Miami-Dade Mayor Levine Cava, seeking a second term, faces six challengers. She’s not worried. 

Elected in 2020 as Miami-Dade County’s first woman and Jewish mayor, Daniella Levine Cava is seeking a second term — and she’s facing a large and diverse field of challengers in the election next month. 

Levine Cava, 68, a Democrat, announced her campaign for re-election in March 2023, and is focusing on public safety, economic growth, and the affordability crisis, backed by a network of close to 200 volunteers.

“We’ve knocked on over 75,000 doors since Memorial Day weekend,” said Christian Ulvert, Levine Cava’s senior campaign manager and well-known Florida Democratic strategist. 

“It shows the energy and passion that the mayor attracts to her campaign, and how much people believe in her leadership and her vision and her commitment to delivering results,” he added.  “Our campaign is focused on one thing: the mayor and her leadership and her record of success.”

The county mayoral election is nonpartisan, meaning Levine Cava and her six challengers, regardless of party affiliation, all will appear on the ballot together in the Aug. 20 contest.  Early voting begins Aug. 5. If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two vote-getters will take place on Election Day, Nov. 5. 

In 2020, Levine Cava, then a county commissioner, won the runoff election against fellow commissioner Esteban Bovo with 54% of the vote. 

From Levine Cava’s perspective, it is important for her to win outright in August when turnout is expected to be fairly light. If she prevails in the non-partisan primary, Levine Cava would avoid the need to appear on the ballot again in November when her political fortunes could become entangled with the presidential contest in Florida between former President Donald Trump and whoever is tapped as the Democratic nominee, whether Vice President Kamala Harris or someone else. No matter who he faces, Trump is expected to carry Florida and would be likely to draw many more Republicans to the polls in November than may turnout next month for lower-profile local contests.

While Democrats still outnumber Republicans in Miami-Dade, that gap has closed significantly since Levine Cava’s victory in 2020, potentially making things a bit dicier for a Democrat running in November in a county that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis carried in a landslide against Democratic rival Charlie Crist in 2022. 

“Once and done in August,” Levine Cava said in April, according to the Miami Herald

To date, there has been no independent public polling on the race. There have been no debates and none are expected by Aug. 20.

With term limits in place, a victory and another four years in office as county mayor would be Levine Cava’s last. A multi-millionaire, she cut her annual pay as mayor to $200,000, a 20% reduction, upon taking office. 

Ulvert said the campaign isn’t concerned about Levine Cava’s half dozen rivals, most of whom are Republicans and who include former Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger and Manny Cid, the current mayor of Miami Lakes. 

In interviews with Caplin News, two of Levine Cava’s opponents, Danzinger and Miguel Quintero, a Democrat-turned-Libertarian who runs an acrobatic school, criticized the mayor over what they say is a lack of transparency and accountability. For his part, Danzinger claimed that some of Levine Cava’s big donors were “awarded contracts worth tens and tens of millions of dollars that all funded her campaign.”

Ulvert dismissed those attacks,  saying, “Her opponents have been known to lie and mislead.” 

“The mayor prides herself as leading with great integrity,” he added. “Any claims to suggest otherwise are not only ludicrous, but laughable because she has shown to be immensely transparent and accountable to the people.”

The mayor’s campaign has so far raised over $5.2 million, Ulvert noted. That hefty sum is multiple times bigger than what’s been collected by all of her opponents combined. 

In a county with nearly 70% of its residents of Hispanic descent, Levine Cava has been courting the Latino vote with Spanish-language television ads and frequent appearances at Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Cuban events, among others. She also sprinkles Spanish into some of her public remarks. 

“While some divide our community,” says a bilingual TV ad for Levine Cava as a picture of several of her opponents appears on screen, “Mayor Daniella Levine Cava unites us in Miami-Dade.” 

Here are Levine Cava’s challengers (their political affiliations are included below although the race is a non-partisan primary and those affiliations don’t appear on the ballot): 

Manny Cid, 40, a Republican, is the current mayor of Miami Lakes. He says the main issues in the county are reducing taxes and insurance costs, housing affordability and transportation.

Shlomo Danzinger, 45, a Republican, is a former mayor of Surfside and was in office during the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condos that left 98 dead. In the campaign, he aims to address concerns over communication between the mayor’s office and the public, insurance costs and tightening the county budget. He withdrew his earlier endorsement of Levine Cava after entering the race for county mayor in April. 

“Insurance crisis is the biggest crisis going on now in South Florida,” Danzinger said.  “Close to 30% year over year of insurance at some point is going to make it unaffordable for people already living here.” 

Carlos Garin, 59, a Republican, is a businessman whose main focus for his  campaign is “power of parents over children,” reducing taxes, affordable housing for the elderly and “government reduction.”

Alex Otaola, 45, a Republican, is a Cuban-American actor and Youtube influencer focusing his campaign on making Miami-Dade a “communist-free zone,” “restoring law and order,” fostering economic growth and protecting the environment, according to his website.

Miguel Quintero, 45, a former Democrat who switched to Libertarian, is an entrepreneur in the performing arts and community activist. His campaign focuses on issues of social justice, transparency in office, affordable housing, and environmental sustainability. 

“My first order of business is to put a live camera in the mayor’s office because that sends a message to the people that it’s not my office, it’s their office, and they have the right to know what their employee is doing,” Quintero said. 

Eddy Rojas, 39, an independent, is a local business owner and civic leader. His campaign promotes equality and justice, economic growth, and opportunity for all citizens.

Cid, Garin, Otaola and Rojas declined interview requests, as did Levine Cava.

Born and raised in Miami, Faith Escarda received an associate's degree in Communications from Miami Dade College and is currently a senior at FIU. She is a member of the National Honors Society FIU. Having freelanced as a content creator, travel photographer, and web designer full-time, Escarda runs her own website where she shares her passion for the arts with fellow creatives. Escarda will graduate from the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media with a bachelor’s degree in digital and interactive media in Spring 2024.