Doral Vice Mayor leaves Democratic Party, joins GOP

Doral Vice Mayor Maureen Porras is a Democrat no more.

Porras has jumped ship and joined the Republican Party. She’s the third Florida Democrat to do so since the 2024 General Election — after state Reps. Susan Valdés and Hillary Cassel — and the first from Miami-Dade.

The Floridian first reported on Porras’ flip Wednesday. In an interview with the outlet, she cited “socialist ideas” some Democrats have embraced and Donald Trump’s victory as factoring into the move.

Porras said in a prepared statement that over the past two years as a member of the Doral Council, she worked closely with Republicans on either side of the dais and received “strong support from Republican leaders.” That support came despite her party affiliation, she said, and did not come from Democratic leaders in equal measure.

“Most importantly, while working with Republican leaders, I have felt a sense of belonging and have found significant commonalities that have allowed us to work together for the benefit of our communities,” she said.

“Regrettably, the Democratic Party has progressively moved further and further away from representing my values and those of the majority of Americans. They have prioritized the opinions of a few and neglected to understand and address the real issues affecting our communities. We have seen how socialist ideas and beliefs from communist regimes have not just seeped into the Democratic Party but have divided it.”

Porras added that the Democratic Party has misunderstood members of the Latin American community, many of whom fled oppressive socialist regimes for a better life in the U.S. She decried President Joe Biden’s decision Tuesday to remove a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” designation from Cuba, which drew bipartisan condemnation.

“As an immigrant whose family fled the Nicaraguan communist regime and as an immigration attorney representing families fleeing socialism from Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba, I cannot support the action taken by the Biden administration. I cannot continue to represent a party that does not represent me or my values,” she said.

She also praised Trump’s interest in Doral, where he is seeking approval for a 1,500-unit condominium complex around his National Doral Miami golf resort.

“As an elected official and resident, I witnessed his leadership firsthand when he found our City’s issues important enough to intervene on behalf of our residents to keep a garbage incinerator from being rebuilt in our community,” she said. “This was an issue that Democratic leaders failed to support us in. If it weren’t for his intervention, our community’s health and well-being would have suffered.”

It took little time for the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) to celebrate its latest acquisition.

“There is an alarming vacuum of support for individual liberty within the Florida Democratic Party, which is why you are seeing a third elected official change their party affiliation to the Republican Party since November,” RPOF Chair Evan Power said in a prepared statement.

“We welcome Vice Mayor Maureen Porras to the Republican Party of Florida and look forward to working with her and all our Republican elected officials in Miami-Dade to support the principles, policies, and values that help Florida thrive and remain free.”

Kevin Cooper, the recently elected Chair of the Miami-Dade GOP, said Porras expressed what several other elected Democrats in the county have told him in private. They believe the Democratic Party no longer represents their values, he said, pointing to Biden’s permissive policies in Latin America and increased antisemitism following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

“Maureen is the first to say the quiet part out loud,” Cooper told Florida Politics. “The reality is that Democrats are weak because they’re no longer talking about issues people care about. The party she subscribed to at 19 doesn’t exist anymore.”

Porras, 36, works as the Director of Immigration Legal Services for the Doral-based Church World Service. She won Seat 2 on the Doral Council in December 2022, just under two years after mounting an unsuccessful House bid.

Last month, Porras sued Doral over a recent change to her Vice Mayor title — which she received as part of a rotating designation among Council members — that weakened her powers in the role. She claimed the change was politically motivated and stemmed from clashes she’s had with Doral Mayor Christi Fraga, now a fellow Republican.

Porras was born in Nicaragua and immigrated to Miami-Date at 7. She earned her Juris Doctor from Florida Coastal School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida International University. While there, she interned with former U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Porras is married to Caleb Johnston, who in November swore in as a Magistrate for the 17th Judicial Circuit.

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Editor’s note: This report was updated with statements from Porras.