Effort to recall Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava fails
By Sherrilyn Cabrera
May 13, 2026 at 1:04 PM EDT
An effort to recall Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava has failed.
The so-called “Recall Cava” political committee did not get the required 66,000 valid petition signatures for the recall to end up on the county ballot this election cycle. It only collected about 26,000 signatures.
The committee was created by conservative online personality Alex Otaola. He claims Levine Cava allegedly misused taxpayer money and lacked accountability for it.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade Republican Party pushes Mayor Levine Cava recall effort
In a statement Wednesday, Otaola said the effort failed because it had no support from the state Republican Party.
"We make a call to the people of Miami to demand accountability for public funds and to prevent displacement of communities for the benefit of developers' interests," Otaola said. "The Republican Party, with the exception of the Young Republicans organization, provided no support. If they had offered their support we would have triumphed."
The PAC missed an original deadline to report its donations and expenditures at the beginning of April. Senior Advisor to the Mayor Christian Ulvert pointed to this as the sign of a sham effort.
"The recall effort against Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is over — and it failed completely. That is not a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention," Ulvert wrote in a statement. "This was never about accountability or the people of Miami-Dade County. It was a publicity stunt — funded in secret, run in the shadows, and built on lies."
The so-called “Recall Cava” political committee did not get the required 66,000 valid petition signatures for the recall to end up on the county ballot this election cycle. It only collected about 26,000 signatures.
The committee was created by conservative online personality Alex Otaola. He claims Levine Cava allegedly misused taxpayer money and lacked accountability for it.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade Republican Party pushes Mayor Levine Cava recall effort
In a statement Wednesday, Otaola said the effort failed because it had no support from the state Republican Party.
"We make a call to the people of Miami to demand accountability for public funds and to prevent displacement of communities for the benefit of developers' interests," Otaola said. "The Republican Party, with the exception of the Young Republicans organization, provided no support. If they had offered their support we would have triumphed."
The PAC missed an original deadline to report its donations and expenditures at the beginning of April. Senior Advisor to the Mayor Christian Ulvert pointed to this as the sign of a sham effort.
"The recall effort against Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is over — and it failed completely. That is not a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention," Ulvert wrote in a statement. "This was never about accountability or the people of Miami-Dade County. It was a publicity stunt — funded in secret, run in the shadows, and built on lies."