Dem Latino star Joaquin Castro stumps for Joe Garcia

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Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos Curbelo may boast having former Education Secretary Bill Bennett — um, who? — and Miami Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart — um, yawn — at a fundraiser later this month for his Congressional bid. So what?

Congressman Joe Garcia, whose seat Curbelo hopes to steal this year, has U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, the San Antonio-bred darling of the Democratic Party who — with his twin brother Julian, mayor of San Antonio — helped make the 2012 Democratic National Convention un poco mas chévere.

Castro will join four other Congressmen from other parts of the country at a Miami vacation to host a cocktail reception for Garcia Saturday at the Biltmore Hotel. The others are Reps. Tony Cardenas (San Fernando Valley), Jim Costa (Fresno, CA), Henry Cuellar (Texas) and Ben Ray Lujan (New Mexico).

Did you notice that they’re all Hispanics, too?

But forget them. The star will be Castro, who co-hosted an immigration forum with Garcia last May and who many consider the Democrat equivalent of Republican Sen. Marco Rubio — you know, in his role as designated party posterniño for Hispanics.

This isn’t Garcia’s first local fundraiser — chairs pay $5,200, co-chairs $2,600 and “friends” get in for $1,000 — but it has generated more interest because of the special guests.

Still, I can already hear the Republican jokes that will hit the Congressman on his cushy ties with people who want to do business with Cuba: Garcia never met a Castro he didn’t like.

Garcia will be facing his first true test with this year’s re-election campaign, since he rode on those Obama tails in 2012. There are already three viable Republicans in the primary hoping for a chance to have at him: Curbelo, the perceived frontrunner because he has so much money and the GOP “young gun” designation — former Miami Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez and Cutler Bay Mayor Ed “Mac” MacDougall.

It’s too bad that Congressman Garcia couldn’t speed up the date of his shindig — conveniently had over President’s Day weekend so his colleagues can make a getaway of it — so that Vice President Joe Biden, who was in Miami Wednesday to stump for Alex Sink and reportedly stayed at The Biltmore, could be one of the hosts.

Not that Biden’s star power would have out-shined Castro’s.

  Congressional district 26, Joaquin Castro, Joe Garcia