Kevin Burns (born November 22, 1958 in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

) is an American realtor, business owner, and former mayor of

North Miami, Florida North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami camp ...

, from 2005 to 2009.

Early life and career

Burns graduated from

Miami Edison High School Miami Edison High School is a secondary school located at 6161 NW 5 Ct. in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Its provost is Leon Maycock. Miami Edison is an ...

and

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College ...

. He is a

real estate broker A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

for Turnberry International Realty, and owner of North Miami KB’s Christmas Trees.

Mayor

Burns was elected mayor of

North Miami North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami campu ...

in May 2005. Burns' campaign and administration mainly focused on education. His administration helped construct an agreement between the City of North Miami and the Miami-Dade County School Board that brought four new schools to North Miami by 2010. He was term-limited, and was not be able to seek reelection in 2009. Burns ran for mayor of North Miami again in 2014 to replace mayor Lucie Tondreau, who was suspended from office. Burns lost the election to Dr. Smith Joseph.

Senate and State Senate campaigns

In February 2009, Burns announced his campaign to seek the seat in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

being vacated by

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Mel Martinez Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

. In May 2010, he dropped out of the Senate race and ran for the

Florida state senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopte ...

. Burns lost to

Gwen Margolis Gwen Margolis (née Liedman; October 4, 1934 – June 9, 2020) was a Democratic politician from Florida. She served three different times in the Florida Senate: from 1980 to 1992, 2002 to 2008, and 2010 to 2016. She served as Senate President fo ...

in the Democratic primary for State Senate District 35 in August 2010. Burns ran in 2016 for the open

district 38, in the Democratic primary. He lost the August 30 primary to

Daphne Campbell Daphne Campbell (born May 19, 1957) is a former Democratic member of the Florida Senate who represented the 38th district, including Miami Beach, North Miami, and other parts of northeastern Miami-Dade County, since 2016. Previously, she served ...

, garnering 15.26% of the vote and 4,437 votes.

Community involvement

Burns is the former Chairman of the Greater North Miami Chamber of Commerce, a position that he was voted into by fellow chamber members in September 2006. He is also a past president of the Keystone Point Home Owners Association, a former chairman of the North Miami University Relations Board, and a founding member of the Community Policing Commission.

Private life

Burns lives in

with his husband of 30 years Rob Flint and their daughter Autumn.

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20090223163236/http://www.northmiamifl.gov/cityhall/mayor_council/ *http://kevinburns4senate.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Kevin Mayors of places in Florida LGBT mayors of places in the United States LGBT people from Florida Living people People from Miami Beach, Florida People from North Miami, Florida 1958 births