Jose Alvarez claims he’s no longer welcome in Democratic office for supporting GOP bill

The House Democratic caucus is already the smallest in Florida history. Now, one member said he’s not welcome in the House Minority Office after voting for a Republican bill.

Rep. Jose Alvarez surprised many in attendance at a March 6 subcommittee hearing when the Kissimmee Democrat backed petition-gathering restrictions (HB 1205). That included House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, who showed up at the end of the hearing to discuss the lawmaker’s vote. And by Alvarez’s recollection, the tone was combative from the start.

“It was very disrespectful of her to speak to another member of the House that way,” Alvarez said, “for someone who calls herself a leader, to disrespect me in front of that, to tell me I vote whichever way she wants me to vote. I’ve been in public office long enough to know never to tell people to do a vote.”

Driskell recalls the conversation otherwise. She said it surprised her to see a Democratic member support the Republican-sponsored bill, which would impose a $1-million bond before sponsors of a constitutional amendment can pass out petitions, among other things. The bill cleared the House Government Operations Subcommittee on a 14-4 vote. It would have been a party-line vote but for Alvarez casting his lot with the bill’s supporters.

But Driskell said more than a member voting out of line, she was concerned the vote came from nowhere.

“Part of the culture we are trying to develop here is, we understand the party in some ways is a coalition, and we may not vote the same on every bill,” Driskell said. “What I ask is that people let us know.”

It wasn’t just members. Lobbyists working against the bill said Alvarez indicated he would be down on the bill. It wasn’t until Alvarez made remarks as part of debate that he would support the bill advancing from committee.

“If I were to just vote my particular political party beliefs in one point, I would have leaned in a different direction. But then I sat there with a clear and open mind, just as an American citizen that loves this country, that gave me democracy, that gave me an opportunity that I didn’t have,” Alvarez said during debate. “The more I read about this bill, the more I see that really what this bill is doing is protecting the state of Florida.”

It was that speech that prompted Driskell, a Tampa Democrat, to show up in the last minutes of the committee vote. Several at the meeting, including allies of the Leader, said she wanted to speak with Alvarez immediately about the vote.

Driskell doesn’t typically show up at committee hearings to dress down members about their votes. But multiple sources in the room said Driskell questioned Alvarez about why he changed his position without giving any colleagues a heads up.

“Rep. Alvarez didn’t really want to talk,” Driskell said.

Alvarez said he felt no obligation, and nobody had told him the caucus wanted him to vote against the bill, not that such direction would dictate his vote. Driskell confirmed as much, and said leadership at the caucus and committee level were not whipping votes.

One lawmaker present said Driskell “berated” Alvarez. But other witnesses say it was Alvarez who raised his voice, and that Driskell spoke quietly and tried to move the conversation to a break room. Both Driskell and Alvarez said it was the other party who turned the conversation into a confrontation.

Those close to Driskell said she wanted to take the conversation to a breakroom but Alvarez said he had another pressing meeting, so the conversation unfolded in the committee room and spilled into the hallway.

Driskell said Alvarez at one point told the Sergeant-at-Arms present “this woman is trying to block me from getting to a meeting.”

“He knows my name,” Driskell said.

Rep. Fabian Basabe, a Miami Beach Republican, said he witnesses the interaction and felt Driskell was blocking Alvarez’s exit and accosting him in public.

“No leader should engage in bullying, intimidation or exclusion – especially in an institution built on respect and collaboration,” Basabe said. “I am proud to stand with my colleague who had the courage to push back against these tactics. Leadership is about earning trust, not demanding obedience. The Minority Leader’s actions are a disgrace to this chamber and an insult to the principles on which we serve.”

Alvarez acknowledges telling the Sergeant-at-Arms that Driskell was preventing him from leaving, and that until he did so, she was physically blocking his exit from the room. After that, the two left and the argument continued until he reached an elevator.

That was when Driskell told Alvarez he was kicked out of the caucus, by his account.

“She said I would not step foot inside the caucus office again,” Alvarez said. “Fine. I’m not planning to. I am a proud Democrat, and will remain a Democrat, but I don’t want back in that office with the so-called leadership they have. I don’t work that way.”

Driskell, however, said Alvarez hasn’t been booted from the caucus.

“I was told he didn’t want to step foot in the caucus again, but he is not banned,” she said. He remains on email lists and is still listed on the Florida House website as a Democrat.

And Alvarez said he remains more of a Democrat than some colleagues, citing his work as a Housing and Urban Development regional director under President Joe Biden.

“I will continue to run my seat from my office,” Alvarez said. “You come here and try and get work done, and that’s what you concentrate on. This is not my profession. I work for a living. I was more shocked to be listening to this lady more than anything else. I lost all respect for her.”