Jesse Scheckner
A South Florida GOP group dedicated to advocating for conservative policies and politicians is glad Joe Biden will soon be leaving the White House – and wants Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to follow suit.
Miami Young Republicans said in a statement Sunday after Biden announced he was quitting the presidential race the President’s inner circle has deceived the public “for years” about his fitness to serve.
Levine Cava did the same, the group added, “about her competence for executive office.”
“Both are propped up by left-wing special interests that are robbing taxpayers,” the group said.
“Today, the public suffers the consequences of the failures of leadership by both Biden and Levine Cava: an unaffordable cost of living, out-of-control spending, government departments in disarray, abusive tax increases, massive projected deficits, public services suffering, and a lack of accountability for embarrassing failures that are an insult to hardworking taxpayers.”
Levine Cava is up for re-election this year and faces several challengers. Earlier this month, Miami Young Republicans – a partner of the Republican National Committee, Florida GOP and Turning Point Action – published a ringing endorsement of Republican Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid as its preferred candidate.
Other running include ex-Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger, social media influencer Alex Otaola and media personality Carlos Garín, all Republicans.
Miami-Dade Libertarian Party Vice Chair Miguel “el Skipper” Quintero and no-party candidate Eddy Rojas are also in the race.
Levine Cava is a Democrat. However, the Mayor’s office and its elections are nonpartisan, so all seven candidates will be on the Primary ballot. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the two top vote-getters will square off in the Nov. 5 General Election.
An internal poll that Cid’s campaign conducted in March found that despite Levine Cava’s sizable funding, media exposure and incumbency advantages, she’s likely to face Cid in a runoff.
Going against her this year are rising fees for property owners in the county, a questionable and since-deferred push by her administration to approve an overpriced office building purchase and a similarly punted $2.5 billion bond plan the Mayor proposed to address several county problems, including a dearth in affordable housing and groundwater pollution.
But she also has many laurels to lean on, including growing Miami-Dade’s budget by $934 million this year amid rising county revenues, receiving sweeping support from labor groups after she backed a host of workers’ rights and protections, myriad climate-facing policies, and committing millions to provide senior citizens with financial relief and refurbished housing units.
The race for Miami-Dade Mayor will further test how much more Miami-Dade had skewed Republican since 2022 when it swung red for the first time in two decades. Statewide, Republicans are on track to outnumber Democrats by 1 million voters by the end of the year.
