Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has already announced her re-election campaign and could legit raise enough money to pay her qualification fee tenfold — and buy everyone else a round of qualifications. But the social worker at heart wants to go grassroots.
La Alcaldesa aims to get on the 2024 ballot via petition — again.
To get on the ballot in 2024, Levine Cava needs to collect at least 1% of the total registered electors in the county as of the last general election, according to Florida Statute 99.095 and Miami-Dade County Charter, Article 3, Section 3.04(B).
According to Deputy Elections Supervisor Suzy Trutie, there were 1,529,439 registered voters in Miami-Dade last November. That means Levine Cava needs at least 15,294 signatures, Trutie said.
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Levine Cava is shooting for 20,000, to make sure they get enough that are verified and valid. Her campaign website has a PDF that can be printed and filled out and mailed to her campaign office.
It’s a smart campaign strategy. You start right off with a list of 20,000 people you can go back to, and get them to request absentee ballots. And then go back to, and get them to vote for Levine Cava.
And it’s what she’s always done, since her first race against former Commissioner Lynda Bell in 2014. She did it again for re-election as commissioner in 2018 and when she ran for mayor in 2020.
“The Mayor is excited to once again bring the community together in her campaign as she collects signatures to qualify by petition,” said Campaign Manager Kayla vanWieringen. “She made history in 2020 as the first and only candidate for Mayor to achieve this milestone and our people powered campaign is fueled by volunteers who are eager and energized to do it once again.
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“This shows the residents have her back — always have, and always will.”
Clubs and groups are already collecting signatures. The Coral Gables Democratic Club intends to collect a minimum of 500 petitions.
Of all of La Alcaldesa‘s potential challengers, Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid is the one most likely to also try the petition route. The others that have been floated as possible contenders are Commissioner Raquel Regalado, former Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, whose flexing for the White House is just that, flexing.
Nobody else has started collecting petitions, yet, however. Not that we know of.
Any registered Miami-Dade voter, Democrat or Republican can sign a petition to put someone on the ballot in a non-partisan race — and it doesn’t mean you have to vote for the candidate when Election Day comes.
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