Ryan Nicol
Democratic candidate Maureen Porras is advancing to the general election and will seek the seat held by GOP Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez.
She’ll be facing Republican candidate David Borrero in that contest.
According to Tuesday’s unofficial results on the Democratic side, Porras defeated Javier Estevez by a 64%-36% margin.
Estevez previously ran for the seat in 2018. That year, he was a political newcomer whose day job involved helping run an American Eagle store on Lincoln Road. He was running for an open seat previously held by Republicans and was outspent by more than 20-to-1 in the General Election.
Estevez came within 417 votes of winning the House District 105 seat.
In 2020, he came back for another try but fell short in the Democratic primary this time around.
Porras was born in Managua, Nicaragua, and moved to the U.S. when she was seven years old. She’s an immigration lawyer who has worked as the Managing Attorney for Church World Service in Miami, a nonprofit aimed at helping immigrants secure legal help.
She entered the race last November with an endorsement from Sen. Oscar Braynon II, whose Senate District 35 partially overlaps with HD 105.
Longer-tenured Democrats have mostly trended toward Porras, signaling she’d be their preferred choice to take on the eventual Republican nominee in November.
After Estevez’s 2018 performance, it was hard to count him out, though. He was once again one of the lesser candidates in terms of fundraising, a fact which could have frustrated Democrats’ hopes come fall. Like 2018, however, the voter split in the district is near even. Democrats have a statistically insignificant edge over Republicans in terms of registration, 28,301 to 28,080.
In the GOP primary, Borrero topped lawyer Bibiana Potestad 41%-38%. Mental health counselor Pedro Barrios is also running, though he was well behind at 21%.
Republicans will field a candidate who can court significant cash. Borrero raised $150,000 in the primary. He will attempt to mirror Rodriguez’s success, as she brought in more than $330,000 in 2018 and came out with the win.
Borrero may be fighting more considerable headwinds this time around, as Democrats hope to ride the presidential election year wave, which is trending toward Democratic nominee Joe Biden at the moment.
Republicans also are hoping to come out on the winning side, a bet they made when they courted Rodriguez to run for an open Senate seat.
Sitting on plenty of money and with only one term under her belt, Rodriguez would’ve been a strong candidate for reelection this cycle. Instead, Senate leadership pushed her to seek the open Senate District 39 seat, making HD 105 wide open and possibly ripe for the taking once again.
The district spans parts of Miami-Dade, Broward and Collier counties.
