other in 2006 to fill the commission seat vacated by Luis Garcia for one year, when he resigned and successfully ran for state representative. Weithorn made it to the runoff, but lost to attorney Michael Gongora in a race fraught with negative mailers. Last week, Gongora was defeated in a contentious race against Ed Tobin by only 33 votes.

Group 6 has been the cleanest, most positive campaign of this year’s election season, though it did get rough at times. Grosz was attacked in a mass e-mail for her campaign’s association with lobbyist Eric “Ric” Sisser, who was convicted of cocaine possession in 2003.

Then there was the now-infamous flier depicting Urquiza as Dora the Explorer, Kruszewski as a Teletubby and Grosz as a Barbie doll. All three characters had slashes through them and the flier was widely seen as racist, homophobic and sexist. Sent out by an anonymous group, the flier asked voters to “vote for the candidate that will balance our budget and that looks and talks like you and that will represent you with brains on the Miami Beach commission dais,” a possible reference to Weithorn. The candidates all said they didn’t think Weithorn had anything to do with the flier, and Urquiza — upon receiving more votes in the general election — chuckled that it was her lucky charm. The matter has been referred to the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics.

“I’m going to have to bring a Dora the Explorer doll in my office; she brought me luck,” Urquiza said after the Nov. 6 general election.

Urquiza, a retired enforcement manager with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has the endorsements of the Miami Beach police and fire unions.

“We decided to back her because of her background with the EEOC representing and defending people of all creeds, colors and origins, from Hispanics to blacks and whites, gays and lesbians and everyone else,” said Miami Beach fire union President Adonis Garcia. “We believe she’ll look out for all residents of Miami Beach from the poorest to the richest and everyone in between.”

Weithorn has the endorsement of the Communication Workers of America Local 3178 and has picked up the support of such high-profile people as county Commissioners Katy Sorenson and Sally Heyman, as well as former state Rep. Elaine Bloom and current state Rep. Dan Gelber.

“Budgets are shrinking and citizens, especially the business community, are calling for their tax bills to shrink,” Gelber said. “Having an accountant, someone with a financial background, adds a dimension the commission could certainly use.”

Weithorn used Randy Hilliard as her consultant for the general election, but because Hilliard is busy managing Simon Cruz’s runoff against Matti Bower for mayor, he turned the reins over to political consultant David Custin.

“Randy was professional and certainly understood he couldn’t do both races at the same time,” Weithorn said.

Custin ran Jonah Wolfson’s successful, and highly contentious, campaign for the Group 5 Commission seat against Luis Salom. The Wolfson camp was accused of dirty campaigning for fliers poking holes in Salom’s educational claims, and one in particular that accused the Cuban-American Salom of doing business with the communist regime of Fidel Castro.

“I think the citizens of Miami Beach are absolutely fed up and sick of negative campaigning,” Weithorn said. “I vowed to keep it from getting negative and nasty, and I’m going to keep my promise.”

Urquiza’s campaign consultant Charlie Safdie is no stranger to controversial campaigns, but he also promised to run a clean campaign. Safdie’s name, along with Standard Parking owner Frank Pintado’s, was mentioned in depositions taken during an investigation into anonymous fliers during the 2004 South Miami commission election.

“We’re going to send out mail to the voters informing them of Elsa’s issues, like traffic and parking and transportation and safe neighborhoods,” Safdie said.

He denied rumors that he planned to hit Weithorn with a flier addressing the roughly $5,000 in campaign contributions she accepted from doctors, board members and other associates of Mount Sinai Medical Center, which is seeking to sell the Miami Heart Institute, but added that he wasn’t responsible for what an independent group might do.

“Right now Elsa still stands as the only one who hasn’t accepted Mount Sinai money,” Safdie said. “She stands with the people.”

Whether or not such a flier lands in mailboxes, Weithorn doesn’t think it’ll make a difference.

“I have always been an independent person, and I would be surprised that people would believe that for $5,000 I would change my beliefs,” Weithorn said.

The runoff election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 20.   Early voting will take place Saturday, Nov. 17, and Sunday, Nov. 18, from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. at Miami Beach City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive, and the North Shore Branch Library, 7501 Collins Ave. For more information, visit www.miamibeachfl.gov or call the Miami Beach City Clerk’s office at 305-673-7411.