It’s an informal, unscientific and likely flawed survey, done online via email blasts through Survey Monkey, 
a free site that provides such services, but it gives us what could be the first glimpse of what will happen in Miami Beach Nov. 3.
Despite all the bad press Mayor Philip Levine has gotten lately — what with the streets still flooding and that shady shakedown PAC he defended and, now, his campaign consultant being the lobbyist to redevelop Rebecca Towers — he is still beating attorney David Wieder with 52% of the vote among the 200 voters polled.
Read related story: Rebecca Towers and a campaign manager’s $10,000 a month
But Levine could become a lame duck mayor — ala Michael Pizzi in Miami Lakes, who has zero allies on the town council and can’t get a thing passed — because none of his handpicked candidates in the three open seats are winning. In fact, all three slate mates are going down in flames, according to this very unscientific poll.
When asked who they would vote for today, the poll has Mark Weithorn with 59% of the vote, 
beating Levine slate mate Ricky Arriola (right in photo) who has just 41%. It also Mark Samuelian beating Levine plantidate John Elizabeth Aleman (center in photo), 61% to 39%. In the third group, where there is a clusterbunch of candidates, Levine slate mate Betsy Perez (left in photo) doesn’t even make it to the runoffs, getting only 17%. The top vote getters are Kristen Rosen Gonzalez with 30% and Scott Diffenderfer with 23%. Michael DeFilippi is in fourth place with 15%.
Read related story: Open Miami Beach seats become mayoral power playground
Even with a six or seven percent margin of error, those gaps are pretty scary for the slate mates.
Ladra got a chance to see the internal
poll directly from the website, not the campaign that commissioned it, whose anonymity was a condition of access. But the numbers look right to me. They jive with what I’ve been hearing on the street and from my sources.
The poll also questioned voters about the FAR increase on building height for Ocean Terrace, a measure on the ballot, and the convention center hotel. An overwhelming 70% of the voters said they opposed the FAR increase, a measure that was pushed by one developer connected to the mayor through his political consultant. They also overwhelmingly support a convention center hotel, with 65% saying yes.
Survey: Phil Levine ekes by, but slate mates are slam dunked added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
