Lori Berman endorses Richard Lamondin for SD 38

Less than a week after pivoting to a state Senate bid, Democrat Richard Lamondin is adding an endorsement from the party’s highest-ranking member in the chamber.

Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman is backing Lamondin, saying he “represents a new generation of leadership that Tallahassee desperately needs.”

“He’s a dad, a husband, and a son to aging parents, living the very challenges of this moment,” she said in a statement.

“He also has the entrepreneurial spirit we need to help solve our state’s biggest problems. I look forward to supporting his campaign and welcoming him to the Senate this November.”

Lamondin, who co-founded and leads the sustainable finance firm ecofi, left the race for Florida’s 27th Congressional District last week. He quickly filed to run for Senate District 38, where he hopes to unseat first-term Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud, who is also from Miami.

Within days, he notched endorsements from Senate Democratic Leaders-designate Tracie Davis and Shevrin Jones, Sens. Mack Bernard and Tina Scott Polsky, and a slew of other current and former elected Democrats from Miami-Dade County, including Miami Beach Commissioners Tanya Katzoff Bhatt and Monica Matteo-Salinas.

He said in a statement that he is “grateful” to have Berman’s support.

“Like her, I’m ready to be a Senator focused on what families across Miami and Florida are dealing with every day — rising insurance costs, child care that’s too expensive, and a system that isn’t working for any of us,” he said. “A better Florida begins this November.”

SD 38 covers several coastal Miami-Dade municipalities, including Cutler Bay, Key Biscayne, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami, parts of Homestead, Coral Gables and Miami, and the unincorporated neighborhoods of Goulds, Kendall, Perrine, Redland, Sunset and Westchester.

The District, which has alternated between Democratic and Republican representation for the past decade, is viewed as one of the most competitive in the state.

Democrat Henly Dixon and independent Jeffrey Solomon are also in the race.

The Primary Election is on Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.