Democrat Daniella Levine Cava to face Republican Esteban Bovo for Miami-Dade Mayor

[RandySF]

County commissioners Esteban “Steve” Bovo Jr. and Daniella Levine Cava are headed for a fall runoff to decide who will be Miami-Dade’s next mayor after a comeback bid by former mayor Alex Penelas failed to catch on with voters who turned out in record numbers for an August primary.

The third-place finish for Penelas, 58, came despite the advantages he brought to the six-person race to replace outgoing incumbent Carlos Gimenez. Penelas held a wide lead in fundraising, securing more than $5 million from donors, and entered the contest with high name recognition in an election where the COVID-19 pandemic made voter contact and media attention far more challenging than in past years.

Partisan enthusiasm seemed to doom Penelas, the last Democrat to serve as mayor before leaving office after two terms in 2004. Fellow Democrat Levine Cava ran to his left and locked in support from the party establishment to finish narrowly in second in an officially non-partisan primary in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a wide margin.

“It turned into a hyper-partisan election,” Penelas said after calling Bovo and Levine Cava to concede the race. “While that may be good politically, it will make it hard to govern.”



https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article244999165.html#storylink=cpy

[Awsi Dooger]

1. I'll get lazy and copy my post from another thread

The more progressive candidate Daneilla Levine Cava emerged from the primary to face Republican Steve Bovo in November. I struggled with the primary choice for a few days but ended up voting for Cava above fellow Democrat and former Miami mayor Alex Penelas, who was attempting a comeback after a long absence. Penelas came in a close third. It was basically 29% apiece for Bovo and Cava to 25% for Penelas. Republicans realized they couldn't send another strong candidate and risk splitting the vote, enabling the two Democrats to square off in November.

Cava did a very good job finding me and contacting me early in the process. She is only the second Democrat besides Donna Shalala who seems to have her act together in that regard, compared to what I experienced while living in Clark County, Nevada where every Democrat found me and contacted regularly.

To be fair, the Penelas campaign got its act together late in the process and made contact many times. I think he was sluggish and hadn't adjusted to the new realities after being away for 15 years or thereabouts. Penelas' wife did not want him to run. I think he sensed if he was going to make a comeback it needed to be now, in a cycle favoring Democrats.

The dilemma was due to ideology and potential impact up ballot. No doubt Cava will be attacked as too liberal, with many of the same scare tactics used successfully against Gillum two years ago. Penelas is more moderate. There are already Bovo signs all over my suburban neighborhood. The homes I know to be Republican don't all have Trump signs but they are plastered with Bovo signs. Biden needs a huge margin out of Miami-Dade. I know Cava will be described as socialist to scare local Cubans but it seemed worth it to align with her. If this had been a higher profile race like governor I would not have taken the same gamble. I would have sided with Penelas.