MIAMI—Voters in Miami-Dade County on about to vote in the county’s first-ever sheriff. Republican Rose Cordero-Stutz and Democrat James Reyes, who are vying for the job and recently engaged in spirited and contentious debate are locked in a close race, but could Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s financial support tip the scale in the race?
A lot is at stake, and Mayor Cava, who hand-picked Reyes for the job even though he has never been an actual police officer, and who has given the green light to her consultant Christian Ulvert to fund Reyes’ campaign, needs to win this race.
We are not talking about a few thousand dollars being donated to Reyes, or asking some of her existing donors to contribute to his campaign, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars being donated from Ulvert-controlled political action committees to Reyes' Miami Dade Safe & Secure campaign committee.
According to campaign finance reports, the Reyes' committee has raised $1,849,947.00 to date. Of that amount, $867.500 came from political action committees controlled by Ulvert, who is also getting paid by Reyes for consulting services.
Just this month alone, these political action committees have donated $575,000.
In addition, Broward First PAC, a political action committee supporting Democrat Broward Sheriff Greg Tony, donated another $250,000 to Reyes.
In addition, Florida Bulldog reported that “six months after Reyes was hired as Miami-Dade’s corrections director, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava promoted him to public safety chief overseeing county police, fire rescue and the jails.”
Cordero-Stutz is a 28-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department
