Michael Góngora goes out with a whimper

Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora appears headed for defeat in his bid to become mayor.

He's the guy who once said that towing the cars of Miami Beach residents was "punishment for people parking in residential zones and parking where they shouldn't park."

Shortly after he said that at a commission meeting in November 2012, he voted to give Miami Beach's two towing companies an exorbitant rate hike.

But he still has no clue why he couldn't beat millionaire challenger Philip Levine.

In a whiny email sent to his constituents today, Góngora blamed his impending defeat on the fact that Levine spent more money than he did, with most of that, according to Góngora, going towards "negative mailers...filled with lies and distortions against me," and "glowing [TV] commercials about himself."

Well, excuuuse me, Commish!

Let me steal a line from Barney Frank and ask, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

That's how politics is played here on Earth: A political opponent portrays you as a rat-bastard schmuck, while he makes himself look like a knight in shining armor galloping in on a white steed to save the populace in the nick of time from your chicanery and skullduggery.

(In his email Góngora neglects to mention that he has close ties to a group that also sent out negative mailers attacking Levine.)

Here's Góngora's email:

Dear Resident and Neighbor,

The past 24 hours has been very challenging, yet very rewarding due to the overwhelming support and messages from many of you.

Thank you for your unwavering support! My team and I worked very hard for this election. No one could have done more with the financial resources available to us. It is quite simply the most daunting task of my life to confront the huge amount of dollars being used for advertising against us. Our total expenditures were $255,625.51 while my opponent spent $1,791,402.07. We counted an unprecedented 19 negative mailers received at my home that were filled with lies and distortions against me, while my opponents TV spots were glowing commercials about himself. Because of his overwhelming financial advantage, my opponent was able to advertise on Good Morning America while we were limited to cable TV and Facebook.

As we have read in the Miami Herald, the initial election results indicate that my opponent won the election for Miami Beach Mayor with 50.48% of the vote.

However, the results have not been certified because the number is less than 50.5%. The Elections Canvassing Board requires an automatic recount in such cases of less than 50.5%. The recount begins Friday, November 8th at 10 am to review provisional ballots for inaccuracies. If after these processes the percentage drops to 50% or less then there will be a run-off election on Tuesday, November 19th. I will let you know the results of the recount and whether we are headed towards a run off election on November 19th. Please share with me any irregularities you may have encountered voting as this may be important.

I will be at the supervisor of elections on Friday and I am hopeful we will have a runoff election to give the voters a second chance to let their voice be heard.