“Through her career serving her community as a public defender and as a judge, Mary Barzee Flores has shown she will always answer to the people who elected her, not Washington special interests. And through her strong, grassroots campaign Mary Barzee Flores has made it clear that this will be the race of Rep. Diaz-Balart’s political career,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján.
To: Interested Parties
From: Cole Leiter, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: August 29th, 2018
RE: The Case Against Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart
For a Congressman who prides himself on his stature inside Washington, with a powerful Subcommittee Chairmanship and the ear of President Trump, Mario Diaz-Balart has shown minimal willingness to stand up for South Florida families and little to show for his 20 years in Washington.
That eagerness to go along in order to get along has meant that Congressman Diaz-Balart has been a lapdog for the gun lobby in a district frequently impacted by gun violence. He was silent when he had the opportunity to stand up for immigrants in the wake of Trump’s claim we have too many immigrants from “shithole countries.” He failed to put the needs of his community before the agenda of his party in Washington on his party’s attempted repeal of our health care system and their deficit-busting tax bill that is threatening Social Security and Medicare.
In contrast to Congressman Diaz-Balart, Mary Barzee-Flores is a lifelong defender of justice, who has worked to serve her community throughout her career, first as a public defender and then as a Circuit Court Judge. As a judge, Mary has earned the respect of Republicans and Democrats, and in Congress she’ll work with anyone who will join with her to get results for South Florida.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
HEADLINE: “Speak out, Rep. Diaz-Balart — Trump insulted a bunch of your constituents” [Miami Herald, 6/15/2018]
Miami Herald: “Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart has a race on his hands. Democrat Mary Barzee-Flores, who jumped from a crowded Democratic primary in retiring Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s district to run against Diaz-Balart unopposed in May, raised over $450,000 in the latest fundraising quarter from April to June.” [Miami Herald, 7/13/18]
Florida Politics: “Mario Diaz-Balart’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week” [Florida Politics, 7/30/18]
Florida Politics: “Miami U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart has got to be counting the seconds until the month of July comes to a merciful end. In the last week, the longtime, Republican congressman, from the once, most venerable dynasty of Cuban political power, has been smacked by a too-close-for-comfort poll, a national gun safety organization, the always feisty Miami New Times, the Dean of the South Florida political press corps, and two of the most prominent, voices from the Parkland tragedies. Geez.” [Florida Politics, 7/30/18]
Florida Politics: “As FloridaPolitics.com reported recently, Diaz-Balart has been running scared in his re-election campaign for the first time in a decade – but the past 7 days have been especially brutal for the lone member of the Diaz-Balart dynasty still holding elected office.” [Florida Politics, 7/30/18]
Mario Diaz-Balart: Spineless Doesn’t Even Begin To Describe It
Congressman For Hire
Congressman Diaz-Balart is Florida’s top recipient in lifetime contributions from the gun lobby and one of the top recipients in campaign cash from them nationally. Diaz-Balart continued to take their campaign dollars even after the Parkland school shooting left 17 dead in nearby Broward County. His coziness with the gun lobby prompted Fred Guttenberg, the father of a teenager slain in the shooting, to record a video saying that “after my daughter and 16 others died, you had a choice to make. And you chose to take money from the NRA… You chose to take their money… you’re not worthy of service… you need to be fired.” Diaz-Balart has voted in lockstep with the gun lobby and maintains an NRA “A” Rating.
“Shithole” or no “Shithole,” the President’s Yes-Man
Congressman Diaz-Balart was in the meeting where President Trump complained about the presence of immigrants from “shithole” countries. Despite representing a district where more than half of the residents were born outside the United States, Diaz-Balart has refused to acknowledge the President’s disrespect of immigrants and has never had the backbone to stand up to Trump’s bigotry. That devolution for Diaz-Balart, who has long fashioned himself as a leader on immigrants’ issues, tracks across his record. Congressman Diaz-Balart’s vote helped to killed the only bipartisan measure to find a solution on DREAMers, instead standing once again with President Trump and supporting an immigration bill written to appease the furthest right wing in DC.
Leaving Miami’s Health Behind
The Miami area will be hardest hit by the Washington driven repeal of our health care system. Instead of standing tall with his neighboring Republican, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balart voted to roll back access to health care coverage, jeopardize pre-existing conditions protections for over half the people in FL-25, and impose an age tax on older Floridians, allowing the insurance companies that bankroll his campaign to charge them 5 times more than younger Floridians.
And that’s not the only area Diaz-Balart’s willingness to go along with Washington has hurt South Florida families. Congressman Diaz-Balart’s tax bill will hand out over $1 trillion to his corporate donors, while raising health care premiums for Florida families and jacking up their taxes. As if the handout to corporations at the expense of middle class families wasn’t harmful enough on its own, Washington Republicans have already said they’d pay for their $1.9 trillion deficit hole through proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Path To Victory
Mary Barzee Flores’ success in Florida’s Twenty-fifth district runs through Miami-Dade County, which comprises 67.1% of current districtwide registration. Secretary Clinton’s narrow loss in the district provides a guideline for Democrat Mary Barzee Flores. Barzee Flores’s message will be persuasive to Hispanic voters, young voters and women.
Secretary Clinton won a majority of Hispanic/Latinx voters, women, and registered Independents in the district. Top of ticket Democrats will drive turnout and support among key demographics, including younger voters for Barzee Flores.
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