Miami Herald (Florida)
By Patricia Mazzei and Mary Ellen Klas
June 20, 2015
Carlos Lopez-Cantera left little room for doubt Saturday night that he’s running for U.S. Senate in 2016.
Florida’s
lieutenant governor told Miami-Dade County Republicans at their annual
fundraising bash that he will announce his plans July 15.
“I
believe Florida deserves a candidate who will work for Florida every
single day and campaign for every Florida voter, no matter where they
live, how they worship or
what language they speak around the dinner table,” Lopez-Cantera said.
He
spoke at the Miami-Dade GOP’s Lincoln Day dinner before Marco Rubio,
the presidential candidate whom Lopez-Cantera would try to replace. The
lieutenant governor used
his time to outline the contours of his candidacy. He also said that
his wife, Renee (a Miami Herald sales and marketing employee), has been
encouraging him to consider a run — the clearest sign yet that
Lopez-Cantera plans to jump in the race.
“If
I get in this race, I know that it will be a long road, and a hard
road, but if we are on that road together, there is nothing can stand in
our way,” Lopez-Cantera
said.
By
not becoming a candidate until July, Carlos Lopez-Cantera would avoid a
June 30 campaign-finance reporting deadline. His first quarterly
disclosure wouldn’t be due
until October, giving Lopez-Cantera several more months to schmooze
political donors and try to make a splash when his first numbers come
out.
He
would need to prove fundraising muscle. The only big-name Republican in
the race so far, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis of Ponte Vedra Beach, a
tea-party favorite, has lined
up formidable support from several conservative political action
committees, including Club for Growth, FreedomWorks and Senate
Conservatives Fund. Another congressman, Jeff Miller of Chumuckla, is
also likely to run.
Lopez-Cantera
has been considering a bid since April. He made calls last month to
activists and donors asking for their backing. They have been able to
contribute to Reform
Washington, a Tampa-based “Super PAC” created to support Lopez-Cantera.
The Super PAC has invited donors to a fundraiser Thursday at the Coral
Gables home of Lopez-Cantera’s father.
The
lieutenant governor is also scheduled to speak Tuesday to the Leon
County GOP in Tallahassee. He gave brief remarks Friday to the
Hillsborough County GOP in Tampa
— where the headliner was Rubio’s hometown rival, former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Lopez-Cantera’s
supporters viewed the Miami-Dade GOP dinner as the perfect venue to
create a campaign buzz. Rubio’s presence commanded national attention.
And the fundraiser
was sold-out for the first time in a quarter century, party Chairman
Nelson Diaz said, with more than 700 people in attendance.
“I
am so proud of what he’s done,” state Sen. Anitere Flores of Miami said
when she introduced Lopez-Cantera. Lopez-Cantera twice got jabs in
against the most significant
Democratic Senate candidate, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy of Jupiter, and
another likely candidate, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando.
Rubio,
who was booked as the keynote speaker a year ago, is close to
Lopez-Cantera; Lopez-Cantera sat on stage during Rubio’s campaign launch
in Miami in April. Both Cuban-Americans
served in the Florida House of Representatives and are endorsed by
billionaire donor Norman Braman, a Miami auto magnate and former owner
of the Philadelphia Eagles football team.
Lopez-Cantera was Miami-Dade’s elected property appraiser before being picked as Gov. Rick Scott’s running mate last year.
Scott
has indicated he would stay out of the Republican Senate primary.
Lopez-Cantera would not have to resign his lieutenant governor position
to run for federal office,
though he would likely face criticism for using his state office to
leverage campaign money.
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