Elián González Brotons is a Cuban industrial engineer and politician who,as a young child,became embroiled in an international custody and immigration controversy in 2000 involving the governments of Cuba and the United States,his father Juan Miguel González Quintana,his other relatives in Cuba and in Miami,and Miami's Cuban community.
Alexander Penelas is an American attorney who is the former mayor of Miami-Dade County,Florida.
Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart is a Cuban-American attorney and politician. He was the U.S. representative for Florida's 21st congressional district from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. He retired from Congress in 2011 and his younger brother,Mario Díaz-Balart,who had previously represented Florida's 25th congressional district,succeeded him. He is currently chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. After leaving Congress,he started a law practice and a consulting firm,both based in Miami,Florida.
Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart Caballero is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district. A Republican,he was elected in 2002,and his district includes much of southwestern Miami-Dade County,including Hialeah,and much of the northern portion of the Everglades.
Joe Carollo is a Cuban-American politician who served as mayor of Miami from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2001. Following his loss in the 2001 mayoral election,he served as Doral,Florida city manager from January 2013 until his firing in April 2014;he was reinstated in June 2017,then immediately resigned. He successfully ran for election to the Miami city commission in 2017.
Raúl L. Martínez is a former mayor of Hialeah,Florida,United States. He is a Democrat and was mayor for 24 years,first elected in 1981 and was the Democratic congressional candidate for Florida's 21st congressional district in 2008.
The Florida Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Florida,headquartered in Tallahassee. Former Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried is the current chair.
The Cuban–American lobby describes those various groups of Cuban exiles in the United States and their descendants who have historically influenced the United States' policy toward Cuba. In general usage,this refers to anti-Castro groups.
The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 7,2000,as part of the nationwide presidential election. Florida,a swing state,had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. The outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting because of the extended process of counting and recounting Florida's presidential ballots. State results tallied on election night gave 246 electoral votes to Republican nominee Texas Governor George W. Bush and 255 to Democratic nominee Vice President Al Gore,with New Mexico (5),Oregon (7),and Florida (25) too close to call that evening. Gore won New Mexico and Oregon over the following few days;but the result in Florida was to be decisive,regardless of how those two states had voted.
The 2002 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 5,2002 for the post of Governor of Florida. Incumbent Republican governor Jeb Bush defeated Democratic candidate Bill McBride. Bush became the first Republican governor of Florida to win re-election to a second term. This election was the last time until 2022 a Florida gubernatorial candidate won the general election by double digits or that a Republican won Miami-Dade County. This was the first time in Florida's history that a Republican Governor was re-elected.
JoséAntonio Garcia Jr.,known as Joe Garcia,is an American attorney and politician. Garcia represented Florida's 26th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015. A Democrat,Garcia represented most of western Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys in Congress.
Armando Gutierrez is a Cuban-American banker,political consultant,and entrepreneur.
Oscar Jose Corral is a Cuban-American journalist and filmmaker. In 2012,Corral directed and produced a documentary film,Tom Wolfe Gets Back to Blood,which enjoyed a national run on PBS and was screened in more than 40 independent theaters around the country. It is the only film ever made about Tom Wolfe,an iconic author and satirist whose stature in American letters has loomed large for the last half century. The film is about how Wolfe researched his Miami-set novel,Back to Blood,in South Florida.
Alfredo Joaquin González Durán is a Cuban-born lawyer and an advocate for dialogue as a way to bring regime change in Cuba. His views are considered controversial in some parts of the Cuban exile community in Miami.
Johnny Diaz is an American novelist and a journalist for The New York Times. He previously worked for the Sun Sentinel,where he wrote local feature stories about South Florida,and as a media reporter for the business section of The Boston Globe.
Manuel Alberto Diaz II is an American college football coach. He is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Pennsylvania State University,a position he has held since the 2022 season. Diaz served as the head football coach at the University of Miami from 2019 to 2021.
Miguel Díaz de la Portilla is a Cuban-American attorney and politician from Florida. A Republican,he served in the Florida Senate from 2010 to 2016,representing parts of Miami,Coral Gables,and the surrounding area. Prior to that,he was a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission from 1993 to 2000.
Manny Díaz Jr. is an American politician who is currently serving as the 28th Education Commissioner of Florida. Díaz was a member of the Florida Senate from 2018 to 2022,representing the 36th district,which encompasses the Hialeah area in northwest Miami-Dade County. He also served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2018,which encompassed parts of Hialeah and Northwest Miami-Dade County,Florida.
Bryan Avila is an American Republican politician who currently serves as a member of the Florida Senate,representing the 39th District. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives,representing the 111th District,which includes parts of Miami and Hialeah in northeastern Miami-Dade County,since 2014. Avila will be term limited in 2022 and has announced his intention to run for Miami Dade County commission district 6.
William O'Brien was an American police officer who served as the 21st police chief of Miami,Florida,from 1998 until 2000. O'Brien served as a Miami Police Department police officer for more than 25 years,including 18 years as a member of the city's SWAT team and two years as chief. He resigned as chief on April 28,2000,in the aftermath of the Elián González custody battle raid. The resignation has been studied as a case in criminal justice and political ethics. He was highly critical of the Miami mayor's handling of the situation,leading to his forced resignation.
