Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava crushed a large field of challengers in Tuesday night’s primary to win re-election and avoid a Nov. 5 runoff.
The non-partisan race for county mayor was open to all registered Miami-Dade voters, and by winning over 50% of the votes she was able to claim victory outright, without a runoff election in November. She won more than 58% of votes, according to the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections office.
Six candidates had challenged the incumbent mayor to manage one of the nation’s largest and most diverse counties and oversee its $11.7 billion budget, and thousands of employees.
Amid cheering supporters at the Ball and Chain nightclub in Little Havana, Levine Cava promised to center her second term in office on affordable housing, transportation, public safety and infrastructure.
“At a time when so many want to divide us, they put up walls between us based on political differences, silencing voices of reason and progress, in Miami-Dade we have shown that we can lead differently,” said Levine Cava. “Just as I promised you four years ago, tonight, I again promise to lead this way for four more years.”
Speaking to WLRN, Levine Cava said the strong support shows that the community has placed “trust” in her administration to continue on for four more years.
“I won decisively, so I can lead decisively. That is the plan,” Levine Cava told WLRN.