Juan Santana

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Juan Santana

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 4, 2025

Education

High school

Miami Coral Park Senior High

Bachelor's

Florida International University, 2006

Personal

Birthplace

Miami, FL

Religion

Christian

Profession

Nonprofit executive

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Juan Santana ran in a special election to the Hialeah City Council to represent Group IV in Florida. He lost in the special primary on November 4, 2025.

Santana completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Santana was a candidate for mayor of Hialeah, Florida. He was defeated in the primary election on November 7, 2017. Santana was also a candidate for mayor of Hialeah in 2013.

Biography

Juan Santana was born in Miami, Florida. He earned a high school diploma from the Miami Coral Park Senior High and a bachelor's degree from Florida International University in 2006. Santana's career experience includes working as a nonprofit executive and in property management.

2021 battleground election

See also: Mayoral election in Hialeah, Florida (2021)

Esteban Bovo Jr. defeated Isis Garcia-Martinez, Fernando Godo, Julio Martinez, and Juan Santana in a nonpartisan primary election for mayor of Hialeah, Florida, on November 2, 2021. Bovo received 59 percent of the vote, meaning he won the primary outright. If no candidate had received a majority of the votes, the top-two candidates would have competed in a general election on November 16, 2021.

Media attention focused on Bovo and Garcia-Martinez, who also led in fundraising. After winning a seat on the Hialeah City Council in 1998, Bovo was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2008 in District 110 and served on the Miami-Dade county commission from 2011 to 2020. Bovo ran for mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, in 2020, coming in first in the primary but losing the general election. Garcia-Martinez served on the Hialeah City Council from 1991 to 1997 and again from 2007 to 2019.

Infrastructure, traffic, pandemic response measures, and housing and utility costs were major issues in the race. The Miami Herald's Aaron Leibowitz wrote, "The front-runners, Bovo and Isis Garcia-Martinez, have to distinguish themselves: They’re both conservatives, both of Cuban descent, and both staples on the Hialeah political scene...On key issues, Bovo and Garcia-Martinez have similar platforms: keep taxes low, promote new development, support small businesses, address high water rates, and work to keep and attract young people to the majority-Cuban, working class city."

Bovo and Garcia-Martinez disagreed on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bovo agreed with DeSantis on a rule issued by Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo that prevented school districts from enforcing mask mandates and making quarantine decisions, saying “I’m not in favor of mandates on anything." Garcia-Martinez did not explicitly support mask mandates, but said DeSantis should do more to encourage mask wearing. "I’ve always been a Republican, but I totally disagree with this governor,” she said. “We don’t want to just mandate something, but the reality is, you don’t want to lose families to this virus." Click here to read more about the candidates' platforms.

Bovo and Garcia-Martinez criticized each other's records in campaign materials. A mailer from Garcia-Martinez's campaign said Hialeah “deserves better than a career politician like Bovo,” while Bovo's campaign distributed mailers saying the city “can’t trust Isis to run Hialeah’s finances” because of her votes on taxes during her time as a city council member.

Although the elections for and position of the mayor are officially nonpartisan, the candidates running are affiliated with political parties. Both Bovo and Garcia-Martinez are affiliated with the Republican Party.

The mayor serves as the city's chief executive officer and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national and international levels. The incumbent Mayor Carlos Hernandez was term-limited.

Elections

2025

See also: City elections in Hialeah, Florida (2025)

General election

Special general election for Hialeah City Council Group IV

William Marrero defeated Javier Morejon in the special general election for Hialeah City Council Group IV on December 9, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		William Marrero (Nonpartisan)	71.1	5,059
		Javier Morejon (Nonpartisan)	28.9	2,060

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. Source	Total votes: 7,119
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Special nonpartisan primary for Hialeah City Council Group IV

William Marrero and Javier Morejon defeated Mariana Chavez, Juan Santana, and Phillip Kennedy in the special primary for Hialeah City Council Group IV on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		William Marrero (Nonpartisan)	24.9	3,803
✔		Javier Morejon (Nonpartisan)	23.4	3,568
	Submit photo	Mariana Chavez (Nonpartisan)	22.0	3,368
		Juan Santana (Nonpartisan)	19.1	2,911
	Submit photo	Phillip Kennedy (Nonpartisan)	10.7	1,628

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. Source	Total votes: 15,278
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Santana in this election.

2021

See also: Mayoral election in Hialeah, Florida (2021)

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Hialeah

Esteban Bovo Jr. won election outright against Isis Garcia-Martinez, Fernando Godo, Julio Martinez, and Juan Santana in the primary for Mayor of Hialeah on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Esteban Bovo Jr. (Nonpartisan)	58.9	13,060
		Isis Garcia-Martinez (Nonpartisan)	21.6	4,787
		Fernando Godo (Nonpartisan)	16.4	3,642
		Julio Martinez (Nonpartisan)	1.9	423
		Juan Santana (Nonpartisan)	1.1	243

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 22,155
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

The following campaign finance information was last updated on October 27, 2021, and does not include candidates who dropped out of the race or did not file reports.

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

Noteworthy endorsements
Endorsement	Bovo	Garcia-Martinez	Godo	Martinez	Santana
Elected officials
U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R)	✔
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)	✔
State Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. (R)	✔
State Rep. Tom Fabricio (R)	✔
Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez (R)	✔
State Rep. Alex Rizo (R)	✔
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R)	✔
Individuals
Former FL House Speaker José Oliva (R)	✔
Former Mayor Julio Robaina	✔
Former President Donald Trump (R)	✔
Organizations
Fraternal Order of Police	✔
Police Benevolent Association (PBA)	✔
Veterans for America First				✔

2017

See also: Mayoral election in Hialeah, Florida (2017) and Municipal elections in Hialeah, Florida (2017)

The city of Hialeah, Florida, held a primary election for mayor and the Group V and Group VII seats on the city council on November 7, 2017. A general election was scheduled for November 21, 2017, but was not necessary because the top vote-getter won a majority of the vote in each primary. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 31, 2017.

The Group VI seat on the city council was also up for re-election in 2017, but incumbent Paul Hernandez won re-election automatically when no other candidates filed to run against him. Incumbents also filed for re-election in the mayoral race and one of the other city council races. The incumbent in the final city council race, Group V Councilman Luis Gonzalez, was not eligible to run for re-election in 2017 due to term limits. Incumbent Carlos Hernandez defeated Tania Garcia and Juan Santana in the primary election for mayor of Hialeah.

Mayor of Hialeah, Primary Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Carlos Hernandez Incumbent	78.80%	11,636
Tania Garcia	15.62%	2,307
Juan Santana	5.57%	823
Total Votes		14,766
Source: Miami-Dade County Elections, "November 7, 2017 - Fall Municipal Elections," accessed November 22, 2017

Click [show] on the right for information about other elections in which this candidate ran.

2013 See also: Hialeah mayoral election, 2013 Santana ran in the 2013 election for mayor of Hialeah, Florida. He lost to incumbent mayor Carlos Hernandez in the nonpartisan primary on November 5, 2013. Mayor of Hialeah, Florida, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Carlos Hernandez Incumbent 81.2% 14,823      Nonpartisan Julio Martinez 15.7% 2,864      Nonpartisan Juana Santana 3.1% 566 Total Votes 18,253 Source: Miami Dade County Board of Elections

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Juan Santana completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Santana's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Hialeah born and raised, product of my community, proven leadership. Strong community ties in Miami Dade County. Bilingual in English and Spanish. Vice President of non profit Positive Hits Community Service Group. CEO small business.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Born and raised in Hialeah
• VP of Positive Hits
• CEO of small business

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Civil engagement. Reduce cost of water and garbage. Responsible development. Transparency and accountability.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Hialeah is a municipal city on Miami Dade County and has 100 years part of the political arena

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She was the first women attorney and judge that endlessly fought for justice for a male caretaker to get social security assistance for being the caretaker of his family member.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Transparency and accountability

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To show up for all meetings

What legacy would you like to leave?

A clean and democratic Hialeah , revamped to it’s maximum potential to residents and tourists

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was in the band and did a band appearance in New York City

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

UPS. 5 years

What is your favorite book? Why?

The logic America politics

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Forest gump

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Political corruption and abuse of the police . Abuse of power by weaponizing the police as form of abuse of power.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Hialeah is a strong mayor system

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Bilingual in English and Spanish. Morals and ethics. Strong relationships with others in government and business.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the local government?

Hialeah is one of the largest cities

Candidates hear many personal stories from voters. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching or memorable?

Two elderly couple that had their light and water shut down for 28 days for having a trailer in their back yard.

What is an accomplishment that you are proud of?

Helping the elderly couple resolve their problems.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2021

Juan Santana did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Santana’s campaign website stated the following:

“	Time to work on the Infrastructure! I have a plan of action to fix the solid waste/garbage. I will work to lower your garbage bill by $20. I will bring back the street sweepers and clean our city streets. Restructure our Sanitation System. Time to Reopen Our Parks We will create more programs for children. Time to Work on Transportation Improvements Restructure the Transportation System. Restore the bus stops. Our City will Offer Free Shuttle Service Rides in Hialeah. Establish Bike Rentals Establish Electric Scooter Rentals Time to Work on Businesses Create Micro Lending Programs. Create CRA Program (Community Redevelopment Agency) = Federal Funds Promote Businesses Directly on City Website Promote Businesses that Recycle Promote Startup Businesses that Manufacture Products in Hialeah and create more jobs MADE IN HIALEAH! Help the Non-Profit Businesses. The City will also have a Non-Profit. businesses list on the city website. Time to Work on Hialeah Fire Department Implement a Fire Tax for all new businesses in the City. Work Diligently on Government Grants to acquire more sophisticated Fire Trucks. Additional Sub-Stations Where They Are Needed. Time to legalize Time to legalize the Studios/Efficiency Studio suite 1 1/1 Studio suite 2 2 /1 Studio suite 3 Bring more funds to the city. Create a Gambling Task Force. Hialeah Police Department Provide ALL Police Officers Body Cams to restore confidence from the community and serve with transparency. Choose a qualified Chief of Police to lead this great department. Motivate officers to reside within the city limits. –Live and Love Where YOU Work! Create affordable housing for Police Officers. The Hialeah APP MAKE HIALEAH GREAT AGAIN Promote the report of Suspicious Crimes in your area. Promote the report of down signs throughout the city. (stop signs etc.) Report potholes throughout the city streets. Over Development One year Moratorium Workshops with residents where there are more than 5 units considered. Stronger Traffic Studies Before any new developments are proposed. Change Public Notices from 500sq ft to 1500 sq ft from the property, in English and Spanish. We must give people The true American Dream, not rent, OWN! The CDBG (Community Development Building Grant) Diligently work with CDBG (Community Development Building Grant) to bring more funds and help homeowners with roof repairs. The residents that love their neighborhood will have a program to Adopt-A-Street in Hialeah. We need to rebuild our economy with the backbone, which is the small mom and pops businesses in Hialeah. The city will allocate 10% of the funds received from HUD (Housing Urban Development).	”
—Juan Santana's campaign website (2021)

2013

Santana's campaign Facebook page highlighted the following issues:

“	Juan Santana's basis are Common sense public service, Government accountability, and Transparency in government. Juan Santana has lived in Hialeah for 30 years, his whole life, and he's tired of all the corruption in his city. Every elected official we've had in Hialeah has done nothing but destroy this city from the inside out. Juan Santana wants to make a difference in Hialeah, he's tired of all the abuse that's going on with those in power. Juan Santana believes in the voice of the people, he supports equal rights, and believes in small businesses. Juan feels that a majority of these small businesses is how Hialeah got started, so why do the elected officials of this city have a right to come in and try to destroy them? Ask yourself Hialeah, don't you think we need some government accountability? Our government has forgotten that they are here to serve us, not for us to serve them. They're supposed to be the voice of the people, but they never do anything to better the people of our city. Juan Santana knows personally how abusive Hialeah can be, him and his family have been dealing with abuse from our elected officials for as long as he can remember. They even harass his elderly grandmother. Our current mayor and council members don't care about us, the people, all they care about is what's going to better them. Juan Santana thinks that's quite unfair. Hialeah, your voice deserves to be heard!	”
—Juan Santana's campaign Facebook page, (2013)

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