Pembroke Pines & Lauderhill Elections Tuesday: What to Know

Broward County voters in two cities head to the polls Tuesday in races that look nothing alike, with Pembroke Pines deciding competitive commission seats and Lauderhill weighing a major bond question.

Four other Broward municipalities were scheduled to hold March 10 elections but never needed to. Candidates in Hillsboro Beach, Lazy Lake, Lighthouse Point and Sea Ranch Lakes all ran unopposed and claimed their seats without a single vote cast.

Pembroke Pines: Two Contested Seats

In Pembroke Pines, Broward’s second-largest city by population, Vice Mayor Mike Hernández is defending his District 4 seat against Elizabeth Burns, an event planner who made her first run for office in 2024 as a mayoral candidate and came up short.

Hernández came to the commission through appointment in May 2024, then won a special election that November to serve out the remaining two years of the District 4 term. Now he wants a full four-year term. His platform centers on blocking a trash incinerator from being built within city limits, pushing back on higher electric utility rates, easing traffic congestion and tightening the city’s fiscal management.

His fundraising reflects a broad network. Through February 28, he raised roughly $74,600 and spent about $49,500. Donors included construction firms, insurance companies, waste services operators and government relations professionals. Former U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala contributed $1,000, as did charter school executive Maggie Zulueta.

Burns, a member and former chair of the city’s Diversity and Heritage Advisory Board, overlaps with Hernández on several issues including the incinerator fight and public safety. She also emphasizes affordable housing, services for seniors and people with special needs, and stronger support for military families. Her fundraising tells a different story: she raised and spent approximately $9,500, drawing mostly from personal checks and her own contributions. A $250 check came from former state Rep. James Bush III, the Miami Democrat who lost his seat in 2022 after becoming the only Democratic legislator to vote for GOP-backed abortion restrictions and the Parental Rights in Education law.

The District 1 race features Commissioner Thomas Good, a U.S. Navy veteran and municipal utility services administrator seeking his third consecutive term, facing two challengers: former Pembroke Pines Police Sergeant Jim Henry and Dennis Hinds, who works in banking, finance, real estate and insurance. Good has held the seat since 2018.

The presence of two challengers in District 1 creates a more fragmented field, giving Good a potential opening if his opponents split the opposition vote. Henry’s law enforcement background and Hinds’ business credentials offer voters two distinct contrasts to the incumbent, though neither has the name recognition Good has built over eight years on the dais.

What the Races Signal

Pembroke Pines has roughly 170,000 residents and carries a city budget that touches nearly every aspect of daily life for families from Pines Boulevard to the Everglades edge. Local commission races here rarely generate the attention they deserve given the city’s size and complexity.

The incinerator issue cuts across both District 4 candidates and reflects a broader anxiety in South Florida suburbs about waste infrastructure being pushed into residential corridors. Pembroke Pines residents have watched neighboring communities fight similar battles, and the issue has enough traction to show up on multiple platforms without prompting.

Affordable housing is another pressure point. Broward’s rental market has not meaningfully softened since the pandemic-era price spikes, and commissioners who can point to concrete action on that front rather than aspirational language will be better positioned heading into 2028 cycles.

Tuesday’s turnout will likely be modest, as March municipal elections in non-presidential years typically draw a fraction of the eligible electorate. That dynamic rewards candidates with organized ground operations and tight absentee ballot programs, advantages that usually favor incumbents.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Broward County residents can confirm their polling location through the Broward Supervisor of Elections office before heading out.