Election 2020: These South Florida House candidates will be on the ballot Nov. 3
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida voters turned out at the highest rate seen in a presidential year August primary since 1992. More than 3.8 million voters participated in Tuesday’s election — the majority by mail ballot — according to data posted Wednesday by the Florida Division of Elections.
It was a crucial moment for not only closely watched races like the Miami-Dade County mayor or the Broward County sheriff but also for many state House candidates who are vying for a spot to represent their communities in Tallahassee.
Now, all eyes are on November, where candidates appearing on a presidential election ballot will hope for a similarly engaged voter bloc and a windfall of votes.
From northern Broward County to the Florida Keys, here are the state House candidates who won their primaries and either face no opponents or will appear on the general election ballot Nov 3.
House 92, parts of Broward County
Incumbent Democrat Patricia Hawkins-Williams will take on no-party candidate Nancy St. Clair in November. Hawkins-Williams will face a challenge that other Democrat incumbents like Kim Daniels and Al Jacquet faced in the Tuesday primary.
Like Daniels and Jacquet, who lost their primary races, Hawkins-Williams voted for a bill that requires parental consent for minors seeking abortions. She lost a Ruth’s List Florida endorsement over it, and her name was scrubbed from their site.
However, she has outraised St. Clair by a large margin and has solicited big donations from high-profile lobbyists, political committees and industry groups like Disney and various beverage wholesalers.
House 93, parts of Broward County
Incumbent Republican Chip LaMarca will face off with Democrat Linda Thompson Gonzalez to defend his seat for a second term in the House.
Before LaMarca was elected to the Florida House in 2018, he served on the Lighthouse Point City Commission and later, the Broward County Commission.
LaMarca has the backing of key groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Associated Industries of Florida and the Associated Builders and Contractors.
House 94, parts of Broward County
Incoming House Democratic co-leader Bobby DuBose beat primary opponent Democrat Elijah Manley with about 70% of the vote Tuesday, defending his seat to serve a third term in the Florida House. He does not face a Republican challenger in November.
Before he was elected to the Florida House in 2014, DuBose served on the Fort Lauderdale City Commission. He served as vice mayor of Fort Lauderdale from 2011 to 2012.
Manley, who is Black, gay and gender-fluid, started his political career in high school and became better known after running for an at-large seat on the Broward County School Board. He said on Twitter Tuesday night that he had “gratitude for the movement” despite his loss.
House 95, parts of Broward County
Incumbent Democrat Anika Omphroy beat former Miami Workers Center political director and consultant Jasmen Rogers-Shaw with just 50.85% of the vote Tuesday.
A margin of just 435 votes separated the candidates.
The race was a nail-biter, as Rogers-Shaw easily outraised Omphroy and garnered high-profile endorsements from groups like Ruth’s List and politicians like top state Democrat Nikki Fried.
There is no Republican candidate in the race, so Omphroy wins the seat.
House 96, parts of Broward County
Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky won 71.95% of the vote in the race to fill a seat left by Democrat Kristin Jacobs, who died of cancer in April.
Hunschofsky, who campaigned with support from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School families in Parkland, beat sole opponent Saima Farooqui in the Democratic primary.
Hunschofsky has been the mayor of Parkland since 2016 and before that, served on the Parkland City Commission.
Hunschofsky will face off with write-in candidate Muhammad Amin in the fall.
House 97, parts of Broward County
Incumbent Democrat Dan Daley, of Coral Springs, is unopposed to keep his seat in the House. Before he assumed office in 2019, Daley served as a city commissioner and vice mayor of Coral Springs.
House 98, parts of Broward County
Incumbent Democrat and lawyer Michael Gottlieb is unopposed to keep his seat.
House 99, parts of southern Broward County
Incumbent and incoming House Democratic co-leader Evan Jenne is unopposed to keep his seat.
Before the state underwent redistricting, the Dania Beach Democrat represented House District 100, which at the time stretched from Dania Beach to Pembroke Pines in southern Broward County. He served House 100 from 2006 to 2012.
House 100, most of Hollywood and parts of northern Miami-Dade County
Incumbent Democrat Joe Geller is running unopposed to keep his seat for a third term.
In 1989, Geller was elected chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party, serving in that capacity until 2000. In 2004, he was elected mayor of North Bay Village. He was elected to the Florida House in 2014.
House 101, southeastern Broward County
Former Miami-Dade County public administrator Marie Woodson won the Democratic primary race to replace Rep. Shevrin Jones, who is all but certain to represent Senate District 35 in the upper chamber next year. Woodson won 37.2% of the votes, beating out West Park Vice Mayor Brian Johnson and Pembroke Park Mayor Ashira Mohammed for the nomination.
Jones had endorsed Johnson to be his successor.
Woodson will face Republican Vincent “Vinny” Parlatore in November.
House 102, Miami Gardens to Pembroke Pines
Miami Gardens City Councilwoman Felicia Simone Robinson beat out fellow Democrats David Williams Jr., Dennis Hinds and Matthew Tisdol with about 47% of the vote.
No Republicans are running for the seat, which was vacated by term-limited Rep. Sharon Pritchett, a Miami Gardens Democrat.
House 103, parts of Broward and west Miami-Dade County
Incumbent Democrat Cindy Polo did not have any primary opponents but faces a competitive general election race against Republican Thomas Fabricio, who won the primary with 60.3% of the vote.
In 2018, Polo, a political novice, won a close race against former Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Frank Mingo, flipping the long-held Republican seat from red to blue. She won the race by just 6 percentage points.
Polo has just barely outraised Fabricio and has the backing of the Florida Democratic Party. She is a crucial member of the progressive wing that is building in Tallahassee, and Republicans feel Fabricio is the strongest candidate to topple her. Fabricio has earned the backing of high-power Republicans like Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. and former Senate President Mike Haridopolos. Mingo has also endorsed Fabricio in the race.
House 104, southern Broward County, stretching from Pembroke Pines to the Collier County border
Broward County School Board member Robin Bartleman toppled first-time candidate Morey Wright in the primary race to replace term-limited Democrat Richard Stark, who plans to run for Weston mayor.
Bartleman, who won 70.1% of the vote, will face Republican George Navarini in the Nov. 3 general election.
Bartleman is currently the longest-tenured member of the School Board. Before she joined in 2004, she served on the Weston City Commission.
House 105, parts of Broward, Collier and Miami-Dade counties
The oddly shaped district had two competitive primary races Tuesday.
In the three-way Republican primary, Sweetwater City Commissioner David Borrero edged out Doral attorney Bibiana Potestad and mental health counselor Pedro Barrios with 41.4% of the vote.
Come November, Borrero will face immigration attorney Maureen Porras, who beat leasing agent Javier Estevez with 64% of the vote. The two will compete to replace term-limited Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez, who is running in a highly competitive race to represent Senate District 39.
The seat is in a tug-of-war between Republicans who want to defend it, and Democrats who see this as a ripe opportunity to flip it blue. District 105’s registered voters are nearly evenly split: about 32% Democrat, 32% Republican, and 35% no party affiliation, according to state records.
Borrero got his start in politics as a campaign manager for former Republican state Rep. Carlos Trujillo, a two-time incumbent of District 105. Campaign mailers sent throughout the district call Borrero a “true conservative.”
Porras, the immigration attorney, has gotten a boost from groups like Ruth’s List Florida and Emily’s List, which help mentor, train and fund progressive female candidates. She’s also snagged endorsements from Broward County Commissioners Nan Rich and Barbara Sharief, state Sens. Oscar Braynon, Annette Taddeo and others. Porras was born in Managua, Nicaragua, and moved to the U.S. when she was 7.
If Porras wins, she would be the first Nicaraguan member of the Florida Legislature.
House 107, northern Miami-Dade County stretching from North Miami to Miami Gardens
Democrat lawyer Christopher Benjamin beat out Ulysses “Buck” Harvard with 60.6% of the vote in the primary race to replace term-limited Rep. Barbara Watson, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Senate District 35.
Benjamin led Harvard in fundraising and said Watson approached him about running for her seat, which she had held since 2012.
There is no Republican candidate in the race, so Benjamin wins the seat.
House 108, parts of Miami-Dade County, including Biscayne Park, Miami Shores and downtown Miami
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Dotie Joseph came out on top in a three-way Democratic primary for the seat, beating her opponents with 57.45% of the vote.
Joseph faced Roy Hardemon, who held the seat for one term starting in 2016, and political newcomer Georges Bossous Jr., a psychotherapist.
No Republican ran for the seat, so Joseph will serve a second term.
House 109, parts of Miami-Dade County including Miami Gardens and Opa-locka
Incumbent Democrat James Bush III is unopposed to keep his seat. Bush represented the district from 1992 to 2000. He won the seat again in 2008 and in 2018.
House 110, parts of Miami-Dade County including Hialeah and Miami Lakes
Democrat Annette Collazo and Republican Alejandro Rizo Jr. will face off in November in a race to replace term-limited House Speaker José Oliva. Neither candidate had a primary opponent.
Rizo, a former Miami-Dade Public Schools administrator and education consultant, is outraising Collazo by almost double.
House 111, northeastern Miami-Dade County, including parts of Miami and Hialeah
Inucmbent Republican Bryan Avila will face Democrat Ross Hancock in November in an attempt to defend his seat.
House 112, parts of Miami-Dade County including Miami, Coral Gables and Key Biscayne
Republican Bruno Barreiro will be on the ballot once again, this time to face incumbent Democrat Nicholas Duran.
The former Miami-Dade County commissioner beat Republican primary opponent Rosa Maria Palomino with 63.74% of the vote Tuesday. Palomino had lost to Duran in the last two elections for the seat.
Barreiro served three terms as the representative for House District 107 from 1992 to 1998. He sought a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, but lost in the primary to Maria Elvira Salazar in Florida’s 27th Congressional District.
He has raised $31,600 to Duran’s cool $152,000, which he has largely been sitting on ahead of the general election.
House 113, parts of Miami-Dade County including North Bay Village and Miami Beach
Incumbent Democrat Michael Grieco is running unopposed for the seat.
Grieco, a former Miami-Dade County prosecutor and Miami Beach city commissioner, is facing a Bar complaint in wake of a Miami Herald investigation that found he broke the law governing campaign finance then repeatedly lied to the public about it.
House 114, parts of Miami-Dade County from West Miami to Cutler Bay
Democrat Jean-Pierre Bado narrowly defeated Susi Loyzelle in the primary race to replace Rep. Javier Fernandez, who is running for Senate District 39. Bado came out with 51.15% of the vote.
Bado, an attorney, will go up against well-funded Republican candidate Demi Busatta Cabrera in November. Cabrera is the former chief of staff to term-limited Sen. Anitere Flores, who represented SD 39.
House 115, parts of Miami-Dade County including South Miami, Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay
Incumbent Republican Vance Aloupis will face Democrat Franccesca Cesti-Browne in November, as neither candidate had a primary opponent. Cesti-Browne has raised about one-third of what Aloupis has netted. But she has secured support from the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), a PAC chaired by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Aloupis is a moderate Republican in a district that has trended purple. Republican Rep. Michael Bileca won reelection in 2014 by 18 percentage points but in 2016, he only won by 7. Aloupis won the seat by just 1 percentage point in 2018.
That year, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson won the district.
House 116, parts of Miami-Dade County including Doral
Two-term incumbent Republican Daniel Perez beat out Gabriel Garcia Tuesday with 58.76% of the vote. Interestingly Perez, who is slated to become House Speaker in 2024, is the first future speaker to face a primary challenge in eight years.
Garcia’s candidacy was promoted by a political committee that has attacked Perez with mailers and Facebook ads over a trip he took in 2017 to Cuba with his then-fiancée. The political committee, chaired by the vice president of the consulting firm run by David Custin, an Oliva adviser, published at least one mailer promoting Garcia, who says on his website that he is running because “Daniel Perez does not share our Republican or exile community’s values.”
Despite the attacks, Perez overcame Garcia, who had only raised $900 in the race.
Perez, 33, will face Democrat Bob Lynch and write-in candidate Manuel Rodriguez in November.
House 117, south Miami-Dade County, includes parts of Naranja, Goulds, Richmond Heights, Homestead and Florida City
Democrat Kevin Chambliss narrowly edged former teacher Jessica Laguerre Hylton and minister Harold Ford in the Democratic primary race to replace term-limited House Democratic Leader Kionne McGhee, who held the seat since redistricting in 2012.
The former government aide won 37.58% of the vote, just 211 votes ahead of Laguerre Hylton, who netted 36.5% of the votes.
Chambliss, 39, has worked for a bipartisan mix of members of Congress, including Joe Garcia, Carlos Curbelo, Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Without a Republican opponent, Chambliss wins the seat.
House 118, parts of Miami-Dade County, west of State Road 994
Incumbent Republican Anthony Rodriguez will face Democrat Ricky Junquera, former chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, in the Nov. 3 general election. Neither candidate had a primary opponent.
The race will likely be a close one. Rodriguez defeated Democratic Rep. Robert Asencio in 2018 by just 2 percentage points.
House 119, parts of western Miami-Dade County
Incumbent Republican Juan Fernandez-Barquin will face Democrat Imtiaz Mohammed on the November ballot. Neither candidate had a primary opponent.
Mohammed, who has not raised any money for the House race, also ran short-lived campaigns for U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch’s seat in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District this year. He also briefly ran for House District 104 to replace term-limited Rep. Richard Stark.
House 120, parts of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, including the Florida Keys
Islamorada Republican James “Jim” Mooney squeezed out of a tight primary race to replace term-limited Republican Rep. Holly Raschein. Mooney, who scored just 35.39% of the vote, came out 149 votes ahead of Rhonda Rebman Lopez and 679 votes ahead of Alexandria Suarez.
Mooney, a real estate agent and elected member of the Islamorada Village Council, will face Democrat Clint Barras in the Nov. 3 general election. Barras is vice president of a Key West-based digital development company.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 7:18 PM.