FL-HD115: Race for open HD 115 seat pits well-funded GOP firefighter against underdog Dem educator
Miami Republican state Rep. Alina Garcia is vacating her House District 115 seat after just one term to run for Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections. Competing to replace her are GOP firefighter Omar Blanco, who extinguished two Primary opponents in August, and Democratic education nonprofit director Norma Perez Schwartz, whose passion for civic engagement grew out of the pandemic.
Blanco, 52, carries a larger war chest, more business-related endorsements and the benefit of a long tenure in a hero’s profession. He is a past firefighters’ union President and was recognized in 2021 as the Florida Professional Firefighter of the Year.
It’s also not his first rodeo; Blanco ran for Congress in 2020, losing to fellow firefighter Carlos Giménez, who went on to supplant the district’s then-Democratic Representative.
Perez, 44, isn’t a political neophyte either. After losing her early childhood education contract job during COVID, she got involved in politically progressive endeavors. She phone banked and canvassed for Ruth’s List Florida, which endorsed her in June, and went door-to-door in support of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s history-making 2020 campaign. She also served on civic boards, including as a voting, PTA-appointed member of the Secure Our Future Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the Miami-Dade School Board.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/703028-race-for-open-hd-115-seat-pits-well-funded-gop-firefighter-against-underdog-dem-educator/