Ryan Nicol
Outgoing GOP U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo says he may run for Mayor of Miami-Dade County in 2020 after his ousting from Florida’s 26th Congressional District earlier this month.
“I have a passion for public service and I’m not discarding any possibility right now,” Curbelo said, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
“I have always thought about the idea of serving another two years here and then serving as county mayor. This work is certainly not easy on the family.”
Current Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez is barred from running again due to term limits. That would leave the 2020 race wide open, and could be a prime opportunity for a former congressman.
According to the Herald, Curbelo did say he hasn’t yet made a firm decision on whether to run.
The Republican Congressman was narrowly defeated by Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, ending his four-year stretch of representing CD 26.
Until Curbelo decides whether to throw his hat into the ring for the Mayor’s race, he told the Herald he will look to “find a way to keep my voice on the big issues I care about.”
Curbelo named the environment, immigration and the national debt as some of those priorities.
Several of the county’s commissioners have also looked at a 2020 run for the role, along with outgoing Republican Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and former 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell.
The race is nonpartisan. If no one receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters later face off.
