Nobody would say who is going to endorse Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava in her run for mayor on Tuesday, but it seems the big mystery is meant to look like it’s one of the other mayoral hopefuls who got cut out of the race last week.
It’s not.
Both former mayor Alex Penelas, the other Democrat who came in third in the non partisan race and Commissioner Xavier Suarez, the independent thinker who came in last — he’s a lover, not a fighter — told Ladra that neither of them had given DLC their endorsement.
“It’s not me,” Penelas texted Ladra late Monday, after he refused to pick up the phone a couple of times. Further text inquiries were also ignored.
It would have been weird to see Penelas support Levine Cava after all the attacks on her from his Bold Vision political action committee and all the dark money she used to attack him. But then again, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez, who called Donald Trump a conman in 2016, is scheduled to sing his praises Tuesday at the Republican National Convention.
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And Suarez told Ladra in a phone call that it wasn’t him either.
“I really don’t know yet,” said Suarez, about who he would recommend to the 43,841 voters that chose him in the election last week. It could be either DLC or Commissioner Esteban Bovo, both of whom sit with him on the dais. Or it could be neither.
“I’m not going to take a real long time to decide, but it’s not going to be tomorrow,” Suarez said Monday.
“She has not answered, and neither has Bovo, my 10-point plan,” X said, referring to his list of priorities that include transportation, affordable housing, “streamlining” government and resiliency. He turned to Twitter to express himself.
“I don’t know how to do it without violating the Sunshine Law. None of this has anything to do with anything before November. But I want answers about after. Show me that you’re listening,” Suarez said.
“Memo #1 to Mayoral candidates: In re defamatory attack ads against me, all is forgiven,” he tweeted Sunday. “In re: your attacks against each other, it’s not so much an issue of forgiving as of bad form. Suggest you stick to issues, as per my next memo.
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“Memo #2 to Mayoral Candidates. The attached summary of priorities is what I will base my endorsement on,” he said, attaching a two-page talking points primer on the four priorities. “No single item is a disqualifier, but in the next memo I will post an item, related to COVID19, that is a sine qua non.”
In the very next post, he included a photo from the backseat of an Uber ride.
“Memo #3 to Mayoral candidates. Photo: plastic contraption created by Uber driver. He works from 6 to 6 to feed his wife & 8 yr old son. Bec schools are closed, wife cannot work as Med asst to pediatrician. They survive on food stamps/Medicaid. Will discuss more tomorrow at BCC.”
He would have made a great mayor.
But if not Suarez, if not Penelas, then who?
Levine Cava already has a long list of endorsements from unions, progressive groups and nearly every Democrat elected in the 786. None of them got this kind of mystery advance anticipation. And one would think that a virtual press conference to “announce a key endorsement” one week after the first round would mean it was a big deal.
Campaign consultant Christian Ulvert did not return calls and texts to his phone Tuesday night. He probably wants people to believe it could be one of the other mayoral candidates.
Could it be Monique Barley? She got 22,823 votes. And if the first round is any indication, this runoff is going to be tight and either candidate would welcome Barley’s 23K votes.