Janelle Irwin Taylor
Former Tampa City Council member Mike Suarez has filed to run for House District 64 in Tampa, the seat currently held by Rep. Susan Valdés.
Suarez, a Democrat, is the first candidate to file for the seat. Valdés is not seeking re-election due to term limits.
“Families in Tampa and across Florida know prices are rising — mortgages and rents, groceries and everyday expenses,” Suarez said. “I’m running for the Florida House because we need leaders who understand these challenges and are ready to deliver solutions that actually help people.”
Suarez is a Democrat, while the incumbent is a Republican who up until recently was a Democrat. The district has a voter advantage for Democrats, who hold more than 37% of the electorate. Republican voters, meanwhile, account for nearly 29% of the district’s voters, according to the most recent L2 voter data.
Suarez, a third-generation Tampa native, served on the Tampa City Council from 2011 until 2019. During his tenure, he also served eight years chairing the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART). He also served on boards for Zoo Tampa (then Lowry Park Zoo), the Florida Aquarium, the Tampa Museum of Art and Feeding Tampa Bay.
Additionally, he has worked as a mentor to young residents, offering internships in his office and helping select high school students obtain nominations to the U.S. Naval and Air Force Academies from former U.S. Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.
“District 64 deserves a representative who will put people first, someone to fight every day to make Florida more affordable, safer and freer for our families, friends and neighbors,” Suarez said. “I’ve done it my entire career, and I’ll do it for District 64 in Tallahassee.”
Since his service on the City Council, Suarez has run for a few seats unsuccessfully. He lost in 2023 for a bid to return to the City Council, and in 2019 ran for Mayor, collecting just 5% of the vote in an eight-way race.
As an open race, HD 64 will likely garner a lot of attention. Valdés shocked Democrats in December when she announced she was switching political parties, saying she was being ignored by the party. However, the move came less than a week after Valdés lost a bid to chair the Hillsborough County Democratic Party.
Republicans will no doubt put up their own candidate to replace her and hold onto the newly gained seat, while Democrats will be hungry to reclaim it.
