A South Florida elected official is pledging to donate his salary to the family of a fallen police officer who died in a fatal crash this week and left behind a wife and three young children. 

Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez told Fox News Digital he plans to reach out to the family of Miami Beach Police officer David Cajuso after giving them time to grieve. 

Cajuso, 33, was a 10-year veteran of the police force who served as a motorman “with courage and an unwavering commitment to public service,” the police department said in a Facebook post announcing his death. 

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“You couldn’t find a better officer. He was really a cop’s cop. He was one of the best,” Suarez said. “He leaves behind a widow and three very small children. I’m married. I have three small children, and I can’t image what my wife would do without me.”

The fallen officer died after being involved in a traffic crash along the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 in the area of NW 138 Street.

Miami Beach commissioners make around $70,000 annually, a combination of base pay and monthly allowances, Suarez said. 

Cajuso was remembered by residents as a good police officer with a warm smile who displayed the utmost professionalism.

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Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez (Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez/Facebook)

“I recently spoke to him about the importance of supporting law enforcement and mutual friends we shared from my time in the FBI and those from Miami Beach Police Department,” Nicole Parker, a former FBI special agent and Fox News contributor who lives in Miami Beach, told Fox News Digital. 

“He genuinely cared about protecting others and particularly the most vulnerable, children.

“I was crushed to learn of his passing and even more heartbroken when I saw the photos of his beautiful family — a wife and three young children,” she added. “Having lost my closest friend in the line, the devastating impact it has on the children left behind is beyond words.”

Suarez credited law enforcement with protecting the public, specifically in Miami Beach.

“We stick up for our law enforcement,” he said. “I think it’s important that we support each other.

A photo of the Miami Beach coastline.  (iStock)

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“I wish more politicians really did stick up for law enforcement and support families because it’s a tough job. You have families that are involved with these police officers,” he added. “A lot of people forget that they have spouses, they have a lot of children. 

“A lot of them are young, and I think it’s important that we show the human side to the people who really protect us, because, in the last couple years, they’ve had a bad rap. They’ve been vilified in the media, and that goes with their families too.”

Every election season gives us a preview before the main event. This year’s run-up to Nov. 4 has revealed a Democratic Party still searching for its identity. 

Across these smaller contests, Democrats are testing what kind of candidate still connects with voters: the loud and unfiltered progressives who dominate headlines or the grounded centrists who still tend to win the districts that decide power.

Zohran Mamdani’s rise in New York is a case study in momentum. He didn’t have establishment backing or big-donor networks. What he had was energy that fills rooms and news cycles. For progressives, he’s become proof that unapologetic politics can still move people. 

But Mamdani’s appeal also underscores a tension Democrats haven’t resolved. His message fires up activists, yet it’s unclear whether that same energy reaches the voters nationally who quietly decide elections. He represents a mood, not a majority, and that’s something Democrats need to confront honestly.

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At the same time, two centrist Democrats, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, are facing their own tests. Both began their campaigns with strong leads over weak Republican opponents. Yet both have stumbled at key moments. 

Sherrill had questions raised about her naval record and her explanations on her own finances. Spanberger hesitated to take a clear stand during the Jay Jones texting scandal, trying to balance loyalty and leadership in a moment that demanded decisiveness. Election Day will say a lot about where voters’ patience lies, with authenticity that sometimes goes off-script or with steadiness that sometimes feels too cautious.

Gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, center, campaigns with Jay Jones, Democrats’ candidate for attorney general, and state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, who is running for lieutenant governor, in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 26, 2025. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

These aren’t isolated contests; they’re snapshots of the Democratic dilemma. 

Progressives like Mamdani bring urgency and passion. Centrists like Sherrill and Spanberger offer credibility and calmness that’s often labeled as boring to the left. The real challenge is that the party keeps treating those qualities as mutually exclusive. 

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The New York Times recently argued that moderation isn’t a retreat but a strategy, that the political center isn’t empty, it’s contested. And the new memo from Welcome PAC makes an even stronger point: Democrats need to borrow the best of both worlds, progressive urgency and centrist trust. 

That’s not just a message problem, it’s a math problem. Elections are won by coalitions, not cliques.

There’s data to back that up. Research from Third Way shows that Democrats who win in competitive districts tend to fall in the ideological middle, not because voters love moderation for its own sake, but because they reward balance. 

The majority of swing voters are still persuadable; they may not tweet, but they vote. The same voters who are unimpressed by slogans still respond to candidates who make moderation feel meaningful. This moment is proof that the party can’t afford to abandon either side of its coalition. Energy matters. So does reach.

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The flip side of that equation is what happens when Democrats mistake charisma for character. In Maine, Graham Platner was supposed to be a rising star, a military veteran with a populist tone and working-class story. Then came the Nazi tattoo scandal, and the race imploded. 

His campaign manager recently dropped out and backers like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are having to explain their continued support. It’s a reminder that excitement without scrutiny is just noise. Voters may crave passion, but they still deserve integrity, and they notice when the party stops vetting in favor of viral candidates.

As we head into Election Day, this is the lesson Democrats can’t miss. Progressives have proven they can ignite a movement. Centrists have proven they can hold ground.

But winning in 2026 and in 2028 will require more than either group acting alone. It will require Democrats who can speak to the voters shouting for change and the ones quietly deciding who governs next. 

Either way, Nov. 4 will tell us what kind of Democrat America is still willing to believe in.

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Last week, Virginians across the political spectrum were shocked to read text messages from Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones fantasizing about murdering a former Republican colleague and wishing death on his children. But this is just the start of Virginia Democrats’ disturbing embrace of political violence.

As National Review first reported, in 2022, just after resigning from the House of Delegates, Jones sent a disturbing string of text messages to another legislator stating that if his Republican colleagues died before him, he would “go to their funerals to p— on their graves.”

Jones then stated that if he had “two bullets” and was faced with the prospect of shooting Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler and former Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”

Jones next called Gilbert and his wife “evil,” stated that they were “breeding little fascists,” and wished death on their children. Jones specifically stated that he hoped Gilbert’s children would die in their mother’s arms.

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All of these comments are repulsive, disgusting and totally disqualifying for anyone who seeks public office.

Jay Jones wants Virginians to trust him to protect them as the commonwealth’s top cop, but it is abundantly clear that he harbors intense, violent malice toward anyone who disagrees with him. There can be no doubt that Jones would weaponize his office against his political opponents. There would be no fair and unbiased pursuit of justice under an Attorney General Jay Jones.

When pressed on his past remarks, Jones outrageously claimed that he was the real victim, accusing Attorney General Jason Miyares of “dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations.” No remorse. No apology. Just more hatred and vitriol.

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Equally shocking has been the lack of calls for Jones to drop out of the race. In 2019, leading Virginia Democrats, including Abigail Spanberger, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and Terry McAuliffe, all called on Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam to resign over a decades-old yearbook photo showing him in a racist costume.

But now Spanberger only says that she “spoke frankly” with Jones after he repeatedly and explicitly wished death on his political opponents and their children. She has not rescinded her enthusiastic endorsement of Jones, and she has not called on him to drop out of the race.

Here’s what Virginians want to know: How can Abigail Spanberger claim that she opposes political violence when she tolerates it from the candidates she shares a ticket with? Would Spanberger hire someone who has made comments like those Jones made in her administration? How can anyone trust her to lead when she doesn’t even have the courage to call on Jones to withdraw?

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Every Virginia Democrat should state, clearly, whether they believe Jay Jones should drop out.

Unfortunately, Abigail Spanberger is part of Virginia Democrats’ violence problem. During multiple recent campaign stops, Spanberger called on her supporters to “let your rage fuel you.” When criticized over these comments, Spanberger refused to back down – even as multiple Virginia Republicans had faced credible death threats.

Just days before Jones’ texts became public, a man was arrested for threatening the life of Del. Kim Taylor, a Petersburg Republican. Prior to that, Del. Geary Higgins of Lovettsville was texted a death threat in which an individual threatened to shoot Higgins at his next rally.

These developments also come after the disgusting reaction from many Virginia Democrats to the killing of Charlie Kirk last month.

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In the immediate wake of that shooting, Democrat Chesterfield County School Board Chair Dot Heffron – who has been endorsed by both Spanberger and Democrat lieutenant governor nominee Ghazala Hashmi – posted, “Call me old fashioned, but I remember when we used to be ok with shooting Nazis.” Jasmine Frye, identified as an employee of Spanberger’s campaign, posted “F around and find out” in response to Kirk’s assassination.

Meanwhile, the finance director for a Virginia Democrat PAC was exposed for mocking those upset at Kirk’s death and reposting claims that his killing was “objectively funny.” In another case, Katie Pillis, Virginia Democrat Sen. Mark Warner’s casework operations coordinator, posted mocking remarks on Instagram about Kirk being shot.

Spanberger and Virginia Democrats want us to ignore all of these incidents as isolated outbursts. But the pattern is undeniable.

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This is not just about Jay Jones. It is about a Democrat Party in Virginia that has grown comfortable excusing, rationalizing and even promoting political violence and murder. When their candidates joke about killing Republicans, when their operatives laugh at assassinations, when their leaders tell supporters to let “rage” guide them, what they are really doing is laying the groundwork for more threats, more intimidation and more bloodshed.

Virginians should not tolerate it. We cannot hand over the keys of government to a party that shrugs at violence against its opponents. If Democrats will not draw a line, then voters must.