Just days into his newly launched bid for Senate District 38, Democratic entrepreneur Richard Lamondin has a solid roster of supporters from his party who want to see him flip the seat in November.
Lamondin dropped out of the race for Florida’s 27th Congressional District last week and refocused his efforts on SD 38, a similar district covering parts of Miami-Dade County, where he hopes to unseat Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud.
More than a dozen notable public figures, most of them current or former elected officials, have since announced that they’re backing him.
That includes former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who served as Florida Democratic Party Chair from 2021 to 2023.
He called Lamondin inspiring.
“From the moment I met Richard, I was inspired by his sincere commitment to public service. A successful businessman, Richard is a fresh, results driven, practical, business-minded problem solver,” Diaz said in a statement.
“As a family man, he identifies with the affordability challenges our families face. I am convinced he will fight for our families. Because his priorities are our priorities.”
Democratic Sens. Mack Bernard and Tina Scott Polsky of Broward and Palm Beach Counties, respectively, praised Lamondin in a joint statement as “exactly the kind of leader we need” fighting for Florida’s families in the Legislature.
“As members of the Florida Senate Democratic caucus, we know firsthand what it means to fight for families in a chamber where Republicans have held unchecked power for far too long,” they said. “He is community-rooted, principled, and ready to get stuff done for the families of SD 38. We are proud to support his campaign and look forward to welcoming him as our colleague in Tallahassee.”
Other new endorsements came in from Miami Beach Commissioners Tanya Katzoff Bhatt and Monica Matteo-Salinas; former Pinecrest Mayor and state Rep. Cindy Lerner; former Miami Beach Commissioner and state Rep. David Richardson; former Mayors Mike Davey of Key Biscayne and Phil Stoddard of South Miami; former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell; former Palmetto Bay Vice Mayor Leanne Tellam; and local historian-activist Marvin Dunn, who made national news last year for fighting the giveaway of Miami Dade College land for a planned Donald Trump library.
They add to nods Lamondin got right after he pivoted to the state race from Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried and two Senate Democratic Leaders-designate, Tracie Davis and Shevrin Jones, the latter of whom is a former Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party.
“These aren’t just endorsements — they’re a testament to what we’re continuing to build,” Lamdonin, who announced his SD 38 candidacy with a nearly three-minute video (viewable below) Tuesday. “We’ve had enough with the failures of Tallahassee, a better Florida starts here.”
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.
Calatayud, who won the district by 8 percentage points in 2022, ended 2025 with $1.09 million cash on hand.
Lamondin entered January with more than $430,000 on hand.
His path to the Democratic nomination isn’t unobstructed. Democrat Heniy Dixon is also running. Former Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo, who vacated her seat to run for Governor and Congress ahead of the 2022 election, is strongly considering an SD 38 bid too, multiple sources told Florida Politics.
