Incumbent Dotie Joseph leading in House District 108, other House races close
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Dotie Joseph comfortably locked up her seat Tuesday night, in a three-way Democratic primary for Florida House District 108, while other South Florida state House candidates secured narrow wins.
Joseph’s opponents included Roy Hardemon, who held the seat for one term starting in 2016, and political newcomer Georges Bossous Jr., a psychotherapist, in a Democratic-leaning district that includes Biscayne Park, Miami Shores and parts of Miami. No Republican ran for the seat.
The contest was one of a handful of state legislative races in South Florida that were decided in Tuesday’s primaries, where Democrats ran without Republican opposition.
In the race for District 107, Christopher Benjamin, a 47-year-old lawyer, beat Ulysses “Buck” Harvard late Tuesday. No Republicans ran for the seat either, so the winner will represent the district, which stretches from North Miami to Miami Gardens. Benjamin will replace term-limited incumbent Barbara Watson.
Benjamin led Harvard in fundraising and said Watson approached him about running for her seat, which she had held since 2012.
And in the Democratic primary for Florida House District 117, Kevin Chambliss, 39, declared victory late Tuesday on a narrow lead in the race for the open South Miami-Dade County seat in the three-way contest to replace Florida House Minority Leader Kionne McGhee. No Republicans ran in the race.
Chambliss, a former government aide, had a slight lead over opponent Jessica Laguerre Hylton, a former teacher. Harold Ford, a minister and special needs educator, was third in the race for the majority-Black district, which runs through parts of Naranja, Goulds, Richmond Heights, Homestead and Florida City and includes parts of Miami-Dade County’s poorest ZIP code.
Fabricio wins in House District 103 race
Tom Fabricio, a 43-year-old insurance lawyer and Miami Lakes native, declared victory in the Republican primary for Florida House District 103, a historically-Republican district that includes parts of Miramar, Miami Lakes, Doral, Hialeah and Medley. He was leading Nelson Rodriguez, vice mayor of Miami Lakes, who had trailed Fabricio in fundraising and cash on hand.
Fabricio, a first-time candidate for Florida House of Representatives, received the endorsement of Florida Sen. Manny Diaz and former Republican candidate for HD 103, Frank Mingo.
The winner will face Democratic incumbent Rep. Cindy Polo, a Colombian American who grew up in Miami Lakes. In 2018, Polo flipped the west Miami-Dade district blue, winning by 6 percentage points. While Polo has previously insisted her district is shifting away from its conservative roots, Florida Republicans are pushing to take it back.
Mooney wins close race in Keys’ District 120 primary
House District 120, which includes some of South Miami-Dade as well as the Florida Keys, was too close to call Tuesday night. But once all precincts were counted, Islamorada candidate James “Jim” Vernon Mooney Jr. emerged as the candidate with the majority of the votes.
Mooney was leading overall, but he had been closely trailing candidates Rhonda Rebman Lopez and Alexandria Suarez in Miami-Dade — where about half the district’s voters live. But he had enough support in the Keys to pull ahead.
Porras, Borrero win in House District 105 contests
David Borrero won narrowly in the Republican primary Tuesday for House District 105 in a three-way primary against Bibiana Potestad and Pedro Barrios, who finished third. The district runs through Miami-Dade, Broward and Collier counties.
Borrero is vying to replace term-limited Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez. He’ll be competing against Maureen Porras in November, who won the Democratic primary also on Tuesday.
An immigration attorney, Porras declared victory over her Democratic primary opponent, Javier Estevez.
Porras, a first time candidate, is hoping to flip House District 105.
Daniel Perez wins in House District 116
Incumbent Daniel Perez won the election late Tuesday in the Republican primary for District 116 against opponent Gabriel Garcia.
Though Perez was chosen by his colleagues as speaker of the house in 2024, he faced a challenge for the seat from another Republican. A focal point of Garcia’s campaign was attacking Perez for a 2017 trip to Cuba, in hopes of wooing Hispanic voters in the heavily-Republican district.
Mailers and Facebook ads featuring photos from the trip were funded by outgoing House Speaker José Oliva’s political committee funded and run by his main advisor.
Perez will now face Democrat Bob Lynch, a former bond trader on Wall Street, in the November election, and independent Write-in candidate Manuel Rodriguez.
Felicia Robinson wins in House District 102
Felicia Robinson emerged victorious over her opponents Tuesday night in the race to replace term-limited Democrat Sharon Pritchett in House District 102, which includes parts of Miami Gardens and Pembroke Pines. There are no Republicans running for this seat.
Trailing far behind were Matthew Tisdol and with David Williams Jr. and Dennis Hinds.
Bruno Barreiro winss House District 112 GOP primary
Bruno Barreiro won Tuesday’s primary and will now go on to face Democratic incumbent Nicholas Duran in November. Barreiro defeated his opponent, Republican Rosa Maria Palomino. House District 112 includes parts of Miami-Dade including Miami, Coral Gables and Key Biscayne.
Barreiro, a former Miami-Dade commissioner, gave up his County Commission seat in 2018 to run for Florida’s 27th Congressional District but lost the Republican primary to Maria Elvira Salazar, who was beaten in the general election by Democrat Donna Shalala.
Jean-Pierre Bado wins close Democratic primary for House 114
Democrat Jean-Pierre Bado won the Democratic primary for the district that stretches from West Miami to Cutler Bay. It was a narrow victory over his opponent Sue “Susi” Loyzelle, vice mayor for Cutler Bay.
Bado, a Coral Gables securities litigation attorney and veteran Army captain, will now face Republican candidate Demi Busatta Cabrera in the November election.
This story has been updated. Miami Herald reporter David Goodhue contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 10:56 PM.
