These are the candidates running for Florida House District 115

With less than five weeks until Election Day, an off-the-radar legislative race in a South Florida swing district is heating up as the pandemic becomes a central theme of the election cycle.

The battle for House District 115, which includes a swath of Miami-Dade from Doral to Palmetto Bay, features a showdown between Rep. Vance Aloupis, a Republican incumbent who’s been a leading voice on early education policy, and Democratic candidate Franccesca Cesti-Browne, who is running because she is tired of seeing a “disconnect” between her community and what happens in Tallahassee.

The combination of the pandemic, the many issues that have emerged from it and hyper-partisan politics fueled by the presidential election are turning a spotlight to the competitiveness of the swing seat.

“This is going to be a neck-and-neck race. That is just the nature of the district, and we think we can flip it,” said incoming House Minority co-Leader Evan Jenne, who is helping coordinate Democrats’ House campaigns.

Underscoring the swing nature of the seat is the split between statewide and legislative races. Republicans have held the statehouse seat even as voters in the district chose Democrats in statewide races in recent election cycles, including Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018, and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.

Aloupis was elected in 2018 with a 579-vote advantage, or 50.5% of the vote.

As national politics engulf the election cycle, Democrats are banking on voters’ enthusiasm to turn out in November and vote against President Donald Trump and for presidential nominee Joe Biden and Democrats down the ballot. Cesti-Browne would benefit from such an outcome. But Aloupis, who has built a reputation as a moderate, argues the race being about partisanship would be “harmful not only to the district, but to the soul of America.”

“I think people are just looking for thoughtful leadership, people that are not beholden to either party fully, and that they are willing to make decisions that they know are in the best interest of their constituents. And, that’s the example that I’m seeking to set,” Aloupis said.

Aloupis, the CEO of the Children’s Movement of Florida, a South Florida nonprofit that advocates for young kids, has been a leading voice on early education policy in the Legislature. But he said he also takes pride in sponsoring bipartisan legislation that addressed climate change during the 2020 legislative session.

He worked with Democrats to require sea level rise studies on public construction projects before they can be built in coastal communities. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law in June, and Aloupis said it is one example of how he does not shy away from working across the aisle on policy issues.

“Obviously, it’s an issue that’s really important to me. But it was an opportunity to talk to my own party about resiliency and climate change and what we need to be doing as a state,” he said.

Cesti-Browne, if elected, would be part of the minority in the House, and vowed to use her committee assignments as a vehicle to get Democratic bills heard — or at least make some noise.

One thing that has bothered her during the pandemic is that she feels constituents are “forgotten” by Republicans, who dominate all branches of state government.

In particular, she slammed Aloupis for not voting to hold a special legislative session in May to address issues that surfaced after the pandemic.

Democrats pushed Republicans to return to Tallahassee to address problems with the state’s unemployment system, expanding Medicaid and concerns about mail ballots ahead of the elections. But Republicans voted against it.

“Mr. Aloupis didn’t even vote. So, that made me feel like we’re not even worth a conversation and that concerns me because that puts a lot of pressure on the families that are still hurting in this community,” Cesti-Browne said.

Aloupis suggested Democrats were “trying to play a political game” by tying several issues to their petition for a special session, rather than one specific issue. So, he focused on addressing the needs of individuals at the local level, he said.

Aloupis said he helped organize numerous food drives since the onset of the pandemic, and his campaign spent more than $11,000 on face masks, which he said were distributed to seniors and community programs that serve vulnerable populations.

Cesti-Browne, the owner of FCB Consulting LLC, a firm that works with nonprofit organizations, took a similar approach. She partnered with local organizations to provide food and face masks to vulnerable seniors and the homeless.

If elected, Cesti-Browne said she would like to push to create a low-interest loan program and new grants for small businesses that have been struggling with pandemic-induced closures. She also would push for policies that help small businesses obtain personal protective equipment at a good price through the state’s procurement process.

“It is going to take us a couple of years to get through this and if we are not investing in our community and investing in the people to have the resources that they need to go out and consumers, we are not going to make our economy stronger,” Cesti-Browne said.

Aloupis, if reelected, said he would support funding for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism-marketing agency, to help the state’s hospitality industry. He said it will be key to reviving the economy to push out the message that Florida — one of the states hardest-hit by COVID-19 — is a safe place to visit.

“I do believe that there has to be a narrative not only within our state but across the country,” Aloupis said. “International travel is probably not going to come back for some time, but you very well may see domestic travel come back. So, how are we going to sell the story of Florida as a safe and fun place to come to?”

Cesti-Browne argued Aloupis’ solutions are being undercut by DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic. The governor’s upending local COVID-19 rules and lifting state restrictions on businesses are not making Floridians safer, she said.

Aloupis agreed that local governments should have more discretion on how they handle COVID-19 measures and said it will be “critical” to have a conversation about how to help the pandemic-battered workforce.

This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 12:24 PM.