Alex Díaz de la Portilla

Alex Díaz de la Portilla (born August 25, 1964) is a Cuban-American politician from Florida. As of November of 2019, Díaz de la Portilla currently serves as a City of Miami Commissioner for District 1, which includes the predominantly Hispanic areas of Flagami, Allapattah, and parts of Little Havana. A Republican, he was a member of the Florida Senate from 2000 to 2010, representing parts of Miami-Dade County. Previously, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1994 until his election to the Senate.

Alex Díaz de la Portilla
Member of the
Miami City Commission
from the 1st district
Assumed office
January 7, 2020
Preceded byWilly Gort[1]
Majority Leader of the Florida Senate
In office
November 2008  November 2010
Preceded byDaniel Webster
Succeeded byAndy Gardiner
Member of the Florida Senate
In office
January 25, 2000  November 2, 2010
Preceded byAlberto Gutman
Succeeded byMiguel Díaz de la Portilla
Constituency34th district (2000–2002)
36th district (2002–2010)
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 115th district
In office
November 8, 1994  January 25, 2000
Preceded byCarlos A. Manrique
Succeeded byRenier Díaz de la Portilla
Personal details
Born (1964-08-25) August 25, 1964
Miami, Florida
Political partyRepublican
ProfessionPolitical Consultant

Early life and career

Díaz de la Portilla was born and raised in the Little Havana community of Miami. His career in politics began in 1990, when he was ran for the Florida House of Representatives. He lost the Republican primary, and lost again to Carlos Manrique when he ran for another House seat in 1992. Two years later, he challenged Manrique, and was successful.

Díaz de la Portilla served in the Florida House from 1994 until 2000, when he was elected to the Florida Senate in a special election. He was reelected to the Senate three times. He served as president pro tempore from 2002 to 2004.

Later political career

Díaz de la Portilla ran for the Florida House of Representatives in the 112th district in 2012, but lost to Democrat José Javier Rodríguez, 53.7 to 46.3%.[2]

In 2017, Díaz de la Portilla ran in a special election for a Florida Senate seat left vacant when Senator Frank Artiles resigned. He lost the Republican primary to Jose Felix Diaz, who lost to Democrat Annette Taddeo in the general election.

Díaz de la Portilla was a candidate for a May 2018 special election for the Miami-Dade County Commission. The Miami Herald endorsed him.[3] No candidate secured more than 50% of the vote and the runoff that followed saw Eileen Higgins become the new County Commissioner of District 5.[4]

Family

Díaz is one of the four children of Cuban exiles Miguel Ángel Díaz-Pardo and Fabiola Pura de la Portilla-García. His paternal great-grandfather served in Cuban Senate, while two of his sons served simultaneously in the Cuban House of Representatives. His maternal great-grandfather served as Cuban Minister of Justice.

His brothers have also held elected office:

Electoral history

Florida House of Representatives, 1990-1998

1990 Republican Primary, Florida House District 114
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bruce Hoffman 2,270 52.9%
Republican Thomas "Tom" Borell 1,020 23.8%
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 1,000 23.3%
Total votes 4,290
1992 Republican Primary, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 1,953 36.4%
Republican Carlos Manrique 1,250 23.3%
Republican Manuel Casas 671 12.5%
Republican Hugo D. Menendez 554 10.3%
Republican Luis Rodriguez 523 9.8%
Republican Raul Perez Sanz 410 7.6%
Total votes 5,361
1992 Republican Primary Runoff, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Manrique 1,612 53.8%
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 1,386 46.2%
Total votes 2,998
1994 Republican Primary, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 6,787 70.7%
Republican Carlos Manrique 2,809 29.3%
Total votes 9,596
1994 General Election, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla Unopposed
1996 Republican Primary, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 8,968 87.8%
Republican Fred A. Naaman 1,249 12.2%
Total votes 10,217
1996 General Election, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla Unopposed
1998 Republican Primary, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 2,747 57.7%
Republican Bernie Navarro 2,016 42.3%
Total votes 4,763
1998 General Election, Florida House District 115
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla Unopposed

Florida Senate, 1999-2006

December 14, 1999 Special Republican Primary, Florida Senate District 34
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 6,545 57.7%
Republican Carlos L. Valdes 3,780 33.3%
Republican Charles Rousseau 596 5.3%
Republican Arthur Arnau 429 3.8%
Total votes 11,350
January 25, 2000 Special General Election, Florida Senate District 34
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla Unopposed
2000 General Election, Florida Senate District 34
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla Unopposed
2002 Republican Primary, Florida Senate District 36
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 15,439 49.2%
Republican Carlos Lacasa 13,186 42.0%
Republican Mike Gorrie 2,764 8.8%
Total votes 31,389
2002 General Election, Florida Senate District 36
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 66,945 100.0%
write-ins 6 0.0%
Total votes 66,951
2006 General Election, Florida Senate District 36
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 50,879 99.9%
write-ins 30 0.1%
Total votes 50,909

Post-Senate electoral career

2012 Republican Primary, Florida House District 112
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 4,396 58.8%
Republican Gustavo Barreiro 3,075 41.2%
Total votes 7,471
2012 General Election, Florida House District 112
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic José Javier Rodríguez 28,053 53.7%
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 24,195 46.3%
Total votes 52,248
July 25, 2017 Special Republican Primary, Florida Senate District 40
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican José Félix Díaz 7,678 57.8%
Republican Alex Díaz de la Portilla 3,398 25.6%
Republican Lorenzo J. Palomares 2,217 16.7%
Total votes 13,293

References

  1. Flechas, Joey (27 October 2019). "With experience and baggage, Alex Diaz la Portilla runs for Miami's District 1 seat".
  2. Brill, Sanford. "Florida Department of State - Election Results". results.elections.myflorida.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  3. "Alex Diaz de la Portilla is right pick for Miami-Dade commission". Miami Herald. 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  4. Hanks, Douglas (19 June 2018). "Eileen Higgins wins Miami-Dade commission seat in upset over Zoraida Barreiro". Miami Herald.
Florida House of Representatives
Preceded by
Carlos A. Manrique
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 115th district

1994–2000
Succeeded by
Renier Díaz de la Portilla
Florida Senate
Preceded by
Alberto Gutman
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 34th district

2000–2002
Succeeded by
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Preceded by
Kendrick Meek
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 36th district

2002–2010
Succeeded by
Miguel Díaz de la Portilla
Preceded by
Daniel Webster
Majority Leader of the Florida Senate
2008–2010
Succeeded by
Andy Gardiner
Political offices
Preceded by
Willy Gort
Member of the Miami City Commission
from the 1st district

2020–present
Incumbent
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