Ex-candidate Xavier Suarez endorses Bovo over Levine Cava in Miami-Dade mayoral race

Esteban “Steve” Bovo Jr. picked up another endorsement from a former rival Monday after fellow county commissioner Xavier Suarez backed Bovo over Daniella Levine Cava to be the next Miami-Dade mayor.

Suarez finished fourth in the mayoral primary that ended Aug. 18 with Bovo and Levine Cava, also a county commissioner, facing each other in a November runoff election. Both candidates sought the endorsement of Suarez, Miami’s first Cuban-born mayor whose son, Francis Suarez, is the city’s current mayor.

In the mayoral race, Suarez won about 10% of the vote. His endorsement statement praises Bovo’s approach to police issues and criticized Levine Cava for wanting COVID restrictions on businesses that are too strict.

He called Levine Cava’s call for a 25% capacity cap on restaurant dining rooms “sheer folly” and rejected her criticism of the county’s COVID response. She “never could explain why she was unsatisfied with what I consider a magnificent performance by our county — both in terms of public and private health.”

Francis Suarez has been a top critic of the COVID response by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who faces term limits in November and is the Republican nominee in the congressional race for Florida’s 26th district. The younger Suarez, a central part of his father’s mayoral campaign, hasn’t weighed in on the fall contest between Bovo and Levine Cava.

In the primary, Bovo ran as the clear choice for Republican voters, with campaign ads that featured President Donald Trump and backing from stars of Florida’s GOP, including Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. Levine Cava ran as the choice for Democrats, running to the left of fellow Democrat Alex Penelas, the former county mayor who finished third in the nonpartisan primary.

Suarez was a Republican until 2012, and was elected twice to Miami-Dade’s District 7 as an independent. He has voted against Bovo on a number of high-profile issues before the County Commission.

Suarez opposed Miami-Dade dropping “sanctuary” policies for alleged immigration offenders at county jails in 2017, and Bovo voted for it. Bovo backed Miami-Dade paying Brightline $76 million to build an Aventura station; Suarez opposed it. They split on the right transit mode to South Dade, with Bovo backing rapid-transit bus and Suarez wanting Miami-Dade to wait until it could afford Metrorail. On Monday, they split on creating a civilian police review board, which Bovo opposed.

For the fall campaign, Bovo is emphasizing the nonpartisan status role of Miami-Dade’s mayor. His first endorsement after the primary came from Monique Nicole Barley, a Democrat who finished fifth in the six-person mayoral race who said she is preparing to leave the party.

Levine Cava’s endorsements have mostly highlighted her role as the Democratic Party’s candidate. On Monday her campaign announced backing from Democrats representing Miami-Dade in the Florida House of Representatives: Joe Geller, Javi Fernandez, Shevrin Jones, Cindy Polo and Barbara Watson. Miami-Dade’s Democratic Party also released an attack ad titled “We Can Not Trust Steve Bovo,” and a party official said at least $25,000 would go into airing it.

In a statement, Jones said: “There’s no question that our community is ready for change, and Daniella Levine Cava is the leader to get it done.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 9:38 AM.