Jesse Scheckner
Government relations specialist Kevin Marino Cabrera continued racking up big time Republican endorsements Monday, when his campaign announced U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar is backing his bid to take the District 6 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission.
In an accompanying statement, Salazar called Cabrera “a proven leader” who boasts “all the necessary private sector experience to fight” for District 6 residents.
“Kevin is running for all the right reasons: (to) enhance our quality of life, ensure our streets and neighborhoods are safe, and tackle our community’s affordability crisis,” she said. “I am confident he will be an independent voice for the residents of District 6.”
The nod from Salazar, whose seat in Florida’s 27th Congressional District overlaps with parts of Miami-Dade Commission District 6, joins a growing number of endorsements this month from high-profile members of the GOP.
Last week, former President Donald Trump threw his “Complete and Total” support behind Cabrera, who served as Florida State Director for Trump and the Republican National Committee during the 2020 election. Cabrera’s work, which included the creation and guidance of a voter-contact program with more than 200 staffers, helped to deliver the highest level of registered Republicans in Florida history, secured the state for Trump and paved the way for registered Republicans to outnumber Democrats for the first time in Florida history.
Just days later, Florida Chief Operating Officer and Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said he would back Cabrera in the county race to replace Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who is term-limited and must leave office later this year.
Cabrera, who is married to Republican state Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera, has worked for numerous Republican bigwigs, including Trump, former Gov. Jeb Bush, former U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo and Florida Supreme Court Justice John Couriel.
A senior vice president for the global public strategy firm Mercury, Cabrera filed for the Miami-Dade Commission race on April 26. He has previously served as an elected Councilman on a Miami-Dade land-use zoning board.
Cabrera said in a statement that he is “honored” to receive the endorsement from Salazar, whom he called a friend.
“I look forward to campaigning with her across the district and, if elected, working with her in Washington to continue fighting on behalf of all the residents of Miami-Dade,” he said.
District 6 covers a central portion of Miami-Dade, including part or all of the cities of Miami Springs, Virginia Gardens and West Miami; parts of Coral Gables, Hialeah and Miami; and some of the county’s unincorporated area. The district also contains Miami International Airport, one of the county’s top two economic engines, and a Miami golf course that is being redeveloped as a soccer stadium complex for the city’s Major League Soccer team, Inter Miami CF.
Cabrera faces four opponents in the technically nonpartisan Miami-Dade Commission contest: Republican entrepreneur Dariel Fernandez, who owns and operates a software development firm in Coral Gables; Coral Gables City Commissioner Jorge Fors Jr., who launched his campaign this month with an endorsement from Sosa; architect Orlando Lamas, who switched from campaigning for the Florida House to a county bid in March; and Democratic Miami Springs Councilman Victor Vázquez, a lifelong educator and Air Force veteran who filed to run May 10.
