Jesse Scheckner
As Miami-Dade County’s budgeting process continues and the county works to close its $400 million funding gap, some elected officials are suffering approval dips while at least one is gaining ground, new polling shows.
Both Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and County Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez, respectively a Democrat and a Republican, have suffered dips in favorability because of the deficit.
Levine Cava’s proposed cuts to funding for social services and scrutiny over county contributions to a local foundation associated with Rodriguez contributed to their declining marks.
At the same time, County Commission Vice Chair Kionne McGhee, a former House Democratic Leader, has been getting more favorable reviews for proposing cuts to pricy public events, reflecting a desire among voters for more responsible spending.
Kissimmee-based Kaplan Strategies surveyed 618 likely General Election voters in Miami-Dade online and by text Aug. 30-31. The poll had a 3.9-percentage-point margin of error.
It found voters are generally angry and distrustful of how Miami-Dade’s elected leadership has managed the county budget. The resentment is broad, bipartisan and cuts across several demographic lines, portending a tenuous political environment for sitting officials.
Asked whether they support Levine Cava’s plan to address the $400 million deficit, which includes reducing social service spending and a since-rescinded proposal to charge for parking at public parks, 67% of county voters expressed disapproval, with more than 8 in 10 of them strongly opposing it.
Twenty-two percent said they support the plan, while 12% said they’re uncertain about it. Notably, Kaplan worded its question by saying Levine Cava’s plan “guts social services for Miami-Dade’s most needy,” arguably steering sentiment lower.
Lower in the survey, pollsters asked voters for their opinion of Levine Cava. More than half (53%) said they view her unfavorably, compared to 29% who said they hold a favorable opinion of her and 18% who were uncertain.
Knowledge is shockingly low, pollsters found, about Rodriguez’s ties to a local nonprofit that received more than $1 million from the county and nearly the same sum in state funds to run a country-themed event the Chair runs yearly in his district.
Just 9% of respondents said they were aware the organization, the A3 Foundation, had received the money, much less that the County Commission rerouted future funding meant for it to the fundraising arm of the county parks system this month.
Sixty percent of respondents then said they were concerned Rodriguez has connections to the foundation, which county Office of Management and Budget staff flagged in early July for insufficient record keeping. Another 19% said they weren’t concerned, with the remainder expressing a need for more information about the matter.
Asked later in the survey what they thought of Rodriguez, 42% said they view him unfavorably, 14% said they view him favorably and 44% said they didn’t know how they felt.
Voter support is strong for McGhee’s proposal to cancel $46 million meant for World Cup activities next year, when the county is hosting several games, to cover the cost of at-risk community services.
Sixty-four percent approve of the move, with well over 7 in 10 of them strongly supporting his suggested World Cup cuts, compared to 22% who oppose the proposal and 13% who are unsure about it.
Despite that high mark, McGhee is still slightly underwater, favorability-wise, with 25% of voters saying they view him positively compared to 28% who said the opposite. The rest were uncertain.
Of the 618 voters Kaplan queried late last month, 35% were Democrats, 34% were Republicans and 30% were third- or no-party voters. Forty-six percent self-identified as “very” or “somewhat” conservative, while 38% said they were moderates and just 16% said they were liberal.
Fifty-five percent were 50 or older. Women outnumbered men by 8 percentage points. Education-wise, 32% had at least a bachelor’s degree.
Sixty-seven percent were Hispanic, slightly less than the county’s Census-determined share, while 15% were African American, 13% were non-Hispanic White and the remainder were of another ethnicity.
Religiously, 65% identified as Christian, with Catholics accounting for about 7 in 10 of them. Three percent said they were Jewish. Most of the remainder (31%) said they belonged to another faith or none at all.
Miami-Dade’s 2025-26 budget process is nearing completion, with the second and final hearing on the matter scheduled for Sept. 18. County Commissioners debated whether to tap into emergency funds to help close the spending gap during the first hearing last week, which ran nearly half a day and ended after 4 a.m. Friday.
