By Francisco Alvarado, FloridaBulldog.org
Lame duck Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava hasn’t signaled any aspirations for higher office. But that’s not stopping her from twisting the arms of people doing business with the county to drum up donations for a political action committee (PAC) chaired by her top consultant, Christian Ulvert.
On March 20, Levine Cava headlined a one-hour-and-a-half fundraising lunch at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Coral Gables hosted by Ulvert’s PAC Our Democracy, according to a flyer obtained by Florida Bulldog. The same day, five of the attendees – lobbyists, engineers and developers – each donated the suggested $10,000 contribution on the invite, Our Democracy’s most recent campaign finance report shows.
The $50,000 represented the bulk of the $92,500 Our Democracy raised between Jan. 1 and the end of last month. During the same period, Ulvert’s political consulting firm EDGE Communications billed Our Democracy $92,400, representing a majority of the $111,180 in PAC expenses.
The quick fundraising haul coupled with EDGE’s windfall is a testament to the influence Ulvert continues to wield in county politics even though he managed the losing campaigns of four Democratic candidates for state constitutional offices in the November presidential election. Two other Ulvert clients lost a state House race and a bid for a seat on the Palmetto Bay Village Council.
Since hitching his rise to Levine Cava’s ascent from social services attorney to county commissioner to Miami-Dade’s first female mayor, Ulvert has successfully curated his image as Levine Cava’s gatekeeper while managing the political ambitions of two female Democratic county commissioners, Danielle Cohen Higgins and Eileen Higgins, according to rival political consultants and lobbyists who spoke to Florida Bulldog on the condition of anonymity.
“Christian is doing what he does best: raise money and take money,” said a consultant who’s worked for Democratic candidates running in state legislative races. “It’s all a money grab.”
Another consultant who managed candidates running for Miami-Dade municipal and county offices compared Ulvert to a baseball player who hits three home runs but strikes out seven times in the same period.
“You can live off the three home runs, especially if two are county commissioners and one is the county mayor,” the second consultant said. “So it doesn’t matter that you lost seven out of 10.”
Levine Cava did not respond to a Florida Bulldog text message and voicemail on her cellphone requesting comment. In an email response, Ulvert disputed the notion that Our Democracy held the March 20 fundraiser as a business generator for EDGE Communications.
“Absolutely not,” Ulvert told Florida Bulldog. “We had to close out expenses from the 2024 election cycle and we closed out all expenses and invoices.”
He also defended his job performance in the November election. “We proudly supported the candidates running for countywide office and did a tremendous amount of work for them,” Ulvert said. “And I am confident they would all agree.”
ULVERT, THE PAC MAN
Ulvert is the chairman for 16 active county and state PACs, including Our Democracy, which had as its primary purpose to support Levine Cava’s 2020 mayoral run and her 2024 reelection bid, which she won handedly in the August primary election. Ulvert also manages two PACs supporting Cohen Higgins, who is running for reelection in 2026, and Eileen Higgins, who reclaimed her county commission seat without opposition and recently announced a run for Miami mayor this year.
Four other PACs chaired by Ulvert supported former Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson for tax collector, former state Sen. Annette Taddeo for county clerk and comptroller, ex-state legislator J.C. Planas for elections supervisor and Miami-Dade Public Safety Director James Reyes for county sheriff. Combined, the committees raised and burned through $5 million, campaign finance reports show. All four candidates lost by double digits to Republicans.
Ulvert raised roughly another $5 million via Our Democracy, which continued raising and spending through the November election even though Levine Cava won three months earlier. Campaign finance reports reveal that a majority of the donors for all of Ulvert’s PACs represent a who’s who of firms seeking deals with Miami-Dade, developers pursuing approvals for their projects and lobbyists and lawyers who represent the vendors and builders.
It’s highly unusual for a political consultant to chair PACs that are directly paying his firm, according to Ulvert’s rivals. “It’s definitely not normal,” said the consultant who works in county and municipal races. “Christian learned that people can’t complain if you control the money.”
Since Jan. 1, 2023 through the most recent reporting period that ended on March 31, EDGE Communications and Win Canvass, another Ulvert-owned electioneering firm, have billed the 16 committees a combined $3 million for consulting, staffing and outreach services, per state and county campaign finance records. Ulvert also gets to pick the other vendors as well as make contributions from one PAC to another.
For instance, Ulvert’s Our Voice, Our Future committee in October and November of last year donated $54,300 to his Engaged Florida PAC, $110,000 to his Safe & Secure PAC and $340,000 to Our Democracy. Five of Ulvert’s committees, including Our Democracy, made donations to the Florida Democratic Party totaling $3.4 million in the weeks leading up to the November 2024 presidential elections even though it was widely known that Republicans were likely to drench the state red.
Even more peculiar is who Ulvert tapped to be treasurer of all his committees: Maria Kuhn, a cousin who is an EDGE employee, the consultant said. “Even if [candidates] questioned the expenditures, Christian doesn’t need their permission,” the consultant said. “And his cousin signs off on it. If there’s a discrepancy over a bill, it’s still getting paid.”
In response to emailed questions about his 16 PACs, Ulvert declined to elaborate on the contributions and expenditures, except to note that Florida law allows committees to make donations to other PACs, and that every expenditure is lawful.
“My firm handles media placement, design materials and expanded staff capacities for candidates and issue campaigns,” Ulvert said. “The contributions speak for themselves.”
Ulvert also refuted any potential conflict of interest stemming from his cousin being the treasurer: “Maria has worked at EDGE Communications for nearly 15 years and handles all finances with great integrity.”
MORTON’S FUNDRAISER
During the March 20 fundraising lunch at Morton’s, Levine Cava and Ulvert were side by side, according to a lobbyist who did not want to be identified to avoid any blowback. “She was there, grinning and smiling,” the lobbyist said. “Christian would jump into conversations and steer them in a different direction. It was all about passing the hat.”
The guests included government affairs lawyers Jorge Luis Lopez and Alex Heckler, developers Carlos Herrera and Rey Melendi and engineer Maria Molina. Lopez chairs a PAC called New Leadership Network that donated $10,000. Heckler and his law firm, LSN Partners, donated $5,000 each. Molina, Herrera and Melendi also kicked in 10 grand each.
Molina is president of Nova Consulting, an engineering firm that Levine Cava and the county commission awarded a $6-million water and sewer contract in November.
Lopez represents Bushburg Properties, a New York-based firm that got a sweetheart land deal from the county. In June, the county commission approved Levine Cava’s resolution to purchase a former Florida Power & Light complex in Miami from Bushburg. The county paid $182 million for the property after Levine Cava initially sought to pay Bushburg $205 million despite two independent appraisals that the site was worth about $110 million “as-is.”
Melendi is chief operating officer for 13th Floor Investments, a Coconut Grove-based firm that is co-developing mixed-use projects at the Vizcaya Metrorail Station and Douglas Road Metrorail Station under county lease agreements approved during Levine Cava’s tenure. Heckler represents 13th Floor and dozens of other developers and vendors that do business with Miami-Dade.
Last year, the county commission approved Levine Cava’s recommendation to allow Herrera and his partners to build a 630-unit apartment complex on agricultural land beyond Miami-Dade’s urban development boundary, an imaginary line designed to curtail suburban sprawl into the Everglades.
Ulvert did not provide specific information about what the March 20 contributions will be used for other than to say Our Democracy “supports candidates, causes, community events and programs to deliver on the vision and promise shared by Mayor Levine Cava for an inclusive and thriving Miami-Dade County.”
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