In the final stretch of the Miami-Dade mayoral election, two separate internal polls put county Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava comfortably in the runoff.
Former Mayor Alex Penelas — who came in third in an independent business group poll Ladra posted about on Political Cortadito Aug. 6 — released a new poll of 350 likely primary voters Aug. 7-9. In his poll, of course, Penelas 
is in the lead with 27% of those surveyed saying they would vote for him. Levine Cava got 22%, Commissioner Esteban “Stevie” Bovo got 20% and Commissioner Xavier Suarez, who was also trailing in the other poll, was at 11%.
About 34% of the voters in this survey, released by the campaign, said they had voted already. Of the 66% who had not voted, Penelas was in the lead, closely followed by Suarez, then followed by Levine Cava and Bovo trailing behind.
Bovo does much better in an internal poll released Tuesday by Levine Cava, which mirrors the business group poll that was leaked last week that predicts a runoff between the two political polar opposites. But her poll, with a margin of error about 4.5%, could also indicate a runoff between her and Penelas.
Read related: Internal poll gives Xavier Suarez thin lead over Alex Penelas in mayoral race
In her own poll, conducted by San Francisco-based Change Research — a left leaning firm and the only pollster to predict a primary gubernatorial victory for Andrew Gillum — Levine Cava has 25% of the vote while 21% goes to Bovo. Penelas gets about 20% and Suarez gets 11%. Among the 35% of the 473 voters surveyed Aug. 3-6 who had already voted, 31% voted for the only female 
candidate and 25% voted for Penelas. Bovo was at 20% and Suarez at 12%.
This poll, the fifth internal poll by the Levine Cava campaign, also indicated that while Penelas and Suarez have much higher name ID, they also have higher unfavorables. It also shows that Bovo, the only Republican, is consolidating the GOP support as expected in this nonpartisan race, with 56% of that vote. Levine Cava dominates the Democrats with 42% of their support, while Penelas, who only draws 26% of the blue ballots, does better with NPAs, which is the largest number of undecideds at 30%.
That’s important because there is a lot to gain there. And its ironic that the fewest number of NPA votes are going to the only NPA candidate, Suarez.
A poll, of course, is simply a window in time. And while we all know how unreliable they were in 2016, the scenes from all these windows show DLC makes it to November.
Competing polls show Daniella Levine Cava in runoff for Miami-Dade mayor added by Ladra on
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Daniella is a real leader and the only one which is not toxicated with corruption and stealing tax payers money. No more sopa Cubana in Miami!!!!
Why do some of these comments seem like they are written by staff?
There is definitely risk with any candidate. To say there isn’t means to deny reality.
She really has been nonstop campaigning for the last 8 years, especially outside of her district.
She should really have focused on moving the needle in South Dade so we may all read a list of accomplishments.
Unfortunately, right now, is not the time to take a chance on someone without public budgeting & public management experience.
It’s great that she is a nice lady who makes people feel good, but we owe it to our future to do better than to give away an election to someone without the executive public administration experience to be successful.
Sorry.
PB Registered Voter, I am a run of the mill voter, NOT a staffer of any kind.
But it sounds like you would vote for Attila the Hun because he had “executive public administration experience”. Sort of like voting for Alex Penelas, with unparalleled “executive experience” in lobbyist boot-licking.
Palmetto Bay Resident,
Penelas’ Massive / Disgusting Gravy Train of lobbyists and corruption from last time he got in as Mayor is WAY too well known to voters here. Cava is known for her proven good sense on the dais as a commissioner for some years now.
So no big risk with Cava, but 100% SURE to be swamped by corruption with Penelas !
Daniella Levine Cava is a true leader.
Since her election in 2018, she has focused on delivering for District 8 on a variety of issues: Fighting for a fair share of resources for South Dade, increasing the County police force by 80 officers, expanding economic opportunity, championing parks and the environment, advocating for transit improvements and better planning, and hosting the annual South Dade Solutions Summit. To date, she has secured over $30 million in funds for infrastructure projects in South Dade.
That’s nothing to scoff at.
NOT a SINGLE Choice on This ? Crooks , Crooks and More Crook$ ! Who OWE$ More Favor$ that will be Paid back With Our Taxes ? What a Swamp ?
Polls are irrelevant similar to the press. At one time the press was fundamentally important to keep all levels of government in check. This no longer is true. As the press in this country has become more liberal and propaganda based instead of factual and neutral based, it doesn’t play an important any longer. Folks are no longer being truthful in responding to polls, because the press can’t be trusted and unethical.
Prepare yourselves for Portland 2.0 if leftist Cava gets elected to office. Do yourselves a favor and listen to her platform. Listen to what she plans to do to our police department to appease 20% of our population. Prepare to open your wallets so we can pay for all the social services she plans to create. The middle class and the working citizen have been cast aside by Cava. Her interest is only to appease those who do not want to work and those who procreate 12 out-of-wedlock children so the state can raise them.
The least likely to screw us over means electing the Devil that we know….
Daniella is likely to mismanage everything and cost us more tax payer dollares, especially in the recovery of the pandemic.
She has not proven herself to be an effective manager. She doesn’t even manage her own nonprofit.
Everyone thinks she is the Queen of Niceness. I don’t know if you have ever had to deal with the county, but we really don’t want someone who is going to be blind to the corruption. There will be even more corruption under her watch because the county powers will know how to get away with poor service and corrupt practices with her at the helm.
The leadership she has shown is her big mouth. She has been vocal, and she has been visible. Essentially, she has been campaigning for years and used her BCC to continue campaigning.
What we need to see are tangible wins… where are they? She may have grasped some low hanging fruit to inch her agenda along, but what has she accomplished to make my life or work better in Miami-Dade?
We might have to hold our nose, and I don’t like it, but the unknown is much worse in 2020 than voting for Alex Penelas.
We need to vote for who we know.
As a native Miamian and veteran, I will never forgive Penelas for changing the name of Dade County; named after a real person, (Major Francis Dade who was killed in an ambush by Seminole Indians in 1835) to Miami-Dade County thus dishonoring Francis Dade, Major, US Army. Not to mention the millions is cost to make the change; a total waste of taxpayer money.
D8 Voter,
You have just described EVERY Cuban politico in Miami and I mean EVERYONE from Commissioners , Mayors , Senators , Congress REGARDLESS of party here which is a joke , it means nothing .
Just the Facts,
Miami is STILL very much a sanctuary city . Gimenez has lied to you .
Before the virus roughly 8 months ago I witnesses a car accident at 3 am ( I work at night and see MANY accidents coming home from work especially Fri/Sat ) .
Either way I called 911 as thought someone might be dead , to make a long story short , one driver had expired visa , other just illegal and police just gave them both summonses or whatever its called for them to appear in court .
This was in Coral Way .
What Gimenez says and does are VERY different , truth is what ALL these Miami politicos say and do are very different so if sanctuary city is an issue for you , I strongly suggest a non Hispanic politico because not one here is doing a thing but lip service .
I would not put any weight on a poll of all things predicting an actual runoff .
Perhaps and that is a HUGE perhaps on a good day they might predict a winner but a runoff ?
Unfortunately Miami-Dade voters had to choose from recycled political candidates, it’s like picking from Ali Baba and the forty thieves. No one candidate stands out, all have questionable past actions, so choose the lesser of the evils. The one person that can do less harm in the Mayor’s seat. Daniella Levine Cava supports sanctuary cities for those of you that want to live in a state of sanctuary and all that comes with that. Ms. Levina Cava as County commissioner broke the promise of the transit tax by voting every year to divert transit tax money to fund operations. Result $400 million of transit tax money misspent that could have been used to build the new metrora
Just keep in mind those five names indelibly connected: Penelas-Shiver—Korge—Barreto-Mestre.
ANYBODY but Penelas !!
Daniella Levine does not listen to the people. She does what she thinks is best for the people. When her own people wanted her to fight for rail, she fought for buses. She is too busy being on social media instead of helping her constituents.
She didn’t even secure the funding needed to upgrade the South Dade corridor for her own vision of Bus Rapid Transit, let alone light rail or metro rail.
She spends money on reports which are not implemented. She spends money on gathering people for summits to which nothing is accomplished.
She loves to cheat the system. She expects people to give her free labor for her to exploit for her political gain.
She uses her status as an attorney to skirt the law. Look how she is costing us more money to have a special election to replace her seat. She knew a long time ago that she was running for mayor, but she made her resignation effective so that a special election would have to be held.
She has notoriously broken the cone of silence rule to listen to those who are her friends on zoning and CDMP matters.
She is not more fair or honest. She is just better at branding herself that way.
She continues to make money off of poor people. Her wealth has increased while in office without even having a real job. This should be a red flag. She isn’t using her magic to make anyone else’s wealth increase.
Her office is only able to help, if you are a person of influence in South Dade. She will continue helping the elite, and continue making everyone think she is out there doing the work of Mother Theresa. It kills me to see her pretend to go church because it’s all for show. The woman is Jewish, but she gets all of the big churches to let her campaign then she takes off before communion or the service even starts.
We need someone who is actually qualified and able to manage more than just selfies and social media. A río revuelto, ganancia de pescadores.
Cava isn’t the only female candidate
Alex Penelas as Mayor gave away public land to a billionaire who built a for-profit stadium YET the taxpayers never saw a penny in rent for 16 years UNTIL the billionare wanted an early lease extension. Penelas and his staff stole from the public.