Jesse Scheckner
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is making swift work of collecting signatures toward her re-election.
Her campaign announced it has amassed more than 5,000 petitions from voters who want to see her on the 2024 ballot — roughly a third of the number necessary to qualify without paying a qualifying fee.
If Levine Cava succeeds by April 30, 2024 in collecting the requisite sum —15,294 signatures, representing 1% of the total number of registered electors countywide — it’ll be the fourth time she’s pulled off the feat.
She did the same in 2014 when she ran for the Miami-Dade Commission and again in 2018 when she won re-election to the panel. In 2018, she made it a three-peat during her first run for the county’s top office, making history as the first person to do so and, later, as the county’s first woman and Jewish Mayor.
“As we celebrate this wonderful milestone in our campaign, I am deeply honored and humbled by the outpouring of support from voters across our county,” she said in a statement.
“Thank you to everyone who turned in a petition, canvassed Miami-Dade neighborhoods for signatures, and helped us build our grassroots team heading into this critical election. Our people-powered campaign will continue to fight for the future of Miami-Dade — because it’s up to each one of us to get involved and create positive change for our community.”
The announcement from Levine Cava’s campaign comes about two weeks after it announced her first “Petition Day of Action” for the 2024 cycle to collect signatures supporting her.
It also followed her endorsement by two-thirds of the county’s sitting municipal Mayors and a nod from the South Florida AFL-CIO, which backed her in 2018 too.
Internal polling found Levine Cava enjoys high approval and a significant edge in popularity over her current and rumored challengers.
She faces four opponents so far. Two are fellow Democrats: trapeze artist Miguel “el Skipper” Quintero and Monique Barley-Mayo, who last year mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Miami-Dade Commission. On the Republican side, she faces challenges from Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid and Alex Otaola, a political and social media influencer who is running with support from GOP operative Roger Stone.
The race is nonpartisan, meaning that all candidates for Mayor compete against one another regardless of party. If any candidate secures more than 50% of the vote during the Aug. 20, 2024 Primary Election, he or she will secure victory outright.
If none do so, the two candidates with the most Primary votes will compete in a runoff, culminating in the General Election on Nov. 5, 2024.
