Ryan Nicol
As the state legislative qualifying week comes to a close, two Republicans will compete to challenge Democratic Rep. Nick Duran in House District 112.
Bruno Barreiro and Rosy Palomino have both qualified for the contest, according to the Division of Elections website.
They’ll both be playing catch up to Duran, who has raised nearly $85,000 and still has around $55,000 of that on hand in his campaign.
Duran raised most of his money prior to the COVID-19 crisis, which has caused Duran, and other candidates, to largely stay out of the fundraising game. Leadership for Miami-Dade, a political committee chaired by Duran, has another $63,000 on hand.
Barreiro is a former Miami-Dade County Commissioner who left that post to run in 2018 for Florida’s 27th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary to Maria Elvira Salazar, who was defeated in the general by Democratic candidate Donna Shalala.
Palomino is a former Miami City Commission candidate and an ex-vice president of the Golden Pines Neighborhood Association.
She’s faced off against Duran for the HD 112 seat twice before. In 2016, Duran defeated her by a 53%-47% margin. That difference was even greater in 2018, when Duran won 58%-42%.
Still, Palomino is back for a third attempt. She’ll have to get through Barreiro first, however. The GOP primary for the seat will be held Aug. 18.
As of Friday afternoon, no Democratic challengers had emerged for Duran. The state legislative qualifying deadline was Friday at noon, though the Division of Elections’ tracker is not yet official.
Libertarian Party candidate Jorge Suarez also filed to run in the contest. The state has not yet listed him as “qualified” for the race, however.
Duran served as the executive director of the Florida Association of Free and Charitable Clinics prior to joining the Legislature in 2016 and has maintained that position. He is seeking his third term representing HD 112 in the House.
HD 112 covers a portion of the coast in Miami-Dade County, including Key Biscayne and Coral Gables and leans Democratic.
