- Mario Diaz-Balart
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Mario Diaz-Balart Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 21st districtIncumbent Assumed office
January 3, 2011Preceded by Lincoln Diaz-Balart Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 25th districtIn office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2011Preceded by None (District Created After 2000 Census) Succeeded by David Rivera Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 112th districtIn office
2000–2002Preceded by Alex Villalobos Succeeded by David Rivera Member of the Florida Senate
from the 37th districtIn office
1992–2000Preceded by Gwen Margolis Succeeded by Alex Villalobos Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 115th districtIn office
1988–1992Preceded by Javier Souto Succeeded by Carlos A. Manrique Personal details Born September 25, 1961
Fort Lauderdale, FloridaPolitical party Republican Spouse(s) Tia Diaz-Balart Residence Miami, Florida Alma mater University of South Florida Occupation political assistant Religion Roman Catholic Website http://www.mariodiazbalart.org/ Mario Rafael Diaz-Balart Caballero (born September 25, 1961) is the current U.S. Representative for Florida's 21st congressional district, serving since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2010 to succeed his brother, Lincoln Diaz-Balart. The district includes the city of Hialeah, along with several of Miami's southwestern suburbs. He previously served Florida's 25th congressional district from 2003 to 2011.
Contents
Early life, education, and early political career
Diaz-Balart was born in Fort Lauderdale in 1961 to the late Cuban politician Rafael Diaz-Balart. His aunt, Mirta Diaz-Balart, was the first wife of Fidel Castro. Her son, and his cousin, is Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart. His uncle is the Cuban-Spanish painter, Waldo Diaz-Balart. His brother, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, represented Florida's 21st District from 1993 to 2011. He has two other brothers, Jose Diaz-Balart, a journalist, and Rafael Diaz-Balart, a banker.
He attended the University of South Florida to study political science before beginning his public service career as an aide to then-Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez in 1985. In the same year, he changed his political party affiliation from Democratic to Republican.[1]
Florida legislature
He was elected to the Florida House in 1988 and moved to the Florida Senate in 1992. He returned to the Florida House in 2000. During his second tenure in the House, he chaired the redistricting committee.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
- 2008
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2008#District 25 and United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2010#District 21Diaz-Balart defeated Joe Garcia, former Executive Director of Cuban American National Foundation and former chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party.
- 2010
On February 11, 2010, Diaz-Balart announced his intention to seek election in Florida's 21st congressional district -- being vacated by his brother, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart -- rather than the 25th district.[2] Although it is widely believed that Mario Diaz-Balart drew the 25th for himself, it is actually a slightly marginal district on paper. In contrast, the 21st is considered the most Republican district in the Miami area.
No other party even put up a candidate when filing closed on April 30, handing the seat to Mario Diaz-Balart.[3] Indeed, since the 21st's creation, the Republican candidate has run unopposed in all but two elections.
Tenure
Mario Diaz-Balart's voting record is somewhat more conservative than that of the other two Cuban-Americans who represent Miami--Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rivera. During his first three terms, he was one of two voting Latino members of the House—the other being Trent Franks of Arizona — known to be a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
He is a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a caucus of Hispanic Republican congressmen. Like his Cuban-American colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Diaz-Balart is a strong advocate of maintaining the Cuban embargo, saying "Some people do not understand the embargo of Cuba. Its purpose is to keep American hard currency out of the hands of a Communist thug by restricting most trade and travel."[4]
On September 29, 2008, Diaz-Balart voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008[5]
Committee assignments
Caucus membership
- Assistant Whip
- Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference
- Founder of the Protecting Families Online Initiative
- Founding member of the Washington Waste Watchers
- Member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus
- Republican Main Street Partnership
Personal life
He currently lives in Miami with his wife and son.
References
- ^ El Nuevo Herald, Diaz-Balart Se Pasa Al Partido Republicano, April 24, 1985
- ^ "Mario Diaz-Balart Will Run to Succeed His Brother". Roll Call. 2010-02-11. http://www.rollcall.com/news/43199-1.html?type=printer_friendly. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
- ^ Official State of Florida Division of Elections Website
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 681". FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 681. US House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml.
External links
- Mario Diaz-Balart for Congress official campaign site
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
- Profile at SourceWatch
United States House of Representatives Preceded by
Lincoln Diaz-BalartMember of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 21st congressional district
2011 – presentSucceeded by
IncumbentPreceded by
District CreatedMember of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 25th congressional district
2003 – 2011Succeeded by
David RiveraUnited States order of precedence Preceded by
Tom Cole
R-OklahomaUnited States Representatives by seniority
204thSucceeded by
Trent Franks
R-ArizonaCategories:- 1961 births
- Living people
- American politicians of Cuban descent
- American Roman Catholics
- Fidel Castro family
- Florida Republicans
- Florida State Senators
- Hispanic and Latino American people in the United States Congress
- Members of the Florida House of Representatives
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida
- People from Miami, Florida
- People from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- University of South Florida alumni
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