An effort to recall Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava appears to have violated Florida law by missing a state-mandated reporting deadline and omitting key disclaimer language in a TV ad laden with AI slop.<\/p>\n
Levine Cava\u2019s political adviser, in turn, has since filed a cease and desist letter to the station airing the ad. State fines are likely for the delinquent financial report.<\/p>\n
In mid-January, Miami-Dade Clerk Juan Fernandez-Barquin approved a recall petition<\/a> against Levine Cava started by conservative media personality Alex Otaola, one of five challengers Levine Cava trounced<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n Funding for the recall push was to come primarily from Recall Cava<\/a>, a political committee Otaola set up in October.<\/p>\n In its fourth-quarter campaign finance filing, Recall Cava reported no fundraising or spending. The report for the first quarter of 2026, spanning January, February and March, was due Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n As of noon Tuesday, that report has yet to be filed.<\/p>\n But it isn\u2019t because Recall Cava hasn\u2019t raised or spent any money, based on an ad Miami-based TV station WSVN<\/a> has been airing \u2014 a 14-second spot<\/a> composed, it seems, entirely using artificial intelligence, including a voiceover that mispronounces the Mayor\u2019s name.<\/p>\n The ad was to run April 13 to May 11, Federal Communications Commission records<\/a> show. Florida Statutes<\/a> require most political ads to prominently disclose who paid for them and, when applicable, whether the candidate approved the message, including the candidate\u2019s name, party affiliation or write-in status, and office sought.<\/p>\n Ads not paid for by a candidate must identify their sponsor and address, label themselves as paid political advertisements, and either state candidate approval or explicitly note that no candidate approved the ad, with limited exceptions for certain small or digital formats.<\/p>\n The Recall Cava ad simply states, \u201cPaid by PAC RECALL CAVA,\u201d which is not the name of the political committee, and includes none of the other information required by state law.<\/p>\n Christian Ulvert, who has advised Levine Cava in multiple campaigns, sent WSVN a cease-and-desist letter detailing Recall Cava\u2019s financial reporting delinquency and the ad\u2019s violation. The station is on \u201cformal notice,\u201d he wrote, demanding that the ad be taken off the air.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a technical or minor deficiency,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe disclaimer requirement is a cornerstone of Florida\u2019s campaign finance transparency framework, designed to ensure that voters know who is funding political campaigns directed at them. An advertisement that omits this disclosure deprives the public of material information and constitutes a violation of\u201d state law, he added.<\/p>\n In a separate statement, Ulvert called Otaola\u2019s failure to file financial statements for his political committee in a timely fashion \u201ca deliberate choice to hide from voters who is funding this effort and how that money is being spent.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no carve-outs for a YouTube influencer who was rejected by 89% of voters and decided to turn their grudge into a political stunt,\u201d Ulvert said, referring to Otaola\u2019s 11.8% share<\/a> of the vote in the 2024 election. \u201cMr. Otaola wants to hold the Mayor to account while refusing to hold himself to the most basic legal obligation. Miami-Dade voters are smart enough to see through it.\u201d<\/p>\n The recall effort alleges that Levine Cava has not maintained basic county services, citing issues like worsening potholes, flooding, problems at Miami International Airport and poor conditions at animal shelters.<\/p>\n Organizers frame the campaign as a response to declining quality of life and government performance.<\/p>\n Levine Cava has called it a \u201cpolitical sideshow.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulvert\u2019s complaints about Recall Cava come less than three months after Levine Cava drew criticism<\/a> for having an ad funded by her political committee, which Ulvert runs, air on county media platforms<\/a> before her State of the State speech in late January.<\/p>\n Otaola, noting the one-minute spot came in the wake of his effort\u2019s authorization by the Clerk, accused Levine Cava of using taxpayer funds \u201cto cling to power.\u201d<\/p>\n