Riding on a wave of support from other first responders and the nods of federal and local officials, Omar Blanco left two other Republicans behind in a primary election on Tuesday for the vacant seat in the 115th congressional district of the House of Representatives.
He will now run against the Democratic candidate Norma Perez Schwartz in the parliamentary elections.
When results were announced at 7:56 p.m. in 18 of 56 precincts, Blanco had 59% of the vote, compared to 28% for the head of a nonprofit organization. Alian Collazo and 13% for former foreign policy representatives Moises Benhabib.
All three competed to succeed the Republican representative of the state of Miami Alina Garciawho is resigning after one term to run for Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections.
Blanco will now have to face the board of a non-profit educational organization Norma Perez Schwartzthe only Democrat running in the November 5 general election in HD 115 constituency.
All three Republican candidates cited tackling rising property insurance rates in Florida, maintaining low taxes and improving public safety as their top priorities. All spoke in favor of Donald Trump.
Blanco, 52, is a longtime captain of the Miami-Dade Fire Department and former union president. He organized a unsuccessful application for the congress in 2020. A year later he was named Florida Firefighter of the Year.
Blanco, the husband of a Miami-Dade Public Schools teacher, said he would push for stronger protections for parental rights in education, a term that has become the official title for Florida’s so-called “Parental rights in education“ bill to restrict LGBTQ-inclusive education, which critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”
He also promised to make protecting the elderly a top priority in the bills he hopes to pass in Tallahassee.
“As a lifelong Republican, I am committed to upholding our conservative values and fighting for the principles that make Florida great,” he said in a statement. “Serving on the front lines has instilled in me the values of service, sacrifice and community. With that passion and dedication, I am ready to serve as your voice in Tallahassee and fight tirelessly for the issues that matter most to you and your family.”
On his campaign website, Blanco can be seen in a triptych with Trump and the governor. Ron DeSantis and US Senator. Rick Scott.
Between mid-February and early August, Blanco raised more than $266,000 through his Campaign account and political committee, Let’s get back to basicswith generous financial support from first responders and many fire and police unions.
Former State Senator. Anitere Flores gave him $1,000. The International Association of Firefighters gave him $25,000, as did the Coral Gables-based Haggard Law Firm and the political arm of the Florida Justice Association.
Blanco also received support from U.S. lawmakers. Mario Díaz-Balartformer Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebecca Sosathe Florida Fraternal Order of Police, the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, the Metro-Dade Firefighters Local 1403, the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 587, the Hispanic Police Officers Association and the Christian Family Coalition.
Collazo, 29, fled Cuba with his family at age 8 and settled in the Tampa Bay Area, where he has spent most of his life. His day job is at Bank of America, where he says he has worked as a relationship manager for over seven years. LinkedIn page.
In his spare time, he is the founder and CEO of Largo-based Cuban Freedom March non-profit organization. For a year and a half, he was Deputy Director of Grassroots Operations for the LIBRE Initiativea nonprofit organization representing conservative Latinos.
However, his entry into Florida politics came through his ten-year friendship with the Republican Senator from the state of Miami. Alexis Calatayudwith whom he attended Florida International University in Miami-Dade and served alongside him as president of the school Student representation.
To Calatayud won the office in 2022she hired Collazo as her chief of staff. He left that post after 15 months to run for state office in Miami-Dade. On March 9, days before filing his ballot, he changed his voting address from one in Largo to one in Calatayud’s family home in Miami Dade.
He has since changed his address and now lives in Palmetto Bay. told the Miami Herald he is alive now.
“I am running because I want to give back to this community everything it has given me,” said Collazo Telemundo in May. He praised Calatayud’s legislative achievements, including the Live performance on site Parliament passed a law last year to promote affordable housing, which is in line with the measures he would like to support if elected.
On his campaign website, he vowed to “stand with President Donald J. Trump to defeat the woke socialist agenda.”
The only candidate in the primary who qualify by applicationCollazo was a true fundraising powerhouse, raising nearly $375,000 between his Campaign account and political committee, Protecting the American Dreamuntil August 2nd.
Nearly a third of the money came from Calatayud’s political committee. He also received $50,000 from the Republican senator from Doral. Ana Maria Rodriguez and a now repaid donation of $55,000 from his mother, the owner of an elderly care company Linette Hernandez.
Other GOP elected officials who donated money to him included state senators. Bryan Avila from Hialeah Gardens, Colleen Burton from Lakeland and Jay Trumbull of Jacksonville and a representative from the state of Miami. Juan Porras.
Collazo started August with about $49,000 in his war chest. The majority of his expenses went to the Coral Gables-based consulting firm Miranda Law for a variety of campaign services, including voter outreach, campaign mailings, advertising, web design, signage and apparel.
He carried the endorsements of the Dade County Medical Association PAC, the Florida Realtors PAC, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida East Coast Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors and Calatayud.
Benhabib, 33, worked for nearly a decade at the U.S. State Department, where he served as foreign affairs representative and special assistant in the Office of Legislative Affairs.
Before that, he worked as an intern for a US Senator. Marco Rubio.
Today he is in the private sector and works as a senior director for a military contractor Juvare Federal and Defense and as the owner of a real estate company with properties in the greater Miami and Washington, DC area
He said he considers himself a moderate.
“I had a mixed political upbringing,” he said to Florida Politics“On some positions I’m super conservative. On others I’m on the middle side, just like everyone else here in Miami.”
Benhabib said he wanted to reduce traffic congestion in his home country and help businesses succeed in an increasingly diverse economy. He hoped to Nationwide incentive program for film and television productions that lawmakers allowed nearly a decade ago due to funding cuts. He also said he would like to ChooseFloridathe state’s official international trade organization to better attract external investment.
Between his filing at the end of March and the end of last month, he educated about $68,000, 85% of which he donated himself. After spending heavily on canvassing, campaign ads and signage, he had about $8,000 left by August.
There was some ugliness between the candidates in the primary elections in HD 115. Both Benhabib and Blanco openly questioned Collazos local bona fides. Blanco too threatened to sue Collazo last month for misleading emails claiming the firefighter supported the Democrats Andrew Gillum about DeSantis in the 2018 gubernatorial race.
HD106 covers a portion of southern Miami-Dade County that includes Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, and the unincorporated neighborhoods of The Falls, Kendall, and Westchester.
The primary election will be held on August 20, followed by the general election on November 5.
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