Early life, education, and early political career

Díaz-Balart was born in 1961 in Fort Lauderdale, to Cuban parents, the late Cuban politician Rafael Díaz-Balart, and his wife, Hilda Caballero Brunet. His aunt, Mirta Díaz-Balart, was the first wife of Fidel Castro. Her son, and his cousin, is Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart. His uncle is the Cuban-Spanish painter, Waldo Díaz-Balart. His brother, Lincoln Díaz-Balart, represented Florida's 21st District from 1993 to 2011. He has two other brothers, José Díaz-Balart, a journalist, and Rafael Díaz-Balart, a banker.

He attended the University of South Florida to study political science before beginning his public service career as an aide to then-Miami Mayor Xavier Suárez in 1985. In the same year, he changed his political party affiliation from Democratic to Republican.

Florida legislature

He was elected to the Florida House in 1988 and moved to the Florida Senate in 1992. He returned to the Florida House in 2000. During his second tenure in the House, he chaired the redistricting committee.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2002-2006

Díaz-Balart gave up his seat in the state house to run in the newly created 25th District, which included most of western Miami-Dade County, part of Collier County and the mainland portion of Monroe County. It was widely believed that he had drawn this district for himself, given that he was chairman of the state house redistricting committee. He easily won the seat with 64 percent of the vote. He was unopposed for reelection in 2004, and won a third term with 58 percent of the vote in 2006.

2008

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2008 § District 25

In 2008, however, Díaz-Balart faced his strongest challenge to date in Joe García, former Executive Director of the Cuban American National Foundation and former chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party. Despite the perception that Díaz-Balart had drawn the district for himself, it was actually fairly marginal on paper, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+4. Ultimately, Díaz-Balart defeated Garcia with 53 percent of the vote.

2010

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2010 § District 21

On February 11, 2010, Díaz-Balart announced his intention to seek election in Florida's 21st congressional district—being vacated by his brother, Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart—rather than the 25th district. Unlike the 25th, the 21st has long been considered the most Republican district in the Miami area.

No other party even put up a candidate when filing closed on April 30, handing the seat to Mario Diaz-Balart.

2012

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2012 § District 25

Díaz-Balart was reelected unopposed in 2012 in the renumbered 25th district. Indeed, since this district's creation in 1993 (it was numbered as the 21st from 1993 to 2013), the Republican candidate has run unopposed in all but two elections.

Tenure

Díaz-Balart's voting record is moderate to conservative. For his first two terms in Congress, Díaz-Balart was a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

He is a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a caucus of Hispanic Republican congressmen. Like his Cuban-American colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Díaz-Balart is a strong advocate of maintaining the Cuban embargo, saying "Some people do not understand the embargo of Cuba. Its purpose is to keep American hard currency out of the hands of a Communist thug by restricting most trade and travel."

On September 29, 2008, Díaz-Balart voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
  • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Caucus membership

• Assistant Whip
• Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference
• Founder of the Protecting Families Online Initiative
• Founding member of the Washington Waste Watchers
• Member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus
• Republican Main Street Partnership

Personal life

He currently lives in Miami with his wife Tia and son Cristian Rafael.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]