Crucial Candidates
Florida State Senate District 36
René García
Republican
René García was born and raised in the city of Hialeah to Cuban American parents. García was elected to a two year term on the Hialeah City Council in 1997 and to a four year term in 1999. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida International University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Miami. García was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 and served there until 2006. Then, he was elected to Florida’s State Senate in 2010 and currently serves as the chairman of the Healthcare Regulation Committee. García also serves on other committees such as the Agriculture, Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services Appropriations, Governmental Oversight and Accountability, Reapportionment and Transportation.
MDC: “I believe in the mission of the College and that’s why I’ve always helped with whatever issues the college has brought our way. From trying to get funding for job training programs to helping to increase funding in different specific programs within the College. I have a proven track record that is very evident that I’ve always helped the College.”
Jobs: “One of the things we can do is retrain the workforce. You can retrain the workforce based on the need of individual industries that are looking to relocate to Miami or bring their businesses here. Last year we filed legislation to help small businesses, giving small business a small sales tax holiday. The reason we have that is to help the small businesses in our community. We have the big tax holidays for the big tax chains but what are we doing for small businesses? Small businesses are the cornerstone of our economy, and we have to start treating it that way. So whatever I can do to help alleviate some of the regulatory burdens that exist on small businesses and try to help with the taxing scheme. Those are small things you can do to try to create more employment opportunities.”
Minimum Wage: “The cost of living is going up everywhere. One of the best things you can do for any community is education. If we have an educated and skilled population, you will see that employers will start coming back into our sector. What we need to do is use our college and university system and retrain the workforce to the needs that exist at that time and that way they’ll have meaningful employment. They won’t have to worry about the $15 per hour minimum wage because they’ll be making more than that.”
Guns: “I’m a firm believer in the Second Amendment. It’s a right that we as Americans have. I’m not really a fan of limiting the rights individuals have to carry weapons and firearms but when it comes to the carry on campuses we need to think that through. It’s just a matter of thinking that through and seeing how it works but I’m just not really a fan of having weapons on university campuses.”
Annabella Grohoski
Democrat
Anabella Grohoski, a long time resident of Miami Springs, was born in Guatemala and came to the United States at the age of 21, fleeing the civil war in her country. She’s a Miami Dade College alumni who studied education, and started making a living by cleaning houses and babysitting. She then worked for various international companies like Corporate Express, and for nonprofit Habitat for Humanity International. In 2004, she started her own business in construction permits expediting and has managed it for more than 10 years.
MDC: “I support education one hundred percent. I think that if you’re on your own, if you’re a student going part time to school or even full time you should be entitled to financial aid. You should not have to pay for college. I want to fight for that.”
Jobs: “I think that small businesses should get tax credit or some kind of incentive that we need to work on in order to make [salaries] affordable. That should be across the board.”
Minimum Wage: “I think that $15 per hour minimum wage is doable. We just need to push for that in Tallahassee. People deserve better. Not only are rents higher but if you own a house you’re paying a lot of taxes. Food is expensive; gas is expensive. We need to adjust to the cost of living. Everything is going up and the salaries are staying the same, if not lower. The state of Florida is one of the lowest paying states. We need to address that issue. That’s something I would want to work very hard on in Tallahassee.”
Guns: “I believe that guns should be regulated. That’s not to say I don’t believe in the Second Amendment. Everyone has the right to their own weapon. But I think it needs to be regulated. Tougher restrictions need to be imposed. I don’t think any high school or college or university should allow guns on their campuses.”
—Riane Roldan
Florida State Senate District 37
Miguel Díaz de la Portilla
Republican
Miguel Díaz de la Portilla was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He attended the University of Miami where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English literature. He then went to law school at the University of Miami and graduated in 1987. He served as a commissioner for Miami-Dade County in 1993 and chaired the county commission for two terms, from 1996 until 2000. He now serves in the Florida Senate and is part of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development, the Rules Committee, the Community Affairs Committee, the Finance and Tax Committee, the Regulated Industries Committee, and chairs the Judiciary Committee. He is running for re-election.
MDC: “I think it’s very important for us to continue to support Miami Dade College’s funding request, and every year in the legislature there are funding requests for specific programs and specific things that Miami Dade College wants and I’ve always supported it.”
Minimum Wage and Jobs:“My track record on wages is that I’ve always supported a living wage for working people. And I am in favor of generally increasing minimum wage as well. I think we need to do everything we can to bring it up so that people who are working can provide for their families because there’s nothing worse than being working poor, working as much as you can, as hard as you can and not being able to pay for your basic necessities.”
GUNS “There’s been a campus carry bill introduced in Florida legislature, which allows college students with a concealed carry permit to bring handguns to college campuses and university campuses. I killed the bill twice. This particular piece of legislation, I didn’t think was good public policy. I didn’t think it would make our campuses any safer. I thought that if this bill would become law, it would create significant issues for public safety departments at public universities and it would create significant issues of accidental shootings and other accidents happening at public universities. It would create issues for college presidents, university presidents rather. I just didn’t think it was good public policy.”
José Javier Rodriguez
Democrat
José Javier Rodriguez was born and raised in Miami. He attended Brown University for his undergraduate degree and received a bachelor’s in international relations, political economy of development. He then served in the Peace Corps for three years. After, he attended Harvard Law School and received his graduate degree in law. He serves as a representative in the Florida House of Representatives and is part of Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, the Judiciary Committee, the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, the Rules, Calendar & Ethics Committee, and serves as the Democratic Ranking Member for the Finance and Tax Committee. He is running for Florida Senate.
MDC: “So I think that the most important thing is we can do at the state level is invest in education, higher education and infrastructure. The fact is, it’s more expensive to educate here so we should get more funding, and so adjusting those formulas and making sure that we get extra money because of how expensive a year it is to educate and because we have needs here that other areas don’t have.”
Minimum Wage and Jobs: “Yes, I support a gradual increase of the minimum wage. I’ve worked and advocated on wage issues since I was a legal aid lawyer before I was elected. The minimum wage challenge is a gesture symbolizing things to help draw attention to how little the minimum wage is. If you work full time all year round on minimum wage you’re still below the federal poverty level and that should not be that level. We’re trying to change that in legislation.”
GUNS “I have a very strong record on advocating for regulations in favor of gun safety and absolutely opposed guns on campus bill, and my opponent in the general election is somebody who more recently came to that position and so I think that’s where I would be.”
—Alessandra Pacheco
Florida State House of Representatives District 103
Ivette Gonzalez Petkovich
Democrat
Ivette Gonzalez Petkovich graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a majored in political science. Then she received a doctorate from St. Thomas University in Law. She has served as assistant state attorney, first dealing with criminal cases and then working in the insurance fraud unit. She is part of the Miami-Dade League of Women Voters, the Cuban American Bar Association, and several other organizations.
MDC: “I will support any and every piece of legislation and sponsor it myself if I have to that allows for the proper funding to return to Miami Dade College.”
Jobs: “I think there’s a lot of industries that the legislature ignores or doesn’t want to pursue. For example, the film industry. The film industry loves Miami-Dade County but unfortunately, there’s legislation in place that makes it very difficult for the film industry to operate here. And so, the people who work in that industry are required to travel outside of Florida.”
Minimum Wage: “We should work toward a $15 minimum wage but also, it’s important that when we have these conversations that we educate the community this requirement should not apply blankly to every single business because a lot of businesses cannot sustain $15 minimum wage. Businesses with less than 100 employees should be exempt from this particular minimum wage. And it should be incremental”
Guns: “I would love to tackle mental health and gun reform and merge those two issues so that, you know we can just become more vigilant, and we have an opportunity to potentially identify, you know, potential gun violence, you know, through that route.”
Manny Diaz Jr.
Republican
Manny Diaz Jr. is running for re-election after holding this seat since 2012. He graduated from St. Thomas University with a bachelor’s degree in human resources/ education. Then he received a master’s from Nova Southeastern University in educational leadership. He chairs the Choice and Innovation Subcommittee, Education Committee, K-12 Subcommittee, Education Appropriation Subcommittee, and the Health Innovation Subcommittee.
MDC: “I’ve become a big advocate for Miami Dade and our community in Tallahassee. If I am re-elected and I’m able to go back, I would be in a position where I can provide more help to Miami Dade, even more than what I’ve been able to do in the last four years.”
Jobs: “Continuing to provide a beneficial tax rate here in Florida, specifically in my district, bringing back dollars and new sources to create, you know, repair and create new infrastructure that would make it possible for new businesses to come in and create jobs. I think that the jobs, the role of government is to provide infrastructure and safety and a low tax environment where businesses are attracted to come in and are able to produce those jobs.”
Minimum Wage “I think that actually increasing minimum wage would actually hurt our economy and hurt workers in Miami-Dade because entry level jobs would disappear because they would become too expensive. And then those folks who would be entering the workforce, the price of goods will increase and their buying power would be less.” “…there’s a new economy, there’s a service economy, there’s an information economy. We need to prepare our students and our graduates for that economy, so that they can enter the workforce and get those higher paying jobs.”
Guns: “If someone wants to do harm at a Miami Dade campus right now, what stops them from carrying a gun on campus illegally? Nothing. So what I’m saying is that if a law-abiding citizen who goes through the trouble of getting a concealed weapons permit, they’re following the law. The only people who are following the law are law-abiding citizens. Those folks that carry guns to do harm, they don’t care about the law.”
—Maria Vizcaino
Florida State House of Representative District 114
Daisy Baez
Democrat
Daisy Baez was born and raised in Dominican Republic. At 17, Baez migrated to the United States and joined the United States Army. She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Central Texas and a master’s degree in counseling at the Sam Houston State University in Texas. Now, she serves as the executive director of the Dominican Health Care Association of Florida, which she founded. She is also a member of the Board of Directors at the Merrick House Museum in Coral Gables. In 2014, Baez ran for the same position yet, she was defeated by the current Representative of District 114 Erik Fresen
MDC: “The state should fully fund its commitment to community schools and higher education. We have seen a scaling back on the support and funding of Bright Futures Scholarship. I believe we need to fully fund Bright Futures Scholarship. Students should not leave school loaded with debt.”
Jobs: “We need to expand jobs that required a college degree. One way is to expand Medicare in Florida. If you expand Medicare to 800,000 people, you are going to need more doctors, nurses, lab technicians, x-ray technicians, psychologists, builders, and accounts. Also this administration has focus a lot in tax incentives for companies to come, I believe when companies are looking to relocate to Florida they not only look at the tax advantages. I think they also look at quality of education, transportation, the environment, drinking water, entertainment. By allocating funds to all of these issues we help the economy and bring more jobs to Florida.”
Minimum wage: “I support the $15 minimum wages. It goes back to my idea that people who have more disposable income can participate in the economy better.”
Guns: “I’m opposed to guns on campus. I’m a veteran, I’m not afraid of guns. I just don’t think a school environment is appropriate for guns. I’m not opposed to guns or people carrying guns, if they have the proper training, background checks and certificates.”
John Couriel
Republican
John Couriel is a native to South Florida born to Cuban-American parents. He graduated from Christopher Columbus High School. He attended Harvard College and then Harvard Law School. After graduation he clerked for John D. Bates of the United States District Court for the the District of Columbia. Then Couriel practiced law at Davis Polk & Wardwell. He is currently a private practice attorney. On 2009, Couriel became an assistant United States attorney. In 2014, he ran for Florida State Senate District 35, and was defeated by incumbent Gwen Margolis (DEM).
MDC: He will keep Miami Dade College at the forefront for career development and make sure it gets resources the college needs. He will work to expand the Bright Futures scholarship by working effectively with the leadership to set priorities.
Jobs: He believes in attracting the right careers in the science, technology, engineering and math field (STEM). He has a bill planned to pass, if elected, that will focus on students in the STEM field. The bill has a GPA requirement, provides loan assistance and the students must commit to staying in Florida for five years after graduation. He states that having a work-ready population allows to bring more industries to state. Additionally, he encourages career pathways transparency in college, meaning students know the salaries of the jobs they decide to pursuit.
Minimum Wage: “I don’t support the $15/hour living wage. A increasing in the minimum wage is not the right way to increase the economy. This will make it harder for obtain any low level entering jobs. I believe the best way to deal with the cost of living in Miami is to have better careers in the community.
Guns: I believe the Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms. We need better enforcement of laws, a better community health resources. However, it’s up to the college to decided whether or not allow students to carry weapons on campuses.
—Zayrha Rodriguez
Florida State House of Representative District 118
Robert Asencio
Democrat
Robert Asencio joined the United States Army Reserves, where he finished high school and took college courses. He recently retired from the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, where he served as captain, after 26 years.
MDC: “Given that state colleges received funding from the general budget, then there is naturally going to the state colleges. At this point the burden of cost then is shifted to students. The students are forced to pay more. So by arguing the importance of committing to better funding at the college level, it would reduce the burden on student.”
Minimum Wage and Jobs: “We cannot provide better job prospects if we cannot improve education and the employment pool. There are certainly other plans but the main focus is education. We need to improve the employment pools and make it so that companies want to come to South Florida. We need [the] certainty that the jobs that are created are living wage jobs.”
Guns: “As a career law enforcement officer, as a parent, as a person who’s been in the military, I think bills like that are very short sighted and create liability. I have to tell you that if the legislature’s intent is to create safety, than I would commit to dedicating resources that would improve public safety.”
David Rivera
Republican
David Rivera was born in New York but has resided in Miami for more than 40 years. He graduated from Florida International University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in public administration. Rivera has been elected to represent District 112 in the Florida House of Representatives three times, and served as the speaker of the House during his tenure. In 2010 he was the representative for Florida District 25 in the United States House of Representatives, where he sat in the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.
MDC: “Higher education is the stepping stone to success. Miami Dade College is a great school that fosters many talented students. As a legislator I will ensure adequate funding for MDC and growth for our economy creating better paying jobs for MDC graduates. My voting record shows that I’m a strong believer in higher education. As chairman of appropriations in 2010, I not only made sure MDC received the funding requested, but also secured PECO funding which is used for buildings/repairs. I have experience serving on both the budget and substantive policy committees for higher education. I believe my experience in the legislature will serve me well in promoting the interests of MDC and its students.”
Minimum Wage and Jobs: “Florida has also created one million jobs in the past two years. We need to continue this growth to allow students to enter the job market as soon as they graduate. I believe we can continue the growth but also not be complacent. We should keep aiming for more growth by pursuing policies that incentivize businesses to relocate to Florida, including tax and regulatory relief.”
Guns: “I am a strong supporter of the second amendment and I look forward to hearing from all concerned parties regarding both concealed weapons on college campuses and open carry.”
—Lorena Umaña
