Democrat Daniella Levine Cava to face Republican Esteban Bovo for Miami-Dade Mayor [View all]

County commissioners Esteban “Steve” Bovo Jr. and Daniella Levine Cava are headed for a fall runoff to decide who will be Miami-Dade’s next mayor after a comeback bid by former mayor Alex Penelas failed to catch on with voters who turned out in record numbers for an August primary.

The third-place finish for Penelas, 58, came despite the advantages he brought to the six-person race to replace outgoing incumbent Carlos Gimenez. Penelas held a wide lead in fundraising, securing more than $5 million from donors, and entered the contest with high name recognition in an election where the COVID-19 pandemic made voter contact and media attention far more challenging than in past years.

Partisan enthusiasm seemed to doom Penelas, the last Democrat to serve as mayor before leaving office after two terms in 2004. Fellow Democrat Levine Cava ran to his left and locked in support from the party establishment to finish narrowly in second in an officially non-partisan primary in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a wide margin.

“It turned into a hyper-partisan election,” Penelas said after calling Bovo and Levine Cava to concede the race. “While that may be good politically, it will make it hard to govern.”



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