Mayor Levine Cava Responds to Recall Election Efforts as Critics Mobilize in Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is pushing back against an effort by some county residents to recall her from office, dismissing the campaign as a political stunt, even as organizers begin the task of collecting the thousands of signatures needed to force a special election.

The 70-year-old mayor—who was first elected in 2020 and won re-election in 2024 with nearly 58% of the vote—expressed confidence in her record.

“I believe that I’ve served this community very well, and I have confidence that the community will continue to support me,” Levine Cava said to NBC 6 Miami.

The recall effort is being led by a group of citizens whose complaints range across various county services and issues. One of the organizers highlighted several concerns that have fueled the petition drive.

“The potholes, every day they get bigger,” the organizer told NBC 6. “The floods, the airport, the animal shelter, teachers need help, too; it’s very sad what is going on in Miami.”

However, the mayor’s political camp is not taking the effort seriously. Levine Cava’s senior political advisor called the recall campaign a “sham effort” and a “political stunt” being promoted by Alex Otaola, who previously ran against the mayor and lost. According to NBC 6 Miami, the advisor stated the mayor is the most popular elected leader in South Florida and predicted voters would see the effort as purely political.

Recent procedural hurdles regarding the petition format were cleared by the County Commission, allowing organizers to proceed with collecting signatures.

For the recall to succeed, organizers face a significant undertaking: they must gather signatures from 4% of the registered voters in Miami-Dade County, which translates to approximately 61,000 signatures. Once the petition is deemed sufficient, a recall election must be held within 90 days of its filing.

This effort draws historical precedent from 2011, when Miami-Dade voters successfully recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez. That campaign was largely driven by anger over property tax rate increases, raises for county employees, and public money allocated to the construction of loanDepot Park. Alvarez was ousted by a margin of nearly 9-to-1, marking one of the largest municipal recalls in U.S. history.

Organizers of the current effort will now have a set period—which the search results suggest is 120 days from approval of the form—to gather the initial signatures.

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