By Francisco Alvarado, FloridaBulldog.org
Daniella Levine Cava rode to victory in 2020 as the first female elected Miami-Dade County mayor by playing up her bona fides as a progressive Democrat even though it was a non-partisan race. Four years later, Levine Cava is aiming to prove Republican lawmakers can count on her even if it means torpedoing the political ambitions of one of her progressive Democrat female staffers.
In mid-May, Levine Cava, her chief of staff Johanna Cervone and the mayor’s political consigliere Christian Ulvert, a campaign consultant for several county elected officials and Democratic state candidates, dissuaded JennyLee Molina, senior digital strategist in the mayor’s office, from challenging State Rep. Vicki Lopez in the November election, according to local filmmaker and civic activist Billy Corben and two other members of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party who spoke to Florida Bulldog on the condition of anonymity.
Lopez represents Florida House District 113, which includes Key Biscayne and portions of Miami. Corben, who in April flirted with a bid to be chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, noted that liberals have a 12 percent voter advantage in District 113, making it one of the only flippable state House seats from Miami-Dade.
Since no one else filed to run, Jackie Kellogg, president of Key Biscayne Democrats, won the August Democratic primary by default and will face off against Republican Lopez.
Molina withdrew her candidacy on May 17 just hours after filing to run against Lopez, Florida election records show. Corben and the two Democratic Party members allege that Levine Cava and Cervone convinced Molina to drop out by threatening her job security. Ulvert advised the mayor to help out Lopez because the Republican lawmaker is one of Levine Cava’s few GOP allies in Tallahassee, Corben said.
“What they have done in the Vicki Lopez race is malevolent, rotten and corrupt,” Corben said. “Many competitive candidates were contemplating entering that race and they were ultimately discouraged from jumping in.”
Levine Cava and Ulvert did not respond to Florida Bulldog voice messages and texts to their personal cellphones seeking comment. Natalia Jaramillo, the mayor’s office spokesperson, also did not respond to a text and an email requesting comment from Levine Cava and Cervone.
SEEKING ETHICS ADVICE
On May 15, two days before filing her candidacy paperwork, Molina sought an opinion from Jose Arrojo, then-executive director of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, according to emails obtained by Florida Bulldog.
Molina, who declined comment for this story, informed Arrojo that she was considering running for a state house seat and “wanted to discuss any potential conflicts of interests and concerns so that I can run with the utmost integrity and clarity.”
Cervone suggested that Molina seek clearance from the ethics commission but that Levine Cava had “expressed her support which I am extremely grateful for,” Molina wrote in her email. She wanted to keep her full-time job in the mayor’s office, but she would take a leave of absence if necessary, Molina explained to Arrojo.
On May 17, Arrojo responded to Molina, informing her that he did not believe she had to resign from her job. The county charter only requires employees to quit if they run for mayor, commissioner, clerk or property appraiser, Arrojo explained in his email, which was also sent to other employees in the mayor’s office, including Cervone.
However, Molina would be required to immediately take a leave of absence until election day once she qualified for the District 113 race, Arrojo wrote. Three hours later, Molina replied to Arrojo: “Thank you so much for taking the time to draft your formal opinion. I withdrew my candidacy after speaking with the Mayor and [Cervone] this morning.”
In a statement to political news website Florida Politics, Molina said she pulled out of the race in part because “I would need to leave my current employment.”
JOB SECURITY THREATENED
When word began spreading among Miami-Dade Democrats that Molina was jumping into the District 113 race, Levine Cava and Cervone called Molina into a meeting shortly after the digital strategist had submitted her qualifying documents to the Florida Division of Elections on May 17, Corben told Florida Bulldog.
“They ganged up and bullied JennyLee,” Corben said. “Joanna insisted that JennyLee had to resign despite Arrojo’s opinion that she didn’t have to. During the meeting, Joanna told JennyLee that it would be bad politically for the mayor if she ran against Lopez.”
The two Democratic Party members relayed similar accounts of the meeting. “JennyLee was under the impression that Levine Cava was okay with it,” one of the members told Florida Bulldog. “Once she filed, her bosses at County Hall were like, ‘what are you doing?’ They can’t have people running a campaign while working at the mayor’s office so they pressured JennyLee not to do it.”
Corben pointed out that Miami-Dade Public Safety Director James Reyes, a department head who reports directly to the mayor, has not been asked to resign and has not taken the required leave of absence since he announced his candidacy for Miami-Dade Sheriff in January. That’s because Levine Cava promoted Reyes from overseeing the Miami-Dade Corrections Department last year to beef up his law-enforcement leadership credentials, Corben said. Ulvert is also managing Reyes’ campaign.
“They needed a sheriff’s candidate so Christian plucked Reyes, who ran the prisons,” Corben said. “They didn’t care if he was qualified for the job of public safety director. It was so cynical and so political. He gets to keep his job while campaigning for sheriff.”
Since hitching his kite to Levine Cava, Ulvert has become a dominating force in Miami-Dade’s political consulting class. In addition to the mayor and Reyes, Ulvert is also piloting the campaigns of former state Sen. Annette Taddeo, who is running for Miami-Dade Clerk and Comptroller; ex-Miami Beach City Commissioner David Richardson, who is running for Miami-Dade Tax Collector; and former state Rep. Juan Carlos Planas, who is running for Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor.
Ulvert is chairman of at least 12 state and county political action committees that have collected more than $10 million since 2021, including nearly $5 million this election cycle for Our Democracy, a PAC supporting Levine Cava.
100 PERCENT IN CHARGE
Levine Cava doesn’t make any decisions without Ulvert’s input, Corben said. “He controls the campaign funds, the subcontractors, the volunteers and the printing companies,” Corben said. “He turns otherwise decent people like Levine Cava into political zombies and ghouls.”
One of the Democratic Party members added that Ulvert and Levine Cava have no interest in cleaning up County Hall and are focused on her next political move, possibly a run for governor in two years. “Christian is 100 percent in charge,” the member said. “There is this weird belief among Democratic candidates that they have to hire Christian, be part of Team Levine Cava and go to all her events. That is the world he has created.”
Corben alleges Ulvert instructed Levine Cava and Cervone to get Molina out of the District 113 race. “Months ago, he started a whispering campaign in Democratic Party circles that Vicki Lopez is one of the good Republicans,” Corben said. “He was concerned that people thinking about running would call his bluff. So he got [Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman] Oliver Gilbert to endorse Lopez so it wasn’t coming directly from Daniella. Ulvert’s message was clear: Don’t fuck with Vicki.”
Since Molina canceled her bid for District 113, Lopez and Levine Cava have become bosom buddies on boat safety. On July 3, Lopez and Gilbert joined the county mayor for a press conference at Key Biscayne’s Crandon Park Marina to warn the public against drinking and boating. State Sen. Alina Garcia and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado, two other Republicans who also represent Key Biscayne, were in attendance in a show of non-partisan solidarity.
Following the press conference, Lopez posted a not-so-veiled endorsement for Levine Cava on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Lopez wrote: “Thank you, @MayorDaniella for your leadership, support and partnership. I look forward to working with you during the next legislative session to advance boat safety legislation!”
Leave a Reply