Here’s a commercial you didn’t see during the Super Bowl.
The first and anticipated video attacking Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava for her $2.5 billion bomb, er, bond initiative, revealed last month at the State of the County address, is out. It’s not on TV. It will probably be on a smart phone near you soon, in the form of a text message. It is paid for by a political action committee chaired by Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, the mayor’s only true challenger.
“Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has big plans for Miami-Dade taxpayers,” starts the 30-second spot with ominous music in the background. Ladra posted the video to her YouTube page. There are snippets of news coverage and footage of the mayor’s announcement as well as the headlines that it made.
Read related: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava drops $2.5 billion bomb, er, bond plan at SOTC
“Mayor Daniella Levine Cava now wants us to trust her with an additional $2.5 billion of our tax dollars,” a voice says. “We’ve had enough of her raising taxes.”
This is going to be a recurring theme of the campaign for Cid, who is being positioned as the every man in the race, running against an out-of-touch millionaire social worker just playing the part.
The piece says it’s paid for by The People’s Voice, a PAC opened in September of 2022 by Cid. It has raised $201,750 so far, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed for the last quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, La Alcaldesa’s PAC, Our Democracy, raised $291,480 just in the last quarter — and more than $1 million since last March.
Recent contributions to Our Democracy include $25,000 from NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, $20,000 from Dario Sala, a former professional soccer player who is now in sports manager and head of business development for The Women’s Cup, $10,000 each from developer Michael Simkins, land use and zoning attorney Jeffrey Bercow and lobbyist Les Pantin and $4,000 from former Miami-Dade Director of Transportation and Public Works Alice Bravo, now a lobbyist.
Read related: Old and new PACs start to raise, trade funds again to prepare for 2024 election
Among the bigger contributions to The People’s Voice are $55,000 from three separate companies owned by Jorge Velazquez, including Gorky Recycling, $20,000 from Layer 8 Solutions, an IT company, $10,000 from Alex and Desiree Damiron, healthcare professionals who live in New Jersey, and $5,000 from President Supermarket.
There are four other candidates, but none of them are serious contenders. The only one who has reported any kind of money is Alex Otaola, a social media influencer who loaned himself $20,000 and got another $171,000 plus in more than 11,000 teeny, tiny contributions, including many for just $1. Seems like a stunt.
But Ladra still has a sensation that this is not going to be the last video ad in the campaign that focuses on her $2.5 billion bomb. Take cover.
Manny Cid PAC hits Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on $2.5 billion bond added by Ladra on
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