This election cycle is the first midterm since 2006 that Democrats have a realistic chance of picking up many House seats in both Florida and the nation thanks to the struggles of unpopular President Donald Trump. | AP Photo Barzee Flores switches races, challenges Mario Diaz-Balart

MIAMI — Former Miami Judge Mary Barzee Flores is switching her congressional campaign to run against Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, giving the longtime incumbent the first serious Democratic challenger he has had in a decade.

“I’m confident that Mario Diaz-Balart can, should and will be beat this fall. And I’m going to beat him,” Barzee Flores told POLITICO.


“Diaz-Balart has voted repeatedly to rip away Floridians’ health care coverage. He has voted repeatedly with the [National Rifle Association], while taking more of their campaign cash than any other Florida congressman in the last 20 years,” she said. “He denies science even as rising sea levels directly threaten our community. He pays lip service to DREAMers while the Trump administration tears apart families.”

Barzee Flores’ decision to run in Florida’s 25th Congressional District was made at the urging of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the abortion rights group EMILY’s List and Florida Democrats. None wanted to see Diaz-Balart again escape an election cycle without a major Democratic challenger. All three pledged to financially back her.

This election cycle is the first midterm since 2006 that Democrats have a realistic chance of picking up many House seats in both Florida and the nation thanks to the struggles of unpopular President Donald Trump. In the past four bellwether elections since 2016, Florida Democrats have won four contested races in a row.

In challenging Diaz-Balart, Barzee Flores ensured that all three Republican-held congressional seats in Miami-Dade County — Florida’s most populous and one of its most Democratic counties — will have potentially well-financed Democratic candidates. The qualifying period to run for congressional office in Florida ends at noon Friday.

In one seat, Florida’s 27th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring. Trump lost her seat by nearly 20 points, his biggest defeat in any GOP-held congressional seat in the nation. Barzee Flores was running in the crowded race to succeed Ros-Lehtinen, but former University of Miami president and Clinton Foundation chief Donna Shalala is heavily favored to win the primary, according to polls showing her dominating the other candidates in the race.

Trump also lost the nearby 26th Congressional District by about 16 points — his second-largest loss margin in a GOP-held congressional seat. It is occupied by Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who faces Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

Of the three seats held by Republicans, Trump only won the 25th Congressional District in 2016, and by a relatively small margin of 2 percentage points.

Democrats say that if there’s a blue wave, Diaz-Balart will get swamped.

“In special election after special election, we have seen that Democrats are motivated, independents are angry, and Republicans no longer recognize their own party,” said Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairman Juan Cuba. “District 25 is a working-class community. This year, with the right resources and the right economic message on health care, education and jobs, Democrats can win this district and get a step closer to winning back the House.”

But no one believes Diaz-Balart will be easy to beat. His campaign has $1.2 million cash on hand; Barzee Flores has about $400,000.

Aside from the Republican-leaning nature of the district, which has Florida’s most Hispanic-heavy and most Republican city of Hialeah, Diaz-Balart is tough to beat.

Diaz-Balart is a household name. One of his brothers was a congressman. Another is an anchor for the Spanish-language powerhouse network Telemundo. And their father was a Cuban exile leader who was at loggerheads with their former uncle, the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

In 2008, when Democrats had a wave election when Barack Obama won the presidency, Diaz-Balart survived a stiff challenge from a well-financed Democrat and won.

Nelson Diaz, chairman of the Miami-Dade GOP, said the Cuban exile community will help Diaz-Balart win again.

“Mario and his family have been serving our community for decades,” he said. “Everyone knows and understands that Mario is a champion for the causes we care about in the exile community.”

Barzee Flores said she’s ready for the campaign ahead against an incumbent congressman.

“This November, Diaz-Balart will not get a free pass — he will finally have to answer for all of this — and he will lose,” she said. “I’m ready for this fight.”