Two more candidates to compete against Manny Diaz in SD 36

Manny Diaz is by all measures the current front-runner to take the Senate District 36 seat. But that’s not stopping others from entering the race.

Two more Democrats have decided to run. David Perez filed paperwork Thursday, while Imtiaz Ahmad Mohammad made his official entry into the race earlier today.

The pair joins Muhammad Amin in the fight for the Democratic nod in SD 36. Only Diaz has filed to run as a Republican.

SD 36 covers portions of Miami-Dade County. The race for the seat will be open as current state Sen. Rene Garcia is term-limited.

Diaz, who currently represents House District 103, remains the overwhelming favorite in the race. He’s received widespread support through a series of endorsements from Miami-Dade County mayors, most recently from the mayor of Miami Springs. Diaz has also pulled in support from the departing Garcia.

On top of that, Diaz has built up a healthy war chest, pulling in more than $500,000 through April.

Amin, meanwhile, has yet to file any fundraising since entering the race early last month. Neither of the newly-filed candidates has offered any fundraising information as yet.

It remains to be seen whether any big-name Republicans will step in to challenge Diaz, or whether any of the Democrats currently running can compete with him in the general election.

There are currently three candidates running for Diaz’s HD 103 seat: Frank Mingo, Cindy Polo, and the newest entrant, Rick Tapia.

Primary voters will head to the polls Aug. 28. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 6.