Alex Díaz de la Portilla

Díaz de la Portilla was born and raised in the Little Havana community of Miami.[4] His career in politics began in 1990, when he ran for the Florida House of Representatives. He lost the Republican primary, and lost again to Carlos Manrique when he ran for another House seat in 1992. Two years later, he challenged Manrique, and was successful.

Díaz de la Portilla served in the Florida House from 1994 until 2000, when he was elected to the Florida Senate in a special election.[5] He was reelected to the Senate three times. He served as president pro tempore from 2002 to 2004.

Díaz de la Portilla ran for the Florida House of Representatives in the 112th district in 2012, but lost to Democrat José Javier Rodríguez, 53.7 to 46.3%.[6]

In 2017, Díaz de la Portilla ran in a special election for a Florida Senate seat left vacant when Senator Frank Artiles resigned. He lost the Republican primary to Jose Felix Diaz, who lost to Democrat Annette Taddeo in the general election.

Díaz de la Portilla was a candidate for a May 2018 special election for the Miami-Dade County Commission.[7] No candidate secured more than 50% of the vote and the runoff that followed saw Eileen Higgins become the new County Commissioner of District 5.[8]

In 2019, Diaz de la Portilla was one of seven candidates running to represent Miami’s District 1. The seat was being vacated by Commissioner Wifredo “Willy” Gort, who was term-limited.

On election day, Diaz de la Portilla netted 39 percent of the votes, followed by former Miami Planning and Zoning Board Member Miguel Angel Gabela with 21 percent support. The former state senator won a runoff election with 60% of the votes, beating Miguel Angel Gabela.

Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla serves as the City of Miami Commissioner for District One, representing Flagami, Allapattah, and parts of Little Havana.

In September 2023, Diaz de la Portilla was arrested on charges of money laundering, bribery, criminal conspiracy, and illegal compensation for official acts.[9] He left office on September 15, 2023, after Governor Ron DeSantis suspended him from serving.[10]

Díaz is one of the four children of Cuban exiles Miguel Ángel Díaz Pardo and Fabiola Pura de la Portilla García. His paternal great-grandfather served in the Cuban Senate, while two of his sons served simultaneously in the Cuban House of Representatives. His maternal great-grandfather served as Cuban Minister of Justice.

His brothers have also held elected office:

• Miguel Díaz de la Portilla served as a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission from 1993 to 2000 and succeeded Alex in the Florida Senate, serving from 2010 to 2016.
• Renier Díaz de la Portilla served two stints on the Miami-Dade County School Board (1996–1998 and 2006–2012). He also succeeded Alex in the House of Representatives, serving one term from 2000 to 2002.

• Florida Senate - Alex Díaz de la Portilla