MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Candidates in several key races in the Sunshine State returned to the campaign trail one last time, less than 24 hours before Election Day.
Florida Democrats used a little star power to push voters to the polls. Actress and activist America Ferrera spoke to a crowd of supporters on Monday alongside a lineup of leaders at Miami-Dade County Election headquarters in Doral.
“Florida, we are all counting on you. Get out and vote,” said Ferrera.
The “Superstore” and “Ugly Betty” star delivered her call for votes in English and Spanish.
“Votar. We need to show up and vote. Florida, if we win Florida, we win it all,” she said.
Also on hand was Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, who is focused on filling the county mayor’s seat and motivating voters.
“If you are unsure of whether or not you will cast your vote in this most momentous election of our lifetimes, just consider this: every vote counts, and people have died to earn the right to vote,” she said.
In the run-off election for Miami-Dade mayor, Levine Cava and her opponent, Republican County Commissioner Steve Bovo, are practically polar opposites on the political spectrum.
7News cameras captured Cava voting at a polling site in Palmetto Bay, while Bovo voted in Hialeah.
“Everyone needs to get out and vote,” said Cava. “People are thinking that their vote won’t matter, but you know what, every vote is getting counted and not only that, it’s not just for us here locally, it’s for the nation. The nation is watching once again what happens right here in Miami-Dade County.”
In recent comments, Bovo focused on boosting the economy when making his case as to why he is the more qualified candidate.
“We never changed our message from day one: it’s about the taxpayer,” he said. “Now more than ever, this becomes about small businesses. How do we get our economy back up on its feet the quickest way possible? My feeling is, we have to collaborate with the small businesses. We have to do it in a way that has them as participants.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Fla., is looking to hold her seat in Congress. In her speech on Monday, she expressed her support for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and the Affordable Care Act.
“This election is about your health. This election is about protecting the ACA. This election is about protecting the rights that we have as Americans,” she said.
Her opponent in the battle for the 26th Congressional District is a familiar face: Carlos Gimenez, Miami-Dade’s outgoing mayor.
Gimenez wasn’t available Monday. In a previous interview, he talked about his history of public service.
“I’m a 45-year public servant, I’m a firefighter, I’m a fire chief, city manager, county commissioner, and now, for the last 9 1/2 years, I’ve been the mayor of this great town,” he said.
Mucarsel-Powell and Gimenez are facing off in one of the closest and most expensive contests. Over the course of the contentious campaign, each candidate has taken aim at the other’s record.
“She hasn’t passed any laws whatsoever in the two years that she’s been [in Congress],” said Gimenez. “Nothing that she has been the sponsor of has actually been signed into law.”
Mucarsel-Powell pointed to Gimenez’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The failure in leadership from Donald Trump and from the mayor of Miami-Dade County, in an area where we were the hotspot during the summer,” she said, “he allowed a rally to happen, violating curfew.”
Florida’s 27th Congressional District is also on the ballot, and it once again pits the incumbent, Democrat Donna Shalala, against longtime South Florida journalist Maria Elvira Salazar.
Shalala was not available Monday, but she recently discussed her time in Washington, D.C.
“The issues that I promised I would fight for, including Social Security and Medicare, I have been the leader, one of the leaders in Congress,” she said.
Salazar countered by questioning her opponent’s motivations.
“I’m really going to work. Donna is for Donna, and Maria is for Miami,” she said. “I do not want the title, I want the job.”
Salazar also made a pledge to South Florida voters.
“We need to elect people that care and that will come to the district and work every single weekend for them, somebody that will fight to bring those resources to South Florida, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
7News reached out to all of the candidates in these races, but two of them were not available for comment on Monday.
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