Anne Geggis
Republican Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin raised $20,000 in November to defend his seat representing House District 119 in Miami-Dade County.
Between his personal campaign and political committee, Fernandez has $224,134 on hand to fend off a challenger, should one emerge.
Fernandez-Barquin received $5,000 from the national chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers union, his biggest donation from a single entity. Taken with a $1,500 donation from the national chapter of the Service Employee International Union and $1,000 from Metro-Dade Firefighters Local 1403, unions gave him the most of any individual sector last month. Law firms were close behind, with five firms from Jacksonville to Coral Gables contributing $6,000 in November to Fernandez-Barquin, who is a lawyer.
The balance of Fernandez-Barquin’s donations come from a hodgepodge of interests. The Tallahassee-based political committee Florida Operators Association gave $1,500. Fernandez-Barquin collected $1,000 checks from the GEO Group in Boca Raton, a private prison operator; AVMED, a health insurance company in Gainesville; T-Mobile, a telecom group in Bellevue, Washington; and Microsoft.
Fernandez-Barquin showed no campaign spending in November.
He received some notice last Legislative Session for sponsoring the anti-riot bill that became a law. It enhances legal penalties against rioters, vandals and looters and was promoted as a means to combat public disorder. Some, however, saw it as targeting certain minorities exercising their free speech rights.
Barquin-Fernandez has served on the House Judiciary Committee and the subcommittees for Criminal Justice; Business & Professions; and Children, Families & Seniors.
HD 119 currently covers a large swath of unincorporated West Miami-Dade County, including parts of the Kendall West, Hammocks, Kendale Lakes, Tamiami, and the Crossings neighborhoods.
The district’s makeup could change, however, after the Legislature approves redistricting to reflect the 2020 Census.
Fernandez-Barquin, a Miami-Dade native, won his House seat in 2018 with more than 53% of the vote. He earned re-election two years later, with more than 65% of the vote.
Candidates faced a Dec. 10 deadline to report all campaign finance activity up to Nov. 30.
