Ryan Nicol
Safeguarding American Values for Everyone (SAVE), a Miami-based organization that promotes LGBTQ rights, is scheduled to host a town hall featuring several candidates for Miami-Dade Mayor.
That town hall will take place on March 30 at Miami-Dade College. So far, Miami-Dade County Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava and Xavier Suarez have confirmed attendance, as has former Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas.
“It is such a historic election year and we want to give you the chance to hear directly from the Mayoral candidates,” a Thursday release from SAVE said.
SAVE describes itself as an “organization dedicated to protecting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) against discrimination.”
Orlando Gonzales serves as the group’s executive director.
So far, only three of the eight candidates in the race have confirmed.
Also competing in the contest are entrepreneur Monique Nicole Barley, County Commissioners Esteban Bovo and Jean Monestime, former Miami mayoral candidate Robert Burke and real estate agent Ludmilla Domond.
The large number of candidates can be attributed to the fact that Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez is term-limited, making the 2020 contest an open one.
Levine Cava, Penelas and Suarez have been among the top fundraisers in the contest. Penelas leads the field with more than $3.1 million raised. Levine Cava has added more than $2.2 million.
But Suarez was the top fundraiser in January, adding more than $50,000 to his campaign and another $309,000 to his political committee, Imagine Miami.
Candidates face a Tuesday deadline to file their next fundraising reports, which will cover all financial activity through Feb. 29.
The town hall is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on March 30. It will be held at the Miami-Dade College Wolfson Campus Auditorium in Room 1261.
The candidates will compete in the Aug. 18 primary. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters will head to a runoff in November.
