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René Garcia

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René Garcia
Image of René Garcia
Miami-Dade County Commission District 13
Tenure

2020 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

4

Predecessor
Prior offices
Hialeah City Council

Florida House of Representatives

Florida State Senate District 40
Predecessor: Rudy Garcia

Florida State Senate District 38
Successor: Daphne Campbell

Florida State Senate District 36
Successor: Manny Diaz Jr.
Predecessor: Oscar Braynon

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Personal
Profession
Vice President of Community Relations

René Garcia is a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission in Florida, representing District 13. Garcia assumed office on November 17, 2020. Garcia's current term ends on November 21, 2028.

Garcia ran for election for Mayor of Hialeah in Florida. Garcia will not appear on the ballot for the primary on November 4, 2025.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Garcia earned his B.S. from Florida International University and his MBA from the University of Miami. His professional experience includes working as Vice President of Community Relations at Dade Medical College.

Elections

2025

See also: Mayoral election in Hialeah, Florida (2025)

General election

The primary will occur on November 4, 2025. The general election will occur on November 11, 2025. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Hialeah

Incumbent Jackie Garcia-Roves, Bryan Calvo, Benny Rodriguez, Marc Anthony Salvat, and Jesús Tundidor are running in the primary for Mayor of Hialeah on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
Jackie Garcia-Roves (Nonpartisan)
Image of Bryan Calvo
Bryan Calvo (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
Benny Rodriguez (Nonpartisan)
Marc Anthony Salvat (Nonpartisan)
Jesús Tundidor (Nonpartisan)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

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2024

See also: Municipal elections in Miami-Dade County, Florida (2024)

General election

The general election was canceled. René Garcia (Nonpartisan) won without appearing on the ballot.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Garcia in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Miami-Dade County, Florida (2020)

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Miami-Dade County Commission District 13

René Garcia won election outright against Adrian Jimenez in the primary for Miami-Dade County Commission District 13 on August 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of René Garcia
René Garcia (Nonpartisan)
 
77.1
 
18,716
Adrian Jimenez (Nonpartisan)
 
22.9
 
5,557

Total votes: 24,273
Candidate Connection = 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.

2018

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2018

Rene Garcia was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2016

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Florida State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.

Incumbent Rene Garcia defeated Anabella Grohoski Peralta in the Florida State Senate District 36 general election.[1][2]

Florida State Senate, District 36 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Rene Garcia Incumbent 55.02% 81,972
     Democratic Anabella Grohoski Peralta 44.98% 67,003
Total Votes 148,975
Source: Florida Division of Elections


Anabella Grohoski Peralta ran unopposed in the Florida State Senate District 36 Democratic primary.[3][4]

Florida State Senate, District 36 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Anabella Grohoski Peralta  (unopposed)


Incumbent Rene Garcia ran unopposed in the Florida State Senate District 36 Republican primary.[3][4]

Florida State Senate, District 36 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Rene Garcia Incumbent (unopposed)

This candidate ran in one of Ballotpedia's races to watch in 2016. Read more »

2014

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Florida State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 20, 2014. Incumbent Rene Garcia was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[5][6]

2012

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2012

Garcia won re-election in the 2012 election for Florida State Senate District 38. Garica ran unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012, and was unchallenged in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7][8]

2010

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2010

Garcia did not have any opposition in the August 24 primary. He defeated Alexis Dominguez (write-in) in the November 2 general election.[9]

Florida State Senate, District 40
2010 General election results
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Rene Garcia (R) 56,222 99.96%
Alexis Dominguez (Write-in) 20 0.04%

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

René Garcia did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2024

René Garcia did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

René Garcia did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2010

On his campaign website, Garcia stressed the issue of health care, stating,

"Garcia’s passion for health care and his constituents is something that he works very hard to defend and foster. He has championed numerous causes for health care ensuring that everyone has rights and access to quality service health care. Garcia has always taken pride in protecting our most vulnerable children and seniors."[10]

Additionally, his site listed legislation he sponsored while in the Florida House of Representatives, representing [11]

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


René Garcia campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2016Florida State Senate, District 36Won $331,792 N/A**
2014Florida State Senate, District 38Won $116,903 N/A**
2012Florida State Senate, District 38Won $208,643 N/A**
2010Florida State Senate, District 40Won $323,895 N/A**
2006Florida State House, District 110Won $177,934 N/A**
2004Florida State House, District 110Won $69,665 N/A**
2002Florida State House, District 110Won $87,756 N/A**
2000Florida State House, District 110Won $74,265 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

State legislative tenure

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Florida

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.








2018

In 2018, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 11.

Legislators are scored on their stances on economic issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their stances on healthcare related issues.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Florida committee assignments, 2017
Banking and Insurance
Children, Families, and Elder Affairs, Chair
Judiciary

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Garcia served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Garcia served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Garcia served on the following committees:

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Esteban Bovo Jr.
Miami-Dade County Commission District 13
2020-Present
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
Oscar Braynon (D)
Florida State Senate District 36
2016-2018
Succeeded by
Manny Diaz Jr. (R)
Preceded by
-
Florida State Senate District 38
2012-2016
Succeeded by
Daphne Campbell (D)
Preceded by
Rudy Garcia (R)
Florida State Senate District 40
2010-2012
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Florida House of Representatives
2001-2008
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Hialeah City Council
1997-2001
Succeeded by
-