The email is almost breathless.
“I’m not sure if you heard the news, but our campaign is under attack and we need your support,” read the email addressed to 
me from Miami-Dade Commission candidate Daniella Levine Cava. “Rather than starting with a positive message, our opponent has begun airing television commercials attacking me directly.”
Levine is whining about a video ad that a PAC put out for Commissioner Lynda Bell. It was posted on YouTube last week and basically calls Levine a carpet bagger.
“Okay, this is about to get complicated. So follow closely,” a woman’s voice narrates over a map of Miami-Dade.
“This is where Daniella Levine Cava lived. Then she bought a house here,” the map moves south to District 7. “Then a few 
months ago, she decided to run for office, so she bought another house here,” the woman says, the map indicating where Levine purchased her million-dollar home three days before the required residency deadline.
“But she still owns that house over there. So if she loses, she can move back. That’s convenient,” the annoyed woman says.
“Daniella Levine Cava is not from here. And she doesn’t know us. That’s not complicated.”
The ad is paid for Good Government Now, an EOC chaired by none other than Wendy Lobos, who got at least $20,000 from Wayne Rosen, $10,000 from Sunlife Stadium (wonder how she’s going to vote on Tuesday), and $10,000 from the Safe Wrap airport plastic people. It also got $2,500 from New Leadership Network, a PAC chaired by none other than lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez, which is seemingly working for all the incumbents. It has collected $50,000 out of Lopez’s lobbying clients: $30,000 from Florida Power & Light — which has been trying for years to get approval to run power lines up and down U.S. 1 — and $20,000 from the Homestead Miami Speedway. Another $30,000 comes from an engineering company in Charlotte, NC, and $18,000 from project managers in Colorado.
Neither Levine nor Bell nor their campaign people could be immediately reached for comment. But we can say that the carpet bagger attack was expected, as it has been a whisper campaign for weeks.
Levine’s new home at 15360 SW 67 CT was purchased in November last year. She and husband Robert Cava still own a home on Jeronimo Drive in Coral Gables purchased in 1993 for $575,000 that is worth $1.36 million today. County property records also show that the couple own a medical office building on LeJeune Road purchased in 2000 for $220,600.
So what? If that’s the best Bell and her supporters have to throw at this neophyte candidate, they are in trouble. Because Levine can pick through a treasure trove of stuff to attack Bell. And she indicated Tuesday that she will.
Related reading: Candidate Daniella Levine seizes library issue opportunity
“Elaine, let’s be honest: our campaign to move South Dade forward is gaining serious momentum, and our opponent is 
scared,” Levine Cava personally wrote to me. “So instead of proposing new ideas to help working families in District 8, she has decided to attack me instead.”
Smart cookie that she is, she turned it into an opportunity to raise funds. “We need your help to fight back. Contribute $25, $50, or $100 right now to help us get on TV with our message of integrity, vision and results for South Dade. Our opponent is scared to talk about her record, so we need to set the record straight and give the voters a clear choice on August 26th.”
Let the counter attacks begin.
Attacks on in heated District 8 Miami-Dade commission race added by Ladra on
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[…] PACs and ECOs. We already new that the Good Government Now, with nearly $140,000, is helping her, at least paying for the TV ad about her challenger being a carpetbagger. But there are likely others that will come out of the woodwork right around […]
The ad has been taken out of context. It is not how many houses she has or how wealthy she is. The fact is that she is an outsider moving into the district just to run. Her roots are from up north. That is all the ad was stating.
Cute??? Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Lynda Bell seems to sell us out to the businesses that best line her pockets… I guess she is our pimp since she takes money from groups from thousands of miles away….
I think it is more concerning that she seeks funds from outside of our district than DLC moving into the district…
to “Tired resident” – please don’t tell me that you’re voting for Daniella because is “cute as a button.”
Good Lord, save us from brainless voters!
Mostly, the negative is in the distorted photo of Daniella, who is naturally cute as a button.
You don’t see many first time candidates spinning a neg this well in their favor. Levine has an uphill battle, but she’s pretty impressive for a first-timer.
Some of us own multiple properties, but I don’t understand how this is complicated?
‘“Okay, this is about to get complicated. So follow closely,” a woman’s voice narrates over a map of Miami-Dade.’
Doesn’t seem complicated to me? I think you have to be a moron to think it is…. I guess Commissioner Bell finds it complicated???
Reminding the voters how wealthy and successful your opponent is AND pointing out she is giving it up just to remove you from office might not be my call as the best way to attack… But then JLL has more than half the county convinced his boss is doing a great job AND helped him get both Mickey and Ross public money against all odds (really? a $4 million rebate for Ross, exactly the amount of the property tax deal he asked for?)
So I’m not second guessing a spin master with 3 championship rings.
Commissioner Bell! I regret voting for her. Coise, you are so right about her.
GO Daniella!!
I know what Daniela have done for the community and she has helped many in what she has done, not only for South Dade, but for all of Miami Dade County. She is for the people. I still can’t recollect one thing that commissioner Bell has done. Have you rallied for causes, did you go to Tallahassee to right for healthcare, education, employment, taxes and most of all, ALL of South Dade. I think not, lets get with the program. We all know who Daniela is and what she has done. So what she owns a nice home. She is simply living the American dream. Doesn’t the president own a nice home along with all those that came before him.
I saw the ad numerous times after I read your blog and quite frankly, I can’t conclude that this was a negative ad at all.
I mean, you yourself, stated that Mrs. Levine still owns a home in District 7 and just moved to District 8 in November – “days before the residency deadline.”
This is not a negative attack, its just a very inconvenient truth.