His Miami YouTube show helped push Cuban Americans to Trump. Now he wants to be mayor

Vowing to root out “communists” in Miami, YouTube host Alexander Otaola said this week he will run for Miami-Dade County mayor in 2024 — a plan that would put his influence among younger Cuban-American Republicans to the test.

Otaola gained national attention in the run-up to the 2020 election for promoting former President Donald Trump’s reelection on his Spanish-language show, targeting a younger Cuban-American demographic that helped deliver the Republican incumbent a surprising narrow seven-point loss in Miami-Dade and an easy win in Florida.

Detractors, including Miami Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi, accuse Otaola of spreading “disinformation” to his audience, and Mother Jones has described his show as a mix of “Jerry Springer, Judge Judy, Entertainment Tonight, and Breitbart.”

“We live in insane times, so insane things are still possible,” Amandi said. “But it would be downright dangerous for a disinformation specialist like Otaola to even be seen as a credible candidate for the most powerful office in the county.”

Otaola could not be reached for comment. His brief announcement Tuesday on his “Hola Ota-Ola!” show didn’t mention Miami-Dade’s incumbent mayor, Democrat Daniella Levine Cava.

“We are going to get the communists out of Miami,” Otaola said in Spanish, as first reported on the Periodico Cubano site. “If I win I will do everything, absolutely everything so that not a single dollar comes out of this city, this county, to feed the Cuban dictatorship.”

Otaola hasn’t filed any candidacy papers, and it’s not known if his comments will amount to an actual run in a race where leading candidates typically raise millions of dollars and in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans.

Levine Cava said last year she plans to run again. Her political committee on Thursday declined to address Otaola’s statement but said the mayor “continues to receive broad support from across the community.”

Pedro Diaz, a Republican campaign consultant in Miami, said an Otaola candidacy could siphon voters from a more established GOP candidate who would want to try and unseat Levine Cava in the 2024 election.

He doesn’t see Otaola’s audience delivering a big launching pad in a county where a winning candidate needs broad appeal across all demographic groups.

“He does have a strong following, but mainly with Cubans. Here in Miami-Dade, it’s a melting pot,” Diaz said. “Would he get votes? Yes. Because of his following. I don’t think he would do too well.”

Miami Herald reporter Lesley Cosme Torres contributed to this report.

This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 8:38 PM.