Why It Matters

The City of Doral, Florida filed a first-quarter 2026 lobbying disclosure reporting $165,000 in federal lobbying expenditures, but it listed no specific issues, legislation, or policy areas it is seeking to influence.

Doral is a city of roughly 80,000 residents in Miami-Dade County with an unusually high federal profile. U.S. Southern Command is headquartered there, its population is heavily Venezuelan-American, and federal policy on immigration, defense, and appropriations touches the city in direct, tangible ways.

By the Numbers

The first-quarter 2026 disclosure reports $165,000 paid to Continental Strategy LLC, a Florida-connected lobbying firm.

That is a significant jump from the prior quarter. The fourth-quarter 2025 filing reported $0 in lobbying expenditures, though it did list "general municipal government related issues" as the subject of lobbying activity.

The city's relationship with Continental Strategy dates to April 2025, when the firm filed a new client registration on Doral's behalf. That initial registration also listed no specific issues.

The lobbying team:

  • Anthony Sola: the sole lobbyist listed on the first-quarter 2026 filing. Sola works across Continental Strategy's broader client portfolio and has been involved in 42 total filings over the past two years. His other notable client is McCormick & Co. Inc., where he has worked on trade issues.

  • Carlos Trujillo: appeared on both the initial 2025 registration and the fourth-quarter 2025 report, but is not listed on the current filing.

The departure of Trujillo from the current disclosure, and the jump from $0 to $165,000, represents a meaningful shift in the city's lobbying posture, though the reasons are not disclosed.

The Agenda

The first quarter 2026 Doral lobbying disclosure lists no specific issues lobbied, no legislation, and no issue codes.

The only substantive description of Doral's lobbying agenda in any of the three filings comes from the fourth quarter 2025 report, which stated the city was lobbying on "general municipal government-related issues."

No bills are identified across any of the filings, no congressional committees are named, and no federal agencies are referenced.

Broader Context

Several high-profile federal issues directly involve Doral's governance and demographics, based on news coverage and congressional records from the past year.

Immigration and the Venezuelan community: Doral has the largest Venezuelan-American population in the United States, with an estimated 40 percent of residents of Venezuelan descent. The Trump administration's rollback of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans has had a visible impact on the city. According to the Miami Herald, Doral's city government formally urged Congress to support the Venezuelan Adjustment Act and find alternative solutions for those affected by the suspension of Temporary Protected Status. Separately, the city also moved to formalize a collaboration agreement with ICE - a decision that generated significant local controversy, as reported by El País.

U.S. Southern Command: SOUTHCOM is headquartered in Doral, and Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) has publicly committed to protecting the installation. In an August 2025 communication, Díaz-Balart referenced SOUTHCOM's role in countering "hostile regimes, transnational crime, and malign influence" in the hemisphere. The command's continued presence in Doral has direct implications for the city's federal funding and profile.

Federal appropriations: Díaz-Balart, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, has highlighted securing 139 new military housing units in Doral, per a November 2025 communication. He has been a consistent presence at Doral civic events throughout the filing period, including the city's State of the City address in September 2025.

Waste incinerator and EPA permitting: A proposed trash incinerator in Miami-Dade County near Doral would require federal EPA approval, according to the Miami Herald. The project has drawn opposition from the Trump family, whose Doral golf resort is nearby.

Presidential security funding: Florida Senate records show the Doral Police Department submitted a local funding initiative request for a "Presidential/Dignitary Protective Detail Overtime Funding Initiative" for fiscal year 2025–2026, which is a notable request given the Trump National Doral resort's location within city limits.

No congressional hearing testimony from City of Doral representatives was found in the relevant period.

The Bottom Line

The City of Doral's lobbying disclosure for the first quarter of 2026 raises more questions than it answers. The city is spending $165,000 on federal lobbying through Continental Strategy LLC (a notable increase from the prior quarter), but has not disclosed what it is lobbying for. The federal policy landscape surrounding Doral is active and consequential. What the city is specifically asking of Washington remains unclear from the public record.