Carlos Lopez-Cantera

Carlos Lopez-Cantera (born December 29, 1973) is an American politician who served as the 19th lieutenant governor of Florida from 2014 to 2019.

Carlos Lopez-Cantera
19th Lieutenant Governor of Florida
In office
February 3, 2014 – January 7, 2019
GovernorRick Scott
Preceded byJennifer Carroll
Succeeded byJeanette Nuñez
Property Appraiser of Miami-Dade County
In office
January 1, 2013[1] – February 3, 2014
Preceded byPedro Garcia
Succeeded byPedro Garcia
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 113th district
In office
November 2, 2004[2] – November 7, 2012[3]
Preceded byManuel Prieguez
Succeeded byDavid Richardson
Personal details
Born (1973-12-29) December 29, 1973
Madrid, Spain
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Renee
​
(m. 2005)​
Children2
EducationMiami Dade College (AA)
University of Miami (BBA)

A member of the Republican Party, Lopez-Cantera represented the 113th district in the Florida House of Representatives from 2004 to 2012; he served as Majority Leader[4] during the final two years of his term. Lopez-Cantera was elected property appraiser of Miami-Dade County on August 14, 2012.[5] On January 14, 2014, Gov. Rick Scott appointed Lopez-Cantera to the post of Lieutenant Governor of Florida. He served out the remainder of the unexpired term of Jennifer Carroll and was elected to a full term in November 2014.

Early life and education

Lopez-Cantera was born in Madrid, Spain, the son of Cuban Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Esther "Shelly" Smith Fano.[6][7] His father is Catholic and his mother is Jewish.[8] He was born two months prematurely and returned with his parents to reside in Miami, Florida, once he was healthy enough to travel. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Miami-Dade Community College in 1994 and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a minor in political science from the University of Miami in 1996.[9]

Political career
Lopez-Cantera being sworn in as a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 2004
Lopez-Cantera and Marco Rubio in 2007
Lopez-Cantera with Fred Thompson in 2007
Lopez-Cantera in 2011

In 1997, Lopez-Cantera was a facilitator for the Florida Senate's criminal justice committee.[10] In 2002, he made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Two years later, Lopez-Cantera won his first election to the Florida House of Representatives to the 113th District in November 2004, and was successively reelected in 2006, 2008 and in 2010 when he defeated US Navy veteran and rising democratic party star Alex Cruzet. He was House majority whip from 2008 to 2010 and the House Majority Leader from 2010 to 2012.[11]

Lopez-Cantera was twice elected by his colleagues from Miami-Dade County to be the chairman of the Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation from 2011-2012. On August 14, 2012, he became the second property appraiser to be elected by the citizens of Miami-Dade, a county with a population of more than 2.5 million people and almost 1,000,000 properties.

Governor Rick Scott announced Lopez-Cantera's appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Florida on January 14, 2014.[8] Lopez-Cantera was appointed to serve the remainder of the unexpired term of Lieutenant Gov. Jennifer Carroll,[12] who had resigned the post on March 12, 2013.[13][14] In November 2014, as Scott's running mate, Lopez-Cantera was elected to a full term as lieutenant governor.[15] He served in that role until 2019.[16]

On July 15, 2015, Lopez-Cantera announced his 2016 candidacy for United States Senate to replace retiring Senator Marco Rubio, who was running for president of the United States.[17] However, Lopez-Cantera withdrew from the race following Rubio's June 22, 2016 announcement that he would seek reelection to the Senate.[18]

Personal life

Lopez-Cantara's mother is Jewish while his father is Catholic. Lopez-Cantara — whose wife (since 2005), Renee, is also Jewish, as are his two daughters — celebrated his bar mitzvah in 2016 at the Western Wall.[19][20]

Electoral history
Florida State House of Representatives District 117 Republican Primary Election, 2002
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Julio Robaina 6,375 53.08
Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera 5,634 46.92
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Republican Primary Election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera 7,307 84.5
Republican Eileen Damaso 1,345 15.5
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera 24,358 100.0
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera (inc.) 13,076 100.0
Write-in Nicole Abrante 2 0.0
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera (inc.) 20,726 58.2
Democratic Javier Betancourt 14,868 41.8
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2010
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera (inc.) 14,284 62.9
Democratic Alex Cruzet 7,905 34.8
Independent Waldo Faura 517 2.3

See also

References
  1. "Our Campaigns - Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser Race - Aug 14, 2012". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  2. "Our Campaigns - FL State House 113 Race - Nov 02, 2004". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  3. "Our Campaigns - FL State House 113 Race - Nov 02, 2010". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  4. "Florida House of Representatives - Carlos Lopez-Cantera - 2016 - 2018 ( Speaker Corcoran )". www.myfloridahouse.gov. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  5. Campbell, Janie (August 15, 2012). "Election Results, Miami-Dade 2012 Primary: Winners, Losers, And A Power Broker On A Boat". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  6. "Carlos Lopez-Cantera highlights his family's Cuba history in first campaign video - Florida Politics". floridapolitics.com. March 2, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  7. Office, Governor Rick Scott's. "Carlos Lopez-Cantera Inaugurated As Florida's 19th Lieutenant Governor". Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  8. Steve Bousquet; Marc Caputo (January 14, 2014). "Gov. Rick Scott announces Carlos Lopez-Cantera as new lt. governor". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  9. "Meet Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera". Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  10. "Content no longer available". nl.newsbank.com.
  11. "Florida House of Representatives - Carlos Lopez-Cantera - 2016 - 2018 ( Speaker Corcoran )". www.myfloridahouse.gov. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  12. "Fla. lieutenant governor to be sworn in". WESH. February 3, 2014.
  13. Tia Mitchell, Mary Ellen Klas (March 13, 2013). "Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigns amid state, federal probe of non-profit veterans group". miamiherald.com.
  14. Rachel Weiner (March 13, 2013). "Florida Lt. Gov. resigns amid racketeering probe". washingtonpost.com.
  15. "2014 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Florida".
  16. Kirkl, Jordan (June 9, 2020). "Former Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera backs Tom Fabricio for HD 103". The Capitolist.
  17. "Carlos Lopez-Cantera says he's running for Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat in Florida". The Miami Herald. July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  18. DeBonis, Mike; O'Keefe, Ed; Sullivan, Sean (June 22, 2016). "Marco Rubio will seek Senate reelection, reversing pledge not to run". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  19. Mazzei, Patricia (July 15, 2015). "Running on Florida's record, Carlos Lopez-Cantera launches campaign for Marco Rubio's Senate seat". Miami Herald. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  20. "Meet Carlos Lopez-Cantera: Florida's first Jewish governor (for five days)". JNS.org. November 19, 2018.
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