Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava is all in.
The 64-year-old who wants to make history as the county’s first female mayor made it official Friday when she submitted her 
resignation letter to the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections, as required by Florida’s “resign to run” law.
This also means that her seat officially opens up, and the four candidates who have already filed paperwork to run for the District 8 seat in 2022 (more on that later) have to hurry up and hurry up for what will likely be a special election after November. There is likely no time to put that race on the August ballot.
“With our county facing many challenges and the office for Miami-Dade County Mayor on the ballot this year, I intend to submit qualifying paperwork for the office during the qualifying period that begins on Tuesday, May 26,” Levine Cava wrote to Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Christina White.
“This correspondence shall serve as my irrevocable resignation as Miami-Dade Commissioner for District 8 effective November 16, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.
Read related: Jean Monestime says COVID19 cut short his Miami-Dade mayoral bid
This comes on the heels of an internal poll released earlier this week that shows Levine Cava in the lead position with 22% 
support over former Mayor Alex Penelas (with 20%), and Commissioners Xavier Suarez (14%) and Esteban Bovo (10%), both of whom are termed out this year. There are seven other candidates who got 10% between them and another 23% of the voters said they were undecided.
But that means 77% of the voters decided she was not the one for them.
The poll of 487 people, done between April 30 and May 3, also indicates that 23% of the voters are still undecided. That’s more than the number of voters who like Levine Cava. And, if she makes it into a head to head contest with Penelas or Suarez in November, how much of the the other 77% does she think she can take?
Of course, it’s an internal poll, which aren’t always reliable, and it is exactly the opposite of the Penelas internal poll earlier this year that had Penelas and Suarez almost head to head and Levine Cava in the dust with Bovo. Ladra asked for but did not get the entire poll with the language in the questions. The campaign only released a few snapshots.
Read related: Miami-Dade mayoral push poll precedes first 2020 debate Tuesday
But Levine Cava also qualified via signed petitions — that may already indicate 12,254 people, or the 1% of the registered voters she needed, are willing to give her their vote. The campaign said they submitted more than 20,000 petitions, making Levine Cava the first county mayoral candidate to qualify that way.
And she has added a lot to her fat bank accounts. Between her campaign account ($648,000) and her Our Democracy political action committee ($1.85 million), her $2.5 million in campaign contributions, according to the last campaign finance reports through March 31, is only bested by the $4 mil plus collected by Penelas.
Recent events have also, lets admit it, helped someone who has always championed workers’ rights and 
recently proposed earned sick leave, which would protect workers during this COVID19 pandemic, an idea that was shot down at the commission’s policy council. She also has been using online tele town halls, like one last week about COVID reopening and federal and state resources, even before the pandemic forced others to go virtual.
“This election is squarely a choice between our past challenges and a bold future,” Levine-Cava said in an earlier statement.
“The crisis we face today only sheds light on why the choice our community makes in their next County Mayor is extremely critical. As we look to heal the hurt, comfort the anxious and rebuild shattered businesses, we need a mayor who will bridge coalitions, lift up every sector of Miami-Dade County, has the compassion to lead with conviction and is ready to execute a plan that draws from the strength within our community to get us through what will be some of the hardest times in modern history.”
“That’s the track record I have in this community for nearly 40-years,” she said.
Senior campaign advisor Christian Ulvert said the poll numbers are especially significant because the truly aggressive voter outreach has not begun yet.
Read related: Daniella Levine Cava’s first Miami-Dade mayoral 2020 mailer hit last week
“With the election fast approaching, the latest numbers in the race for mayor confirm what we continue to hear across Miami-Dade County — Daniella Levine Cava continues to bring together a broad coalition of residents just as she did in 2014 in her decisive win to the county commission,” Ulvert said in a statement.
“From day one, we launched a campaign that was by the people and for the people, and Daniella’s grassroots effort to be the first ever to qualify by petition shows how excited voters about her candidacy,” he said, adding that this was significant because the real voter outreach has not begun yet. “As we enter the next phase of the campaign where we will deploy an aggressive voter communication program, I am confident we will continue to see this lead expand and grow.”
Ulvert also said that Levine Cava has seen her countywide name recognition grow to 62% as she ventures 
into communities that never heard of her before, like Aventura and West Miami-Dade. But she is practically as unknown as Bovo, who is basically a stranger outside Hialeah and Miami Lakes.
And the poll also found good news for Xavier Suarez, who had the highest countywide name recognition with 89% — two points higher than Penelas who did serve as countywide mayor from 1996 to 2004 and wants the job back.
“The name recognition figures seem to be the only objective and well done part of that poll,” Suarez told Ladra Sunday. “With an almost 90% name recognition and my otherwise established favorable ratings — 3.5 to 1 in a February poll — I am quite confident of my chances.”
The survey also asked voters their feelings about Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who got 37% favorability and a 63% approval rating for his response on the COVID19 crisis.
So Levine Cava’s ass kissing is apparently poll driven.
Daniella Levine Cava resigns to run for mayor on heels of happy internal poll added by Ladra on
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What is the main rationale for Alex Panelas to run after so many years out of the political arena. He is a nice guy and i like him but he is a generation ago. We are going forward with a situation that is truly into the unknown and is a person from yesterday the right person? I would throw in Xavier Suarez in this too. Been around a long time. What new thinking can we get?
Waiting till the Last Minute to resign ! How convenient want to make sure it did’t happen like to Barreiro that was found W/O a job . Our Politicians are Run by Lobbyist and Bribes ( Donations in MDC ) Their mind will be or could be Manipulated ? Remember The 6600 Complaints at MIA to Allow UBER in and The Ambassador taxis that where permitted to Operate for 10 Years them ,NOW Rebeca Sosa Pass an Ordinance allowing those taxis 15 (FIFTEEN YEARS ) to operate ? I Wonder Moss ,Edmonson,Jordan,Bovo,Monestime,Heyman,Souto & Diaz Where all There and they ALL Forgot ? “or” Was the Donations That Changed Their Mind ? In Other Hand The Limo Industry Have NOT gotten Any permits since 2008? Must NOT Pay To Play ?
She has energy, she understands the system and she’s been a very effective representative for her constituents in District 8 for two terms. Her priorities match up with mine quite well and I find her among the most approachable. She really values the volunteers and the grass roots approach, as evidence by her ground-breaking ballot initiative. I hope this translates into a win for her and her supporters — and therefore everyone in the county.
Why not enough time for special election to fill her seat? Ohh yeah because she CHOSE to delay her resignation until there was not enough time! She knew she had to resign the day she announced she was running for Mayor! Now she is going to cost the County a boat load of money that could have been spent on the needs of those affected by the pandemic! Her selfishness shows why she is a typical politician who does not deserve our vote! Had she offered her resignation earlier she would not have been able to hold those government town hall meetings and send those letters every week to the governor and Mayor being critical of their handling of the crisis as commissioner…nope she is using the pandemic to campaign for another office from the seat she is quitting. After telling the voters she would serve a four year term if they elected her to county commissioner. She is craven I will give her that…and another reason to delay this resignation is so she can run for her “old” seat back in the special election after she loses the mayoral campaign! Yup just the kind of selfish politician that America is getting sick and tired of as we turn to government to help us in need and realize most politicans like Cava talk a good game but in the end it’s about themselves not us!
Daniella has worked to help people have opportunity and security her whole career. I’m so excited to see her run for mayor!
Your math is bad. If Cava has 22% and there are 23% undecided, that most certainly does NOT mean that “77% of the voters decided she was not the one for them”.
Last I checked, undecided means … has not decided. So, even by your standards, the most you could say is that 55% currently prefer someone else.
Also, just because a voter prefers someone else doesn’t mean they have “decided” never to vote for a candidate. (E.g. Warren, who didn’t get that many first choices seems to have been far and away the second choice for a lot of Democratic primary voters).
Anyway, Cava’s math is is likely something like: Increase name recognition. Try to attract the undecided and pick up the bulk of Suarez’s votes. Then it’s all about turnout. This isn’t rocket science (see math above).
Further, Suarez’s name recognition is actually very BAD news for him given the weak poll showing — the opposite of the weak spin you channel without comment. Conventional wisdom is that candidates with a low name recognition have a higher ceiling than their current vote as some voters will be meeting them for the first time and may be persuadable; candidates with high name recognition, on the other hand, have a lower ceiling, since more voters already know them and are not buying.
Which one of the other candidates is paying you to be nasty to Cava? “Ass-kissing”? Really? I see no evidence of that in this post at all.
Mr. Nerd, you may be better at math than me but not better at politics. Choosing NOBODY is still making a different choice than picking YOU, or Daniella in this case. Because 23% prefer nobody right now to any of the candidates.
The other thing is your ending. Every single politician who Ladra has ever questioned or criticized has said the same thing: Who is paying you? It’s so predictable and ridiculous. I am not being paid by any mayoral or commission or school board or judicial campaign. That’s not how it works. And ass kissing? It wasn’t in the post. It’s in every day of her life since she was elected by people who expected her to push the Pets’ Trust and push back against the corruption in the Carlos Grimenez administration and, instead, she posed for photo opps with the mayor and adoptable puppies.
I also don’t see where I was nasty. Just honest. This is actually a good post for her. Just because she is a woman and progressive, doesn’t make her perfect.
Love, Ladra
Who’s worth for the Voters ? All this Recycle Politicians that we can’t trust and ALL The Favors they owed to their” Donors “?
There has to be a bunch of policy changes with the next Miami/Dade County Mayor because the establishment of Democrats and Republicans is so entrenched in the set up Politics behind closed doors .Agency’s like Miami/Dade County Ethics and Public Trust as well as the Miami/Dade County inspector General’s Office have very little accountability to the voters. The Agency’s that Tax payers fund are being stolen by Politicians like Miami/Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez as well as most Miami/Dade County Commissioners. The Miami/Dade County Ethics and Public Trust Agency is working for Miami/Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his Cronies not the Tax payers. That is obvious .First off ,there not only has to be conversation about policy changes but actually action taken to stop the corruption. All those people working at Miami/Dade County Ethics and Public Trust Agency are there just to collect a paycheck and eventually receive a Great Pension from us Tax Payers in Miami/Dade County .All the Miami/Dade County Attorneys that work in County Government have an Attitude that they should protect Miami/Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez along with anyone associated with him.The Corruption is within the Agency’s and just because Miami/Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez doesn’t want something or does want something it should not be fixed behind closed doors at Miami/Dade County hall or at Miami/Dade County Ethics and Public Trust Agency with the Lead Attorney Martha Perez as well as the Ethics Attorney for Miami/Dade County Gerald K. Sanchez. These Attorneys are making huge money and are enabling the Corruption by playing games with our Tax dollars !
she got my vote