Jesse Scheckner
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is entering her second year in office with favorable ratings across all party lines and cultural demographics, new polling data released Tuesday shows.
Levine Cava now carries 80% name awareness, according to Sarasota-based public opinion and strategic consulting firm SEA Polling & Strategic Design. A spokesperson for the firm said her strong favorability “makes her the most favorable elected leader in Miami-Dade County.”
SEA Polling spoke by phone with some 600 people Jan. 10-16. Of those polled, 39% identified as Democrats, 34% were Republicans and 27% cited no party affiliation. Demographically, 58% were Hispanic, 21% were White, 18% were Black and 3% identified themselves as belonging to another ethnicity.
The poll included a four-point margin of error.
Only 20% of those polled gave Levine Cava a negative grade. Another 12% said they were unable to rate the job she has done so far.
Levine Cava carried a 78% positive grade from Democrats. Among Republicans, 58% gave her a thumbs-up rating. Sixty-six percent of non-party respondents approved of her job. The mayor’s election is nonpartisan.
About 64% of Hispanics rated Levine Cava positively, regardless of whether they were Cuban or non-Cuban. She proved even more popular among African American (77% positive) and White county residents (71% positive).
SEA Polling found Levine Cava to be the most favorable elected leader in Miami-Dade County, with a +35 favorability rating. Other politicians examined included President Joe Biden, who scored +4; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, with +0, Gov. Ron DeSantis, with -5; and former President Donald Trump, with -18.
Levine Cava also received strong marks for her performance handling COVID-19 (+43) and the economy (+30).
Past clients of SEA Polling, which cites more than three decades of experience, include the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, Microsoft, the Florida Association of Counties, AT&T, former President Jimmy Carter, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democratic Party and former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré.
The firm released its polling numbers one day after Levine Cava delivered the 2022 State of the County address, a virtual broadcast speech that covered the county’s myriad challenges over the last year: from the pandemic and the Champlain Towers South condo collapse in Surfside to transportation, confronting gun violence and the affordable housing crisis.
Levine Cava spoke of how, over the last several weeks, Miami-Dade staff distributed nearly 300,000 at-home COVID-19 tests.
In 2021, she said, the county distributed more than $80 million in emergency rental assistance, which helped to prevent the eviction of more than 8,000 vulnerable families and aided landlords in paying their bills.
By the end of this year, she continued, Miami-Dade will have an estimated 14,000 units of affordable and workforce housing in development.
Levine Cava, Miami-Dade’s first woman Mayor, also spoke of the county’s “Connect 2 Protect” septic-to-sewer conversion plan, its “first-of-its-kind” sea-level rise strategy, an initiative to bring shore power to six leading cruise lines at PortMiami, and Miami-Dade Commission legislation to reduce pollution in Biscayne Bay.
“Our strength as a community was put to the test, but we worked tirelessly to overcome these challenges, and I know that we are even more resilient and stronger because of it,” she said. “We want a safer, more prosperous Miami-Dade — more good-paying jobs, more housing that is affordable, more mobility in our economy and on our roads and transit corridors — and a resilient environment now and for all the generations to come. We want a better and even brighter future, and I can assure you we are well on our way.”
