Jesse Scheckner
Riding a wave of support from fellow first responders and a pair of nods from federal and local officials, firefighter Omar Blanco outpaced two other Republicans in a Primary race Tuesday for the open seat representing House District 115.
He’ll now face Democratic candidate Norma Perez Schwartz in the General Election.
With all precincts reporting, Blanco had 59% of the vote compared to 29% for nonprofit leader Alian Collazo and 12% for ex-foreign affairs officer Moises Benhabib.
All three were competing to succeed Republican Miami state Rep. Alina García, who is leaving after one term to run for Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections.
Blanco will now face education nonprofit executive Norma Perez Schwartz, the lone Democrat running in HD 115, in the Nov. 5 General Election.
All three Republican candidates listed addressing Florida’s soaring property insurance rates, keeping taxes low and improving public safety as their top priorities. All voiced support for Donald Trump.
Blanco, 52, is a long-serving captain with the Miami-Dade Fire Department and a past union President. He mounted an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2020. A year later, he was recognized as the Florida Professional Firefighter of the Year.
The husband of a Miami-Dade Public Schools teacher, Blanco said he would work to further protect parental rights in education, a phrase used as the official title for Florida’s so-called “Parental Rights in Education” bill restricting LGBTQ-inclusive classroom instruction, which critics have called “Don’t Say Gay.”
He also promised to prioritize senior protections in bills he hopes to carry in Tallahassee.
“As a lifelong Republican, (I am) committed to upholding our conservative values and fighting for the principles that make Florida great,” he said in a statement. “Serving on the front lines has instilled in me the values of service, sacrifice, and community. With this passion and commitment, I’m ready to serve as your voice in Tallahassee, fighting tirelessly for the issues that matter most to you and your family.”
On his campaign website, Blanco can be seen in a tryptic of pictures with Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.
Between mid-February and early August, Blanco raised more than $266,000 through his campaign account and political committee, Let’s Get Back to Basics, with ample monetary support from first responders and many firefighter and police unions.
Former state Sen. Anitere Flores gave him $1,000. The International Association of Firefighters gave him $25,000, as did the Coral Gables-based Haggard Law Firm and the political arm of the Florida Justice Association.
Blanco also netted endorsements from U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, the Florida Fraternal Order of Police, South Florida Police Benevolent Association, Metro-Dade Firefighters Local 1403, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 587, Hispanic Police Officers Association and Christian Family Coalition.
Collazo, 29, fled from Cuba with his family when he was 8 and settled in the Tampa Bay Area, where he lived for most of his life. His day job is at Bank of America, where he’s worked for the past seven-plus years as a Relationships Manager, according to his LinkedIn page.
In his free time, he is the founder and Executive Director of the Largo-based Cuban Freedom March nonprofit. For a year and a half, he was the Deputy Director of Grassroots Operations for the LIBRE Initiative, a Latino conservative advocacy nonprofit.
But his entry to Florida politics came through his 10-year friendship with Miami Republican state Sen. Alexis Calatayud, with whom he attended Florida International University in Miami-Dade and served alongside as President of the school’s Student Government Association.
After Calatayud won office in 2022, she hired Collazo as her Chief of Staff. He left that post after 15 months to run for state office in Miami-Dade. He has since switched addresses to a Palmetto Bay residence, where he told the Miami Herald he now lives.
On his campaign website, he vowed to “stand with President Donald J. Trump to defeat the woke socialist agenda.”
The only candidate in the Primary to qualify by petition, Collazo has been a fundraising powerhouse, stacking close to $375,000 between his campaign account and political committee, Protecting the American Dream, through Aug. 2.
Close to a third of the money came from Calatayud’s political committee. He also received $50,000 from Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and a since-returned $55,000 contribution from his mother, elder care business owner Linette Hernandez.
Other elected GOP officials who gave to him included state Sens. Bryan Ávila of Hialeah Gardens, Colleen Burton of Lakeland and Jay Trumbull of Jacksonville, as well as Miami state Rep. Juan Porras.
Collazo headed into August with about $49,000 left in his war chest. Most of his spending went to Coral Gables-based consulting firm Miranda Advocacy for a variety of campaign services, including voter outreach, campaign mailers, advertising, web design, signage and apparel.
He carried endorsements from the Dade County Medical Association PAC, Florida Realtors PAC, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida East Coast chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors and Calatayud.
Benhabib, 33, worked for the better part of a decade at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked as a foreign affairs officer and as a special assistant at the Bureau of Legislative Affairs.
Before that, he interned with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
He’s now in the private sector, working as Senior Director for military contractor Juvare Federal and Defense and as the owner of a real estate company with properties in the Miami and Washington, D.C., areas.
He said he views himself as a moderate.
“I’ve had a mixed raising, politically,” he told Florida Politics. “On some positions, I’m super conservative. On others, I’m middle-of the road, just like anyone else here in Miami.”
Benhabib said he wanted to reduce traffic congestion in his home county and help businesses thrive in an increasingly diverse economy. He hoped to revive a statewide film and television production incentives program that lawmakers allowed to die due to defunding almost a decade ago. He also said he’d like to revamp SelectFlorida, the state’s official international commerce organization, to better attract outside investments.
Between when he filed in late March and the end of last month, he raised about $68,000 of which 85% was self-given. He had about $8,000 remaining heading into August after heavy spending on voter outreach, campaign ads and signage.
He was graceful in defeat and stressed that in-party cooperation was crucial ahead of the General Election.
“Now is the time that we must nite behind our nominee and ensure we keep the district in Republican hands come November,” Benhabib told Florida Politics by text Tuesday night.
The HD 115 Primary race had some inter-candidate ugliness. Both Benhabib and Blanco openly questioned Collazo’s local bona fides. Blanco also threatened to sue Collazo last month over misleading mailers that said the firefighter endorsed Democrat Andrew Gillum over DeSantis in the 2018 race for Governor.
HD 115 covers a portion of south Miami-Dade County that includes Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest and the unincorporated neighborhoods of The Falls, Kendall and Westchester.
The Primary is on Aug. 20, followed by the General Election on Nov. 5.
