Manny Diaz, Jr., a longtime teacher who has been campaigning for 15 months to run for a state House seat, wants you to know that he is not going to pull out of the race now — even if he has to face a more experienced legislator whose family dynasty is the stuff of political legend.
Miami-Dade School Board member and former State Rep. Renier Diaz de la Portilla (Rep., District 115) may have the power of a parallel incumbency, his big brotherly love and enviable name recognition, but Diaz does not seem to scare off easily. And, especially for a never-elected who lost his only earlier bid (to the school board against Perla Tabares Hantman in 2010), he carries a big schtick: endorsements from some of the new district’s other elected officials.
State Reps. Eddy Gonzalez (Rep., District 102) and Jose Oliva (Rep., District 110) are backing Diaz — and, as or more important than endorsing, raising funds for him at a private event tonight at a Miami Lakes home. It follows a fundraiser Wednesday hosted by Miami Lakes Councilmen Tim Daubert and Nelson Hernandez and Miramar Commissioner Troy Samuels at Trattoria Pampered Chef restaurant on Miami Lakes Drive. Diaz said he also has the support of Hialeah Gardens Mayor Yioset de la Cruz, who confirmed Friday, Sen. Rene Garcia and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, both of whom I could not independently confirm. Ladra will keep dogging them.
But in any case, Diaz de la Portilla is equally unfazed.
“I have plenty of endorsements, some of them are not public yet,” said the baby brother of Florida Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (Rep., District 36) and former Sen. and back-again candidate Alex Diaz de la Portilla (ditto). “But I don’t base my race on endorsements. Endorsements don’t vote.”
Baby DLP also said in a short telephone interview Thursday that Diaz’s endorsements — many of which you can see in facebook were made before Diaz’s district changed from 102 to 103 — are concentrated in the Northwest part of the district, which stretches from Miramar to Medley and Doral, where the DLP lives and represents.
“That community is not Hialeah only. That’s a small percentage of that district,” Diaz de la Portilla said. “The fact he has some endorsements in Hialeah is irrelevant.” Diaz has some of Miami Lakes, too, Ladra reminded him. But Diaz de la Portilla said he had “an excellent relationship” with Mayor Michael Pizzi (which I would argue is not necessarily a good thing). Would he seek Pizzi’s endorsement? “My endorsement will come on election day,” Diaz de la Portilla said.
His confidence suggests he has seen polls or numbers that let him risk an almost certain re-election to the school board — or many other places — for an attempt to return to Tallahassee. He said he couldn’t pass it up. “The fact that they created a seat in Doral, the community I live in, where I serve in the school board was a natural for me. And it was an open seat. I didn’t oppose an incumbent,” Diaz de la Portilla said. “I didn’t play those games. If there’s an open seat in the community where I live, I’m going to file for that open seat.”
State filing documents show that Diaz de la Portilla filed on Jan. 27, a Friday. Diaz, who had filed for House seat 102 in 2011 before the House maps were redrawn, transferred over to that race on Feb. 1, the Wednesday after. But chances are Baby DLP knew that Diaz lived in 103 — which, by the way, includes much of the old 102 — and would switch. DLP supporters may suggest that move could indicate some kind of deal for his endorsements. But Diaz would have to move from his home to continue his bid for 102 against State Rep. Jose Oliva — who, dicen las malas lenguas, wants to be House Speaker — not Gonzalez because Eddy is going to move back into his childhood home on the eastern side of Hialeah and has already transferred into House seat 111 so he doesn’t have to run against his cigar mogul bff (more on that later).
Both he and Gonzalez say any mention of a deal is “insane” (Diaz) and “absurd” (Gonzalez).
“Manny and I have been friends for years,” Gonzalez said Friday in a telephone interview. “And I have nothing against Renier. At the end of the day, those guys are my friends as well,” he said, because everybody talks about the DLPs in plural, like a sum of all parts.
“I’ve helped Miguel in the mayoral race. I supported Renier against JC Planas,” Gonzalez added. “It’s kind of gut-wrenching that Renier is running against him. But Manny and I go back almost 20 years. Manny grew up in the Hialeah area. He’s a homegrown boy. He lived in 102 and he lives now in 103.”
It’s likely a hard decision for most Republican electeds and formers in that area. “Although I am friends with both of them, and I think they are both good candidates, I made a commitment to Manny long before Renier entered this race,” said Hialeah Gardens Mayor Yioset de la Cruz.
Diaz — who would have waited until 2014 instead of running against Gonzalez — said this seat suits him even better, anyway. He won several of its precincts in the school board race and has been walking the 102 part of it since last year.
But he is quick to throw out the endorsements names. And Baby DLP says he will not participate in any tribalization of the district.
“I studied law, not drama. Too much drama in these local political squabbles,” he wrote in a text message that he said was on the record. “I am not much for drama. The state rep for 103 will have to work with five cities and for all factions. We have enough challenges with the rest of the state to be tearing ourselves down.”
Diaz supporters counter that Baby DLP would and still could run for the seat in district 112, which is currently Plan B for his brother ADDLP — and they use their own acronyms so Ladra should be able to — just in case the court approves the Senate redistricting part II without the changes he and Sen. MDDLP had sought, which Ladra believes it is likely to do (more on that later). The speculation is that RDDLP will switch to that easier win if Alex gets his coveted Senate race (more on that later), but won’t if the former Majority Speaker has to change gears and run for a House seat, which is what seems like the likely outcome.
Many observers say it is quite possible we will see two DLPs running for house seats after all. Ladra’s tail is wagging.
Which came in first in 103? The Diaz or the DLP? added by Ladra on
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