So, the common thinking is that Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine 
could be a contender for the Miami-Dade mayoral race in 2016.
But maybe he’s got his eyes set on a higher power: The governor’s mansion? Perhaps a race for U.S. Senate if Sen. Bill Nelson retires or Sen. Marco Rubio heads for the White House?
Levine has paid for an advertisement in the SaintPetersBlog, the West Coast’s No. 1 political website. It links readers to the 60-minute video of his self-aggrandizing, larger-than-life State of the City address from Nov. 6.
That event was made a bigger deal this year, at the Miami Beach Convention Center instead of City Hall, and had at least as big an audience — maybe bigger — than the State of the County address by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
Included in the video, is the introduction by City Manager Jimmy Morales, who spent at least 10 minutes praising Levine, “the city’s No. 1 cheerleader,” and seemed to be laying it on a little thick.
Read related story: Get in line! List of 2016 would-be mayoral challengers grows
Anyway, was that a sign of larger ambitions? Then there are the constant Facebook ads. Didn’t the last one have Levine — a Democrat who has raised money nationally for other Dems — pictured with Hillary Clinton? Then he goes on a whirlwind tour of Israel, even getting an invite to the private residence of President Shimon Peres Saturday.
And now this? Looks like he’s campaigning for something bigger than re-election.
“Ad paid for entirely from Philip Levine’s personal funds,” says the disclaimer in the ad in the SaintPetersBlog, which serves a city about 264 miles away from Miami Beach.
But why would anyone in the St. Pete area be interested in the state of Miami Beach via Levine? It has caused some to think that Levine is looking at the governor’s race in 2018 as a possible next step for him.
Nick Steffens, a Tampa area political operative, got the same impression when he tweeted about it Sunday.
Philip Levine goes for statewide appeal… Gov in 2018? added by Ladra on
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