Rep. Carlos Gimenez’s son arrested for slapping Miami commissioner in steakhouse, police say
The son of U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez was arrested Wednesday after police say he slapped a Miami city commissioner earlier in the day at Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables.
What triggered the spat, the latest episode in the long-running soap opera of Miami politics, was not immediately clear. But the two men involved — Miami commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Carlos J. Gimenez, a lawyer and lobbyist who friends call CJ — are members of powerful political families with ties going back more than a decade.
In a statement issued later in the evening headlined, “Cowardly CJ Gimenez,” Diaz de la Portilla suggested he had been taken by surprise — not slapped face to face.
“It was more flick of his wrist from behind me when I was having lunch as he cowardly approached me from behind and ran away. This guy is not known as a very courageous guy. Actually, he’s quite a coward and appeared to be under the influence,” he said.
Gimenez could not be reached for his side of the tiff.
At an evening press conference, Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak said Gimenez was charged with a single count of simple battery and was still speaking to investigators at the police station. He said the commissioner’s Sergeant-At-Arms had held Gimenez until Coral Gables police arrived. Hudak didn’t offer any details on what triggered the confrontation but said the police department had received a flurry of 911 calls just after 2 p.m.
“There was some kind of conversation and a slap,” said Hudak. “The incident was unremarkable. But because of who everybody is, we decided to let you know what’s happening.”
U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who had just returned to Miami from Washington, D.C., said he hadn’t spoken with his son as of Wednesday afternoon but was aware of an “incident.” He said he believed his son was still at the Coral Gables police station just before 6 p.m.
Morton’s is a popular steakhouse that weekdays is a hotbed of elected leaders, their staff, government employees and lobbyists.
Sources familiar with the incident told The Herald that Gimenez, who had been inside, walked over to the Miami commissioner’s table outside and made contact with him, either by slapping or punching the commissioner. Diaz de la Portilla’s Sergeant-At-Arms, who was present, held the congressman’s son until several Coral Gables police officers arrived.
Gimenez was eventually taken to the Coral Gables police station. He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight correctional center late Wednesday. His bond was set at $1,500.
CJ Gimenez, a married father of two, is a lawyer and government lobbyist in Miami-Dade County. His father, the former mayor of Miami-Dade County, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020. Among his past clients is former President Donald Trump. The representation ended when Trump ran for office in 2016.
He touted his connections to the newly elected president in early 2017 when he formed a boutique lobbying shop aimed at clients interested in dealings in D.C. and Latin America. Later that year he briefly joined a lobbying firm, Avenue Strategies, run by former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Once his father was elected to Congress, Gimenez registered to lobby for firms with business before the county. Clients included the architectural firm Bermello-Ajamil and Partners and United Bridge, a firm interested in Miami-Dade potentially hiring a private operator for the Rickenbacker Causeway.
County records show Gimenez is no longer an active lobbyist for either firm.
Gimenez also flirted with a run for the Miami-Dade County Commission this year, with a possible bid for term-limited Rebeca Sosa’s District 6 seat. At the time, he was urging Miami-Dade to stand up to a state takeover of the county’s toll board, the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.
Miami Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla is a member of one of South Florida’s most high-profile political Cuban families. He won his Miami seat in 2019 and represents Flagami, Allapattah and parts of Little Havana. The Republican was a member of the Florida Senate from 2000 to 2010 and before that served in the state House. He is 57.
One of his brothers, Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, is a land use attorney and former member of the Florida state Senate. Another brother, Renier Diaz de la Portilla, is also an attorney. He also was an elected state representative in Florida and is a former Miami-Dade School Board member.
Alex Diaz de la Portilla’s ties to the Gimenez family go back at least a decade, to when he worked as a consultant for U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez during his 2011 mayoral victory in Miami-Dade County over Julio Robaina. It was a special election to replace Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who had been recalled by a large margin of the electorate.
Diaz de la Portilla later worked with Tania Cruz, Carlos J. Gimenez’s wife, on Joe Carollo’s successful 2017 campaign for Miami commissioner. In 2012, according to records from the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court, de la Portilla and Tania Cruz were both arrested at a Boston hotel for trespassing.
The report says they both ignored requests by security to stop smoking in a hotel room and became belligerent. The misdemeanor case was dismissed prior to arraignment by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Cruz said she was in Boston with Diaz de la Portilla, courting a client.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 5:27 PM.
