Miami-Dade mayor’s campaign haul reaches over $3 million. Developers and unions helped

Running for reelection, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has raised more than $3 million for her 2024 campaign, with donations coming from county vendors, developers and labor groups.

Recent donations, in reports filed Tuesday, include $20,000 from Nicolas Swerdlow, whose family-owned development company is pursuing county land in the Poinciana area and in South Miami-Dade, as well as $25,000 from GL Homes, which has a planned development at the Calusa golf course that is under county scrutiny for potential impact to nesting birds there.

Combined, donors gave Levine Cava’s reelection effort nearly $470,000 in the July to September period, slightly more than the combined totals raised so far by her three challengers.

Add that to the money already raised by her campaign and political committee, Our Democracy, and Levine Cava has brought in roughly $3.6 million from donors since December 2020, her first full month as Miami-Dade mayor.

Manny Cid, the two-term mayor of Miami Lakes, announced this week he raised more than $120,000 since joining the race on Sept. 1. Alexander Otaola, the host of a YouTube show that focuses on Cuba and communism, has raised close to $200,000 in the last six months.

Miguel “el Skipper” Quintero, whose fights with Miami-Dade over his trapeze-performing business sparked his candidacy, raised about $3,400 since joining the race in March.

Here are some highlights from the most recent campaign-finance filings and announcements:

Levine Cava’s top donors: Brightline, unions, and Mom

Levine Cava’s top donors include Brightline, the for-profit rail company and developer negotiating with her administration for a county-funded commuter rail.

The company gave $135,000, according to a Miami Herald analysis of campaign filings, but does not show up as a donor in the most recent report. Labor unions, which backed Levine Cava in the 2020 campaign and helped the administration secure wage provisions in county contracts, also are big backers. Unite Here has given $50,000 and AFSCME more than $40,000.

But the mayor’s No. 1 donor is family. In the latest report, Levine Cava’s mother, Lois Levine, gave $75,000. That’s on top of the $75,000 she had already contributed to her daughter’s reelection effort. That brings Levine’s total to $150,000, slightly ahead of Brightline.

Otaola’s YouTube following drives small-dollar donations

Levine Cava may be dominating in fundraising totals, but Otaola has far more campaign donors. The host of “Hola! Otaola” lists more than 10,000 donations to his mayoral campaign, compared to more than 2,000 for Levine Cava. While the mayor has hundreds of donors giving the maximum $1,000, hundreds of Otaola’s donors gave $1. That doesn’t include the donors to his political committee, Miami-Dade a Communist-Free Zone.

Andy Santana, an Otaola campaign representative, credited the small-dollar donations in part to the show’s regular “Doname un Dollar” segment, where the candidate waves a jumbo dollar bill while Latin music plays over an ad for his campaign website. “We don’t have a mailing list,” Santana said. “We have real people connected daily.”

Otaola declined an interview request.

Cid: pledges won’t accept donations from county vendors if elected

Cid wants to use fundraising as a way to contrast himself with Levine Cava. He said he will end the practice of mayors funding their reelections with donations from county vendors, developers and other companies with business before the county.

“I will not allow any of their money to go into my PAC or my campaign,” he said. “How can I be an administrator of the county when people I’m supposed to hold accountable are giving to my campaign?”

The third-quarter reports for Cid’s campaign and political committee, the People’s Voice, weren’t available Tuesday afternoon. In a press release, Cid said he raised more than $122,000 for both entities, in addition to the $84,000 collected by his committee before he joined the 2024 race.

Christian Ulvert, the political consultant overseeing Levine Cava’s campaign, said her success with raising money from entities with business before the county reflects her success as mayor.

“The mayor has shown to be a strong leader in the community,” he said. “It’s reflected in those who are contributing to her campaign.”

Politics can be a circus. Enter Quintero, the trapeze artist.

Quintero thought he had a pretty novel way to raise donations: a circus act. He’s been inviting the public to his Pinewood home near North Miami for backyard trapeze shows, and charging admission in the form of campaign donations. He said the debut performance worked thanks to friends and family, but it’s been a hard act to repeat.

“We got about 40 people who straight up supported us and gave us donations,” he said. “Another 25 came and just enjoyed the evening. They said you’ve got my vote.” His campaign website lists $75 VIP tickets for upcoming shows, but Quintero said he’s not sure the performances will happen. “Those tickets are almost impossible to sell,” he said.

Quintero is in litigation with Miami-Dade over the circus performance space in his backyard, which the county claims violates regulations. He said he’s running to make a point about fighting back against unfair acts by the government. “I genuinely don’t want to be the mayor,” he said. “I’m doing it because the county is passing illegal laws.”