| Matti Herrera Bower | |
| Office: | 36th Mayor of Miami Beach |
| Term Start: | November 21, 2007 [1] |
| Term End: | November 25, 2013 |
| Predecessor: | David Dermer |
| Successor: | Philip Levine |
| Birth Date: | 4 April 1939 |
| Birth Place: | Cuba |
| Profession: | Politician, retired dental assistant |
| Residence: | Miami Beach, Florida |
| Spouse: | Richard Bower |
| Children: | 4 daughters |
| Party: | Democratic |
Matilde "Matti" Herrera Bower is a Cuban-American politician and retired dental assistant. Bower has been elected to three two-year terms as the Mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, beginning in 2007.[2] [3] Most recently, because of a loophole in the term limits rule, Bower was able to run for an open commission seat but lost by a considerably large margin in the run-off race against retired banker Joy Malakoff. Bower won re-election to her third and final term as mayor on November 1, 2011.[4] She is the first woman, as well as the first Hispanic, to serve as mayor of Miami Beach.[5] She is a Democrat,[6] though the Miami Beach elections are nonpartisan.
Bower was born in Cuba and immigrated to the United States. She attended Miami Technical High School and became a dental assistant.[2] Bower also spent decades as a local activist and preservationist, including advocating for the successful preservation of the Miami Beach Architectural District.[2]
Bower served as a Miami Beach city commissioner from 1999 to 2007 before being elected mayor of the South Florida city in 2007.[2] [4] She won re-election to a second term in 2009. The city of Miami Beach received a bond rating upgrade in 2010 and saw a balanced budget that same year under Bower.[3] However, pension costs have risen to more than $50 million in 2011, up from just $3.5 million in 2000.[3] She has also dealt with the controversy surrounding Urban Beach Week.[3]
In 2011, Bower announced her re-election campaign for a third, and final, term as Mayor of Miami Beach.[2] (Mayors are term-limited to three, two-year terms in office). Bower, who was 72 years old in November 2011, faced three opponents in the election: comedian Steve Berke, entrepreneur Dave Crystal, and public relations practitioner Laura Rivero Levey.[2]
Bower was easily re-elected to a third term on November 1, 2011.[4] She won 59.4% of the popular vote, or 4,103 votes.[5] Her closest opponent, comedian and Yale University graduate Steve Berke, garnered 23.38%, or 1,614.
Matti Herrera Bower was sworn into her third mayoral term on November 2, 2011.Bower ran for the Miami Beach Commission Group 3 seat in 2013, but lost to Joy Malakoff, garnering 2,641 votes (40.27%) to Malakoff's 4,214 votes (59.73%).[7]