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Alexander "Alex" Penelas (born December 18, 1961 in Miami, Florida) is the former mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Political life 2.1 Offices held 2.2 "America's Sexiest Politician" 2.3 Elian Gonzalez controversy 2.4 Gore criticism 2.5 U.S. Senate candidacy 2.6 Univision 3 External links

Penelas, a Cuban-American, attended college at St. Thomas University. In 1985, he received his law degree from the University of Miami, where he graduated cum laude and was inducted into the university's prestigious Iron Arrow Honor Society.

Penelas and his wife, Lilliam, have two sons, William and Christopher.

Penelas served on the city council of Hialeah, Florida from 1987 to 1990. In 1990, he became the youngest county commissioner in Dade County history. On October 1, 1996, Penelas became the first Executive Mayor of Miami-Dade County. Unlike the majority of Cuban American leaders in Florida, Penelas is a member of the Democratic Party.

In 1999, People Magazine named Penelas "America's sexiest politician."

During the Elián González controversy in 2000, Penelas vowed that he would do nothing to assist the Clinton administration and federal authorities in their bid to return the six-year-old boy to Cuba. He also alleged that Clinton was provoking Miami's Cuban community, and vowed to hold Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno responsible for "civil unrest and violence" that would ensue if Gonzalez was returned by the federal government to Cuba.

Later, presumably in retaliation for the Clinton administration's handling of the Elian Gonzalez matter, Penelas refused to campaign alongside Al Gore during Gore's 2000 presidential bid, and made no comments during the controversy over Miami-Dade County's ballots in the aftermath of the election.

Critics allege that Penelas' failure to intervene in the Dade County ballot controversy was a contributing factor to George W. Bush's ultimate victory in the controversial election.

In June, 2004, Gore criticized Penelas as "the single most treacherous and dishonest person I dealt with during the campaign anywhere in America." Senator Bob Graham immediately came to Penelas' defense.

As a candidate in the U.S. Senate election, 2004, Penelas was unable to match the popularity or fundraising levels of rivals Betty Castor and Peter Deutsch in the August 2004 primary, and his campaign was made more difficult by the comments made by Al Gore which hurt him with Democrat voters. He lost the primary, winning a mere ten percent of the vote.

Penelas serves currently as a political analyst for Spanish language Univision television.

• Alex Penelas profile at NNDB.
• "Alex Penelas Contronts a Tough Critic: His Own Party", St. Petersburg Times, August 31, 2003.
• "Alex Penelas, former Miami-Dade Mayor, to Provide Political Commentary and Analysis for Univision", Univision statement, December 17, 2004.
• Alex Penelas quotes at Thinkexist.com.
• "Al Politics Is Loco", The American Spectator, June 8, 2004.
• Alex Penelas at University of Miami Famous Alumni.