Gloria Romero Roses makes to-be-called HD 113 Special Election a 5-candidate race

The race to replace Vicki Lopez in House District 113 is now a five-candidate contest, following the entry of Democratic real estate professional and community activist Gloria Romero Roses.

Romero Roses, who mounted an unsuccessful congressional campaign more than a decade ago, filed paperwork this week to run for the vacant HD 113 seat.

She joins four other active candidates: former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro and businessmen Tony Diaz and Frank Lago — all Republicans — and Democratic finance and politics pro Justin Mendoza Routt.

For now, they’re officially running on the regular November 2026 election schedule until Gov. Ron DeSantis calls a Special Election.

Romero Roses, who owns and operates an assisted living facility and has served on numerous nonprofit Boards, says she’s running to tackle many of the problems Miamians face, particularly the rising costs of living.

“Miami is at a crossroads,” she said in a statement. “Working families and seniors are being priced out of the communities they love. Rents, insurance, childcare, and energy bills are out of control, and Tallahassee politicians are more focused on culture wars than lowering costs. I’m running because Miami deserves leadership that solves problems, not creates them.”

Romero Roses, who filed Monday, vows to be a champion for improving elder care, including expanded efforts to prevent and detect Alzheimer’s dementia, of which Miami-Dade has the highest rate of cases in the nation. She cared for her mother through nine years of Alzheimer’s, a press note from her campaign said, and the experience drove her to get into the assisted living facility business.

If elected, she plans to work on expanding access to affordable health care, strengthen navigator partnerships and “explore the creation” of an “Elder’s Trust” that could help to financially support Florida’s less well-to-do seniors.

Born in Colombia and a Florida resident since 1979, Romero Roses ran in 2012 to unseat then-U.S. Rep. David Rivera, but lost in the Democratic Primary. She has remained active in her community since, serving on the Boards of the Univision Foundation, Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade and genCLEO Action, and volunteering with the Alzheimer’s Association, among other involvements.

In 2023, DeSantis signed Florida’s six-week abortion ban, Romero Roses penned an op-ed for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel detailing how the restriction went against her and many others’ Catholic values, citing polling and her Board membership of Catholics for Choice.

“Politics aren’t abstract, they’re personal,” she said this week. “This election is about stability, affordability, and leadership you can trust. Together, we can move Miami forward—¡Pa’lante!”

Pa’lante translates to “onward.”

Romero Roses’ candidacy forces a Democratic Primary for HD 113, which covers a central portion of Miami-Dade County, spanning 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.

Lopez vacated the HD 113 seat last month for an appointed seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. Barreiro, who held the seat before Lopez’s successor, Miami mayoral candidate Eileen Higgins, was one of five people, including Diaz, who applied for the job.

HD 113 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. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party says HD 113 remains a D+4 seat, “providing significant opportunities for Democrats.”