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Miami-Dade County’s highest glass ceiling was shattered Tuesday night when Daniella Levine Cava became the region’s first female mayor. 

Levine Cava wore a white suit to cast her vote Tuesday morning, what she called an homage to the suffragists who fought to pass the 19th Amendment 100 years ago and to the women of color who did not have full access to the ballot until 1965. 

While the race was officially nonpartisan, Levine Cava, a former county commissioner, ran as a Democrat against a Republican challenger, her fellow county commissioner Esteban Bovo. 

Levine Cava’s win signaled a shift in some long-time norms in one of the nation’s most populous counties: She is the first Democrat to hold the seat since 2000 and the first non-Latinx person to be county mayor in 24 years. 

Levine Cava, 65, is a former lawyer and founder of a non-profit, Catalyst Miami, that addresses issues facing low-income Miamians. Her campaign focused on progressive values, including more relief through social programs, developing a more robust coronavirus response, and establishing an Office of Equity & Inclusion to analyze policies that ease racial, gender, and economic disparities. 

On Tuesday night, Levine Cava thanked the small businesses struggling to stay open, families unable to make ends meet, front-line workers and “all the women with a dream of shattering our highest glass ceiling.” 

“We did it,” she said. “This victory belongs to you.”