Herald recommends: In Florida House 119 Republican primary, a candidate has record of community service | Editorial

There is a fierce battle for this West Kendall and The Hammocks district. Seven candidates — five Republicans and two Democrats — are running. That’s because it’s a newly created District 119, thanks to redistricting. There is no incumbent in the race, so the playing field is even.

However, the district is viewed as favoring Republicans, that’s why there are five of them: Ashley Alvarez, a small business owner, vice president of the district’s Community Council and a member of the Miami-Dade Republican Committee; Rob Gonzalez, an attorney; Juan Carlos Porras, a businessman; Jose Soto, a retired social studies teacher; and Ricky Tsay, vice president of a family-owned hotel, the International Inn, on Miami Beach. He has loaned his campaign at least $150,000 and has the biggest campaign war chest, at around $300,000.

The two other top money-getters, Gonzalez and Porras, did not attend the Editorial Board’s candidate interview. Only Alvarez, Tsay and Soto took part.

Alvarez wants to make Florida more welcoming. “We have problems in every single industry with retaining talent. I would work to retain talent,” she told the Board. She would increase state funding and perks to keep talent here. Ditto for Tsay, who says encouraging Floridians’ entrepreneurial spirit is a primary goal, but unfortunately, their struggle to make ends meet is strangling such efforts. “Cost of living is the biggest issue in this district, including homeowners insurance,” he said.

Soto says residents’ main concern is school safety. Another particular issue for the far west district is the Urban Development Boundary. Soto believes the county and state should get together to move the lines further west. “We’re just running out of space to build,” he said, while Tsay suggests more density is the answer.

All three candidates are pro-life, believe in funding mental health instead of gun restrictions and have differing ideas on how to deal with climate change.

All three candidates also said they disapproved of the Proud Boys’ influence on the local Republican Party and of extremism. We give Alvarez a slight edge because of her community service on the local council and in the Republican Party. In the Republican primary, the Herald recommends ASHLEY ALVAREZ for Florida House District 119.

This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 2:54 PM.