Mario Diaz-Balart

Mario Diaz-Balart
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 21st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 25th district
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	None (District Created After 2000 Census)
Succeeded by	David Rivera
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 112th district
In office 2000–2002
Preceded by	Alex Villalobos
Succeeded by	David Rivera
Member of the Florida Senate from the 37th district
In office 1992–2000
Preceded by	Gwen Margolis
Succeeded by	Alex Villalobos
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 115th district
In office 1988–1992
Preceded by	Javier Souto
Succeeded by	Carlos A. Manrique
Personal details
Born	September 25, 1961 (1961-09-25) (age 50) Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Tia Diaz-Balart
Residence	Miami, Florida
Alma mater	University of South Florida
Occupation	political assistant
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	http://www.mariodiazbalart.org/

Mario Rafael Diaz-Balart Caballero (born September 25, 1961) is the current U.S. Representative for Florida's 21st congressional district, serving since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2010 to succeed his brother, Lincoln Diaz-Balart. The district includes the city of Hialeah, along with several of Miami's southwestern suburbs. He previously served Florida's 25th congressional district from 2003 to 2011.

Early life, education, and early political career

Diaz-Balart was born in Fort Lauderdale in 1961 to the late Cuban politician Rafael Diaz-Balart. His aunt, Mirta Diaz-Balart, was the first wife of Fidel Castro. Her son, and his cousin, is Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart. His uncle is the Cuban-Spanish painter, Waldo Diaz-Balart. His brother, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, represented Florida's 21st District from 1993 to 2011. He has two other brothers, Jose Diaz-Balart, a journalist, and Rafael Diaz-Balart, a banker.

He attended the University of South Florida to study political science before beginning his public service career as an aide to then-Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez in 1985. In the same year, he changed his political party affiliation from Democratic to Republican.^[1]

Florida legislature

He was elected to the Florida House in 1988 and moved to the Florida Senate in 1992. He returned to the Florida House in 2000. During his second tenure in the House, he chaired the redistricting committee.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2008#District 25 and United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2010#District 21

Diaz-Balart defeated Joe Garcia, former Executive Director of Cuban American National Foundation and former chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party.

2010

On February 11, 2010, Diaz-Balart announced his intention to seek election in Florida's 21st congressional district -- being vacated by his brother, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart -- rather than the 25th district.^[2] Although it is widely believed that Mario Diaz-Balart drew the 25th for himself, it is actually a slightly marginal district on paper. In contrast, the 21st is considered the most Republican district in the Miami area.

No other party even put up a candidate when filing closed on April 30, handing the seat to Mario Diaz-Balart.^[3] Indeed, since the 21st's creation, the Republican candidate has run unopposed in all but two elections.

Tenure

Mario Diaz-Balart's voting record is somewhat more conservative than that of the other two Cuban-Americans who represent Miami--Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rivera. During his first three terms, he was one of two voting Latino members of the House—the other being Trent Franks of Arizona — known to be a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

He is a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a caucus of Hispanic Republican congressmen. Like his Cuban-American colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Diaz-Balart is a strong advocate of maintaining the Cuban embargo, saying "Some people do not understand the embargo of Cuba. Its purpose is to keep American hard currency out of the hands of a Communist thug by restricting most trade and travel."^[4]

On September 29, 2008, Diaz-Balart voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008^[5]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
  • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Caucus membership

• Assistant Whip
• Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference
• Founder of the Protecting Families Online Initiative
• Founding member of the Washington Waste Watchers
• Member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus
• Republican Main Street Partnership

Personal life

He currently lives in Miami with his wife and son.

References

1. ^ El Nuevo Herald, Diaz-Balart Se Pasa Al Partido Republicano, April 24, 1985
2. ^ "Mario Diaz-Balart Will Run to Succeed His Brother". Roll Call. 2010-02-11. http://www.rollcall.com/news/43199-1.html?type=printer_friendly. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
3. ^ Official State of Florida Division of Elections Website
4. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 681". FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 681. US House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml. 

External links

• Mario Diaz-Balart for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Lincoln Diaz-Balart	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 21st congressional district 2011 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by District Created	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 25th congressional district 2003 – 2011	Succeeded by David Rivera
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Tom Cole R-Oklahoma	United States Representatives by seniority 204th	Succeeded by Trent Franks R-Arizona

Persondata
Name	Diaz-Balart, Mario
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 25, 1961
Place of birth	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Date of death
Place of death