Miami-Dade Republicans elect vice chairman as new party leader
Miami-Dade Republicans on Monday elected Vice Chairman Kevin Cooper to lead Florida’s largest county GOP.
Cooper, a Miami attorney, easily defeated Sunny Isles Beach Commissioner Jerry Joseph in an 83-15 vote to succeed state Rep. Alex Rizo as the chairman of Miami-Dade Republican Party, according to a person familiar with the vote.
Rizo,who has led the county party since 2022, announced on Monday that he would not seek another term as chairman, telling the Miami Herald in an interview that he wanted to focus more on his work in the state legislature.
“The chairman job is a lot of work, and with my job as a legislator and the positions I fill up there, I just think we need someone that can really focus on the party,” Rizo said.
READ MORE: Florida Rep. Alex Rizo says he won’t seek reelection as Miami-Dade GOP chairman
Cooper is a longtime fixture in the Miami-Dade GOP. He was first elected to the county’s Republican Executive Committee in 2016 and served as its campaign director in 2022, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio won Miami-Dade County.
As chairman, he’ll take over a party that’s still riding high after a landmark November election that saw Republicans sweep several county-wide races, as well as the presidency.
President-elect Donald Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate in more than 30 years to win Miami-Dade – a victory driven by strong support among Hispanic voters who make up a majority of the county’s electorate.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 9:22 PM.