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DCCC keeps heat on Florida’s three Cuban reps

July 1, 2009 —

The attacks, which come almost weekly in the form of news media releases out of Washington, have focused on the three lawmakers’ votes that could prove unpopular back home. The DCCC charges them with voting against the American Clean Energy and Security Act and its “2.5 million clean energy jobs;” against federal funds for restoring Florida’s Everglades (except Ros-Lehtinen); and for a procedural vote “to protect an admitted sex offender,” i.e., a federal judge convicted of sexual assault on two female employees.

B. J. Chiszar, chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, says that the party “intends to challenge at least two of the three,” indicating that Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart can expect strong challenges next year.

In the 18^th District (Miami, etc.), which Ros-Lehtinen won in 2008 by 58% to 42% over Colombian-American banker Annette Taddeo, there are two potential candidates considering the race. At this point, the more likely Democratic contender is state Rep. Luis Garcia, a retired Miami Beach fire chief. However, he might choose to run for mayor of Miami-Dade later this year. “Keep your eye on Garcia,” say Chiszar. Although Taddeo has not ruled out a rematch with Ros-Lehtinen, she is considering running as a Democrat for the statewide post of Chief Financial Officer (she would be a long-shot against powerful Republican Senate President Jeff Atwater) or perhaps for an office in Miami-Dade.  

In the 21^st District (Miami, Broward County), Lincoln Diaz-Balart defeated well-known and much-touted former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez last year by 58% to 42%. So far, no one has indicated they plan to pick up the standard for 2010. Some observers believe the Democrats gave it their best shot last year and lost, so doubt another challenge would be anymore successful.

In the 25^th (Miami suburbs, etc.), last year Mario Diaz-Balart defeated  Joe Garcia, a former chair of the Metro-Dade Democratic Party, by a narrower 53% to 47%. Garcia is considering making another race for the seat and is likely to be a strong contender again, depending on the political climate next year.

Barney Bishop, a Miami native and now president of Associated Industries of Florida, believes the Democrats had their best opportunities for defeating one or more of the Cubans in 2008. “The Democrats ran about as good a campaign as one could (in 2008),” he says, “and with the presidential campaign, had as big a turn-out as they could get.” He doubts the excitement created by Obama’s campaign will be there next year to help Democrats. He points out that African-American Kendrick Meek’s US Senate campaign “will get African Americans out, but I’m not sure how much that would help (Democrats) in those three races.”  He concludes that last year the Democrats “had three strong candidates, and it will be more difficult to beat these three next year than in 2008.”

Ros-Lehtinen’s 18^th District is 6% black; Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s 21^st District is 7% black; and Mario Diaz-Balart’s 25^th is 10% black.

The election is some 16 months away, and the political climate surrounding the Obama Administration at that time may well be the telling factor in congressional races in South Florida as elsewhere. If the economy has rebounded and the President is getting the credit, Democratic congressional candidates will benefit. If, however, the Administration’s big spending bills are beginning to come due, in the form of higher taxes or inflation, look for the GOP to have the wind at its back. In any case, keep an eye on the Sunshine State’s three Cuban-American GOPers in Congress.

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