Politics
HD 115 race pits flush incumbent Omar Blanco against long-shot challenger Marco Reyes
Miami Republican Rep. Omar Blanco is defending his seat on increasingly friendly turf.
The firefighter and former union President faces Marco Reyes, a real estate agent and Democratic Party activist, in the race for House District 115.
And Blanco holds all the advantages: a strong first-term legislative résumé, ample institutional support and a fundraising haul 100 times larger than his challenger’s — all in a district that has trended redder and redder in recent years.
HD 115 covers parts of south Miami-Dade County, including Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest and the unincorporated Falls, Kendall and Westchester neighborhoods.
Republicans account for 41% of the district’s registered voters now, compared with 28% who are Democrats and 31% who belong to a third or no party, state records show.
Recent voting there underscores that partisan edge. While the district favored Democrat Andrew Gillum over Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2018 by 4.4 percentage points, it swung for President Donald Trump over Joe Biden by 2 points in 2020.
DeSantis won the district by more than 17 points in 2022, and Trump carried it by nearly 16 points in 2024, according to MCI Maps.
Blanco and Reyes share at least one biographical marker; both are Miami natives and first-generation Americans born to Cuban exiles. Both also share some policy priorities, including addressing affordability issues in the county, home to some of the most expensive places to live in the country.
Blanco, 54, is a Fire Rescue Captain who won the open HD 115 seat in 2024 with 59% of the vote. He previously sought a congressional seat in 2020, losing the Republican Primary to then-Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez, a fellow firefighter.
His Tallahassee tenure has been fruitful. During his inaugural term, he helped pass measures to ban cancer-linked chemicals in firefighting foam and let the state delegate oversight of commercial driving schools to Tax Collectors. A measure he carried to expand admissible evidence in personal injury and wrongful death cases died in returning messages.
Other successful measures permitted religious content in domestic violence intervention programs and authorized compensation for a man who lost a leg after a Metrobus struck him.
His budget work included support for a record $2 million appropriation for the Florida Stroke Registry. A separate $250,000 allocation for Miami-Dade anti-corruption efforts fell to DeSantis’ veto pen in June.
Blanco’s second-term priorities include reducing property insurance costs, improving education, limiting taxes, bolstering public safety and safeguarding seniors.
His endorsers include the Associated Industries of Florida PAC, police and firefighter unions, and the Miami Herald, which pointed to his appropriations work and openness to discussing disagreements, including his concerns about how the developer-friendly Live Local Act is being implemented.
Reyes, 44, leads the Kendall Democrats Club and is Chair of the county Democratic Party’s Credentials Committee. He ran against Republican Rep. Juan Porras in House District 119 during the 2024 cycle, losing by more than 29 points.
He’s campaigning on a promise to fight for less expensive housing and insurance, property tax relief, greater accountability for insurers, stronger public schools and reproductive rights.
The financial gap is substantial. Blanco has collected more than $348,500 through his campaign account and political committee since winning office, plus roughly $18,000 in in-kind assistance, mostly polling from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee.
By October, he had approximately $295,000 available, including money from his previous campaign.
Reyes raised less than $3,500 through his campaign account after filing in June and had under $1,000 remaining as the race entered its final two weeks.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
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