Politics
Ashley Perez-Biliskov to kick off HD 116 bid with fundraiser in Miami-Dade
Republican Ashley Perez-Biliskov has technically been in the race for House District 116 since she filed to run in January, but Wednesday evening, she’s stepping on the proverbial gas pedal.
Perez-Biliskov is hosting a fundraising kickoff event at A Love Story Winery & Bistro, located off Miller Drive in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, within HD 116’s bounds.
The event runs 5:30-7 p.m. at 8800 SW 56th St. Perez-Biliskov’s campaign is accepting contributions of up to $1,000, payable to “Ashley Perez-Biliskov Campaign” or online through her campaign website.
Attendees are asked to RSVP through [email protected].
Perez-Biliskov, a 35-year-old medical speech-language pathologist, is currently running unopposed in HD 116, where she hopes to succeed her brother, House Speaker Daniel Perez, after he reaches term limits in the chamber next year.
She promises, if elected, to pursue “America First solutions to the real-world challenges Florida families face.” She also supports responsive, accountable government, as evidenced by her signing a pledge this month to support congressional term limits.
“As a mother of young children and a healthcare professional, I know how important it is we have leaders in state government who are determined to help their community and build a better future for generations to come,” she said in a prepared statement announcing her candidacy.
“We live in a very special place, where freedom-loving patriots know that American values make for strong, vibrant, and successful communities. I’m excited to share our conservative vision for Florida with each and every voter in District 116, and I’m looking forward to earning their trust and vote in 2026.”
Though Wednesday is her announced kickoff fundraiser, Perez-Biliskov has already proven to be a strong fundraiser. Through Sept. 30, the last date by which campaign finance information is available through the state Division of Elections, Perez-Biliskov raised about $185,500 through her campaign account and political committee, APB for Florida.
Among her givers: future House Speakers Jennifer Canady and Mike Redondo, state Reps. Wyman Duggan, Tiffany Esposito and Josie Tomkow, and former state Rep. Travis Cummings.
She also notched an endorsement in July from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.
HD 116 covers a center-west portion of Miami-Dade County, including part of the city of Sweetwater and large swaths of the county’s unincorporated Kendall, Sunset and Tamiami neighborhoods.
The district contains two major college campuses, Miami Dade College Kendall Campus and Florida International University’s Modesto Maidique Campus, as well as Dolphin Mall, which touts itself as the “largest retail value shopping center” in the county.
Daniel Perez has served in the House since 2018, but must leave in 2026.
The 2026 Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.
Mills was a day-one Byron Donalds backer in the gubernatorial race.
A former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor is leading the charge for Republicans as scandal swirls around a Congressman.
Saying the “evidence is mounting” against Rep. Cory Mills, Paul Renner says other candidates for Governor should “stand up and be counted” and join him in the call for Mills to leave Congress.
Renner made the call earlier this week.
But on Friday, the Palm Coast Republican doubled down.
He spotlighted fresh reporting from Roger Sollenberger alleging that Mills’ company “appears to have illegally exported weapons while he serves in Congress, including to Ukraine,” that Mills failed to disclose conflicts of interest, “tried to fistfight other Republican members of Congress, and lied about his party stature to bully other GOP candidates out of primaries that an alleged romantic interest was running in,” and lied about his conversion to Islam.
The House Ethics Committee is already probing Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, over allegations of profiting from federal defense contracts while in Congress. More recently, the Committee expanded its work to review allegations that he assaulted one ex-girlfriend and threatened to share intimate photos of another.
Other candidates have been more reticent in addressing the issue, including Rep. Byron Donalds.
“When any other members have been involved and stuff like this, my advice is the same,” said Donalds, a Naples Republican. “They need to actually spend a lot more time in the district and take stock of what’s going on at home, and make that decision with their voters.”
The response came less than a year after Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, spoke at the launch of Donalds’ gubernatorial campaign.
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Staff writer Jacob Ogles contributed reporting.
The cold war between Florida’s Governor and his predecessor is nearly seven years old and tensions show no signs of thawing.
On Friday, Sen. Rick Scott weighed in on Florida Politics’ reporting on the Agency for Health Care Administration’s apparent repayment of $10 million of Medicaid money from a settlement last year, which allegedly had been diverted to the Hope Florida Foundation, summarily filtered through non-profits through political committees, and spent on political purposes.
“I appreciate the efforts by the Florida legislature to hold Hope Florida accountable. Millions in tax dollars for poor kids have no business funding political ads. If any money was misspent, then it should be paid back by the entities responsible, not the taxpayers,” Scott posted to X.
While AHCA Deputy Chief of Staff Mallory McManus says that is an “incorrect” interpretation, she did not respond to a follow-up question asking for further detail this week.
The $10 million under scrutiny was part of a $67 million settlement from state Medicaid contractor Centene, which DeSantis said was “a cherry on top” in the settlement, arguing it wasn’t truly from Medicaid money.
But in terms of the Scott-DeSantis contretemps, it’s the latest example of tensions that seemed to start even before DeSantis was sworn in when Scott left the inauguration of his successor, and which continue in the race to succeed DeSantis, with Scott enthusiastic about current front runner Byron Donalds.
Earlier this year, Scott criticized DeSantis’ call to repeal so-called vaccine mandates for school kids, saying parents could already opt out according to state law.
While running for re-election to the Senate in 2024, Scott critiqued the Heartbeat Protection Act, a law signed by DeSantis that banned abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy with some exceptions, saying the 15 week ban was “where the state’s at.”
In 2023 after Scott endorsed Donald Trump for President while DeSantis was still a candidate, DeSantis said it was an attempt to “short circuit” the voters.
That same year amid DeSantis’ conflict over parental rights legislation with The Walt Disney Co., Scott said it was important for Governors to “work with” major companies in their states.
The critiques went both ways.
When running for office, DeSantis distanced himself from Scott amid controversy about the Senator’s blind trust for his assets as Governor.
“I basically made decisions to serve in uniform, as a prosecutor, and in Congress to my financial detriment,” DeSantis said in October 2018. “I’m not entering (office) with a big trust fund or anything like that, so I’m not going to be entering office with those issues.”
In 2020, when the state’s creaky unemployment website couldn’t handle the surge of applicants for reemployment assistance as the pandemic shut down businesses, DeSantis likened it to a “jalopy in the Daytona 500” and Scott urged him to “quit blaming others” for the website his administration inherited.
The chill between the former and current Governors didn’t abate in time for 2022’s hurricane season, when Scott said DeSantis didn’t talk to him after the fearsome Hurricane Ian ravaged the state.
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