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Frank Lago, Gloria Romero Roses lead Primary fundraising for empty HD 113 seat

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Republican Frank Lago and Democrat Gloria Romero Roses are leading in fundraising for their respective Primary races ahead of a to-be-called Special Election for House District 113.

Lago, a real estate broker, amassed more than $138,000 last quarter to outpace two others — Bruno Barreiro and Tony Diaz Jr. — seeking the GOP nomination.

Romero Roses, who owns and operates an assisted living facility, collected almost $66,000 to lead Democratic foe Justin Mendoza Routt.

Regardless of who wins, the HD 113 seat representing a central, coastal portion of Miami-Dade will remain vacant until after the Regular Session; Gov. Ron DeSantis still hasn’t called a Special Election, even though Republican Vicki Lopez vacated the seat nearly two months ago for a spot on the County Commission.

Republican Primary

Lago stacked more than $125,000 through his campaign account and $13,000 through his political committee, Friends of Frank Lago, between late November and Dec. 31. That includes a $25,000 self-loan that, if unspent, he can return to his bank account.

He also spent $2,200 on accounting, checks, legal services and donation-processing fees.

Lago received 119 outside donations — all but one, a $1,000 check from Alabama real estate developer Maxwell Davis, from Florida residents, businesses and political committees — averaging $1,161.

A sizable portion of his gains came from real estate interests.

He received $10,000 total from 10 companies owned by Bluenest Development, a Miami-based multifamily homebuilder whose expressed mission is “to bring quality and affordability to the South Florida market in the fastest time possible.”

Gas and business magnate Max Alvarez gave the same sum through his principal business, a personal check and several other companies he owns.

Lago accepted $5,000 apiece from Miami charter school company School Development HC Finance, five businesses under builder Prestige Companies’ banner and a quintet of car dealerships owned by billionaire Norman Braman.

His largest personal check, from South Miami insurance analyst Juan David Cordoba, was for $1,000.

Barreiro, who previously held the District 5 seat on the Miami-Dade Commission that Lopez took last year, collected close to $105,000 through his campaign account and political committee, Transparency in Government PC.

Of that, $100,000 was a self-loan. Another $2,000 came from a real estate company associated with Fatima Home Care, a Miami Beach-headquartered health service for homebound patients Barreiro leads as CEO.

He spent just $33, all of it on donation processing.

Barreiro received eight outside donations averaging $600.

He took $2,000 from donors associated with Miami-based Dr. Livia Delgado MD Pediatrics and $1,000 apiece from Tallahassee-based Capitol Solutions and Capital Alliance Group.

Diaz, a small-business owner and one of five applicants — including Barreiro — who sought the County Commission seat Lopez scored Nov. 18, raised more than $34,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025.

His haul included $26,500 from his bank account, which he didn’t denote as a loan. He also reported $350 worth of in-kind aid from Doral-based City Colors for postcards and signage.

All of Diaz’s 29 outside contributions came from Aventura, Coral Gables, Hollywood, Miami, Miami Springs and Sunny Isles Beach donors. His average donation was $268.

Diaz also spent a little over $2,100, leaving about $32,250 heading into 2026. His biggest expenditure, $1,500, went to Miami-based Pop Creative Group for website services and $600 to local news blog Political Cortadito for ads.

The remainder covered donation processing.

Democratic Primary

Romero Roses, who mounted an unsuccessful congressional campaign more than a decade ago, raised about $62,000 through her campaign account and $3,750 through her political committee, Move Miami Forward-Pal’ante Miami.

That included $32,500 in self-loans.

She also spent almost $6,000 on transaction and software fees, photography, shipping, compliance service and legal services.

Romero Roses received 141 outside donations averaging $483. Her biggest — for $3,500 — came from retired Coral Gables resident Barbara Garrett, who gave thousands last year at the federal level to Democratic candidates and progressive organizations.

Nearly all her gains came through personal checks. Notable donors included South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez, who gave $250; former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner, who gave $450; former Miami Herald publisher and current Children’s Movement of Florida Chair David Lawrence, who gave $500; and 2024 Democratic nominee for HD 113 Jackie Gross-Kellogg, who gave $25.

Romero Roses also got $1,000 apiece from St. Petersburg-based Climate First Bank and Floridians for Better Government, a political committee linked to former state lawmaker and Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson.

Mendoza Routt, who leads the Miami-Dade Young Democrats and the Historic Bayside Civic Association, accumulated $16,000 between his campaign account and political committee, Friends of JMR, including a $1,000 self-contribution not flagged as a loan.

He also spent $650 on fundraising fees.

Of 71 outside contributions, four came from people with the last name Routt. His average donation was $210.

Several notable locals chipped in. Lawyer David Geller, husband to former Miami-Dade School Board member and current House District 106 candidate Lucia Báez-Geller, gave $1,000. Miami-Dade School Board member Joe Geller — no relation to David and Lucia — gave $100.

Mendoza Routt also got $1,000 from former House District 112 candidate Kevin Tipton, $250 from former House District 112 candidate Adam Benna, $25 from House District 102 candidate Jayden D’Onofrio and $5,000 from former Miami Mayor candidate Max Martinez.

Kayla vanWieringen, who served as Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s 2024 Campaign Manager and previously worked as Vice President of Politics and Programs for Ruth’s List Florida, gave $150.

Dawson McNamara Bloom, a political operative who worked on former Sen. Annette Taddeo’s 2022 congressional campaign, kicked in $10.

Another $200 came from New Leadership for Florida, a PC run by Democratic consultant Christian Ulvert that supported Doral Vice Mayor Maureen Porras’ 2020 campaign for HD 105. Porras switched from Democrat to Republican a year ago, citing “socialist ideas” some Democrats have embraced and Donald Trump’s victory as factoring into her decision.

HD 113 spans all of Key Biscayne and parts of Coral Gables and Miami, including Virginia Key and PortMiami, one of the county’s two top economic engines alongside Miami International Airport.

The district has skewed redder in recent cycles and now contains slightly more registered Republicans than Democrats, though voters without party affiliation still outnumber both, according to L2 voter data.



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Casey DeSantis wants to ramp up preventive testing for food toxins

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Florida and other states can do more to test for and root out food contaminants according to First Lady Casey DeSantis.

During an appearance on Fox and Friends Weekend, DeSantis said that testing baby formulae for heavy metals was just the first of many moves in that direction, expressing confidence that other states will join Florida in doing the job that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will not.

“I’m calling around to all the states. I had a great conversation with the First Lady of Oklahoma. I’m like, man, what if we divide and conquer? What if Oklahoma and Georgia and Arkansas and everybody gets together and we start on a state level being force multipliers to the federal MAGA movement and the MAHA movement, then we can try to ensure that there’s some accountability on the front,” DeSantis said Saturday.

Florida’s Department of Health recently tested 24 formulas for contaminants, with 16 of them having at least one heavy metal that exceeded federal standards. Mercury was the most ubiquitous, followed by arsenic, cadmium, and lead.

The reason these adulterants are in food, DeSantis said, is because the federal government isn’t testing for them before they are marketed and sold.

“There really isn’t any preventative testing as it pertains to the foods before they wind up in our food supply. The FDA, they do a lot of postwork, right? If somebody finds a problem, there’s bacteria, salmonella, they’ll go in and investigate, but there are … thousands of products on the market. So to go in and test all of them, they would say is difficult. That’s where the states come in. That’s where we’re leading in the free state of Florida. We want to go out, proactively test baby formula, other things, like baby food or cereals. Get accountability on the front end so that we can encourage companies to find ways to not have any harmful chemicals in our foods.”



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Florida Obamacare enrollment dips by more than 5%

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The number of Floridians relying on a federal health care exchange established under the Affordable Care Act has dropped by more than 261,000 people after Republicans in Congress let expire the enhanced premium tax credits that help hold down coverage costs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said 4,474,300 Florida residents used the federal health exchange known as healthcare.gov to procure health insurance for 2026, down from 2025 enrollment of 4,735,415.

Florida Health Justice Project policy director Melanie Williams called the 5.5% drop in coverage a “warning sign for families and for Florida’s economy.”

“When people lose health insurance, they delay care, face higher medical debt, and are more likely to end up in emergency rooms, which drives up costs for everyone. This enrollment dip doesn’t just affect individual households, it puts pressure on hospitals, local governments, and the state budget, and it underscores how fragile access to affordable coverage remains for working families across Florida,” she said in a statement to the Florida Phoenix.

“Florida Health Justice Project will continue to fight for vulnerable Floridians who deserve access to meaningful health coverage,“ Williams added.

Nationwide, nearly 22.8 million consumers had signed up for 2026 coverage, also a dip from 2025 enrollment of 23.6 million.

Despite the decline in 2026 enrollment, Florida still leads the nation in ACA, or Obamacare, enrollment, ahead of Texas, where 4,113,465 people enrolled.

Open enrollment for 2026 health insurance coverage began Nov. 1 and ended Dec. 15 for policies that took effect Jan. 1, 2026. Enrollment continued through Jan. 15 for Feb. 1, 2026 coverage.

The fate of the enhanced premium tax credits has been source of constant speculation and wrangling in Congress.

Florida Voices for Health Executive Director Scott Darius said the dip in Florida Obamacare sign-ups could be even greater than what appears because the new CMS data shows enrollment, which includes returning customers whose coverage was automatically renewed.  CMS will release what’s called “effectuated” data later this year. That will show the number of people who have paid their premiums and have coverage in effect.

“We don’t know how many of them will actually keep the coverage,” Darius said in a statement to the Phoenix. He added: “The numbers also don’t show the people who are feeling the pressure of paying double for the same coverage, the impact of the people who are paying the same for less coverage.”

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Reporting by Christine Sexton. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email protected].



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Ron DeSantis, James Uthmeier take illegal immigration fight to cable news

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Florida’s Governor and Attorney General continue to find national audiences for their cases for how Florida fights illegal immigration, presenting the state’s rigorous approach to that in other areas where officials take issue with the Donald Trump administration’s approach.

In the wake of the arrest of Jennifer Cruz, a woman accused of assaulting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and State Troopers  while they conducted their duties at a Jacksonville strip mall, both Ron DeSantis and James Uthmeier uncompromisingly advocated their positions during cable news hits Friday.

“This is not Portland, where you can do this, get slapped on the wrist, then just get put right back on the street to do it again. If you do that, you’re gonna be on the working end of a jail cell. That’s just the way it’s going to work. We’re going to hold you accountable, particularly when you talk about our state troopers who are working with DHS to enforce federal immigration law,” DeSantis told Sean Hannity.

“Here in Florida, we’re not messing around. We don’t tolerate this crap. We’re never going to be Minnesota. We have record crime lows and business formations because we promote public safety first and foremost. If you want to harass and impede a law enforcement investigation, you are going to get arrested and you are going to do serious time. This woman, Jennifer, she’s looking at state and federal charges, and we’re going to make an example here. If you want to get in the way of ICE’s activities, you are going to pay the price. We want them here. We believe in safety. We are going to enforce rule of law,” Uthmeier said on Fox Business.

Uthmeier went on to say he believes many protesters are “paid to be there” to obstruct official acts.



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