All labor backs Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s 2nd term

She also has the backing of most municipal mayors

Almost eight months until the November elections and incumbent Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has already sealed up the support from basically every labor union.

Like that was even in question?

On Tuesday, United Teachers of Dade – Florida’s largest teachers union and the fourth-largest nationally, representing 24,000 hardworking employees in the Miami-Dade County School System – was the latest to announce its endorsement of La Alcaldesa, a lifelong supporter of workers’ rights. They join AFSCME Florida, the South Florida AFL-CIO, Metro Dade Firefighters Local 1403, the South Florida PBA, the Transport Workers Union, the Teamsters Local 769, 32BJ SEIU, SEIU Florida, the Communication Workers of America and UNITE HERE Local 355, whose endorsements were announced earlier this year.

Is anybody left?

“UTD is proud to endorse and support our friend and a champion of our teachers and public education, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava,” says UTD Karla Hernández-Mats, who was the LG candidate for the Charlie Crist gubernatorial run in 2022.

“At a time when some politicians seek to make our teachers’ lives and jobs more challenging, Mayor Cava is a breath of fresh air for parents, educators and students,” Hernandez-Mats said. Wonder who “some politicians” are. Gov. Ron DeSantis, perhaps?

It’s totally expected that Levine Cava, the Democrat, would get the support of labor, which she has had since early in her political career. They backed her 2020 mayoral bid and her commission race in 2016.

More important than the money that these union members and their political action committees can give are the boots on the ground. That means the hundreds of volunteers that La Alcaldesa will have to do phone banks, send handwritten get-out-the-vote postcards, canvass for her door-to-door — las abuelas especially like it when los bomberos come by — and greet voters on Election Day.

Local 1403 President Bill McAllister said in a statement that Levine Cava “has proven herself a steady and compassionate leader. Her ability to make tough decisions while prioritizing the needs of our firefighters and the public at large is a testament to her commitment to putting public safety as a top priority.

“From upgrading infrastructure to investing in community paramedic programs, her holistic approach reflects a genuine concern for the well-being of every resident,” McAllister said. “Mayor Levine Cava’s dedication to the public good is evident in her strategic initiatives that not only prioritize a capable emergency response, but her emphasis on fostering programs that proactively unite communities, further bolstering our already formidable resilience programs.”

In his own statement, Teamsters Local 769 President Josh Zivalich said his organization is proud to endorse Levine Cava, who is the mother of a Teamsters member. “Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s strong advocacy for workers’ rights, fair wages, and safe working environments for all has been proven time and time again over decades of service to our South Florida community,” Zivalich said.

Levine Cava also boasts the endorsement of 25 of 34 municipal mayors, a special ouch for Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, who is running hard against her. Those Miami-Dade League of Cities meetings are gonna get awkward. These mayors who endorsed La Alcaldesa in September of last year, according to Florida Politics, are:

George Burch of Miami Shores
Joseph Corradino of Pinecrest
Karyn Cunningham of Palmetto Bay
Shlomo Danzinger of Surfside
Fred Spencer Deno IV of Virginia Gardens
Alix Desulme of North Miami
Javier Fernandez of South Miami
Jeffrey Freimark of Bal Harbour
Dan Gelber, of Miami Beach (former)
Jonathan Groth of Biscayne Park
Rodney Harris of Miami Gardens
Bernard Kelpach of Indian Creek Village
Brent Latham of North Bay Village
Steven Losner of Homestead
Roberto Martell of Medley
Tim Meerbot of Cutler Bay
Maria Puente Mitchell of Miami Springs
Omarr Nickerson of El Portal
Joe Rasco of Key Biscayne
Glenn Singer of Golden Beach
John Taylor of Opa-locka
Elizabeth Tricoche of Bay Harbor Islands
Otis Wallace of Florida City
Howard Weinberg of Aventura
Jay Chernoff of North Miami Beach (acting)

Chernoff has since been replaced by Evan Piper, who was elected in a special election in December. Gelber also was termed out and replaced by Steven Meiner, who will likely endorse her also. And Ladra would bet that all of these are Democrats. Because even though this is a nonpartisan race, the contest for Miami-Dade mayor — possibly the second most powerful elected in the state after the governor — has become very partisan.

Everyone can expect Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, Doral Mayor Christi Fraga, Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo, Hialeah Gardens Mayor Yioset de la Cruz and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, all Republicans, to endorse Cid before Election Day. And Bovo and Suarez alone represent more than the 23% of county voters represented by most of the Dem mayors combined.

Levine Cava — who is gunning for a repeat performance of 2020 by qualifying via petition again — has raised a little more than $3 million for her re-election between her campaign account and her political action committee, Our Democracy, just since March of last year. She still has almost $2.3 million in hand, as of the last campaign finance reports through December. That’s probably been blown out of the water by now but we won’t know what she’s raised so far this year until mid April.

In comparison, Cid raised just over $300,000 between his campaign account and his PAC, The People’s Voice, through December, according to his reports. Of that, he has $240,786 in hand.

There are four other candidates, but only Cuban-American social media influencer, self-described humorist and political activist Alex Otaola — host of the web show Hola Ota-Ola!, an informative and satirical program that covers entertainment, news and politics — has gotten any traction. The Republicans are Otaola, who had raised $142,000 as of December 31 — mostly in very small amounts from more than 11,000 donors(!) — and perennial candidate Carlos Garín, an actor who lost a congressional primary to Carlos Gimenez in 2022 (but got 15% of the vote) and lost a Miami-Dade Commission race in 2018 to replace former Commissioner Bruno Barreiro (who also ran unsuccessfully for Congress). Garín hasn’t had to report any contributions because he just filed in January.

The only other Democrat is Miguel “el Skipper” Quintero, who was hit with several code violations for his backyard trapeze training business. Quintero, the first to challenge the mayor, has raised only $2,500. He has no endorsements.

Eddy Rojas, an NPA who lives in Country Walk, filed his first paperwork in January and has not had to file any campaign reports.

The election is Aug. 20. If neither Levine Cava nor Cid garner more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff in November. Cava won a runoff against Bovo in 2020.

Daniella Levine Cava, Elections 2024, labor, Manny Cid, Miami-Dade Mayor’s race

All labor backs Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s 2nd term — duh added by Ladra on March 12, 2024
View all posts by Ladra →