Debbie Mucarsel-Powell endorses Johnny Farias in HD 118 Special Election

Image via AP.

Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell on Monday endorsed Johnny Farias, the Democrat running for state House District 118.

“As an Ecuadorian immigrant and veteran who has dedicated his career to serving our country, Johnny Farias is the embodiment of the American Dream,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “Floridians can trust that Johnny will put people before politics and fight to protect the opportunities that extremists in Tallahassee are trying to take away. I know Johnny will stand up for working families, including by tackling the insurance crisis hurting Floridians, and I’m proud to stand with his campaign.”

Farias is running to succeed former state Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin, who resigned his seat after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed the Republican as Miami-Dade Clerk. The Special Election is scheduled for Dec. 5. He faces Republican Mike Redondo and no-party-affiliation candidate Frank De La Paz.

Winning the race may be an uphill climb for Farias. He ran for this seat in 2022 when Fernandez-Barquin won more than 68% of the vote. But the Florida Democratic Party has backed Farias in the uncommon off-year legislative contest.

Mucarsel-Powell, the most prominent Democrat challenging U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s re-election, shares an Ecuadoran heritage with Farias and was the first Ecuadoran American elected to Congress.

But her endorsement in the race, like her support of Democrat Tom Keen in a separate Special Election in House District 35, primarily reflects support for Democrats running up and down the ballot and likely for setting up critical field infrastructure for the 2024 Election cycle.

The former Congresswoman’s brand name is likely higher in South Florida than anywhere in the state. That’s where the Miami Democrat unseated Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in a nationally watched 2018 congressional contest. She later lost re-election in the same district to now-U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Miami-Dade Republican, in 2020.