Carlos Giménez
Official portrait, 2023
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2021
Preceded by Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
Constituency 26th district (2021–2023)
28th district (2023–present)
7th Mayor of Miami-Dade County
In office
July 1, 2011 – November 17, 2020
Preceded by Carlos Álvarez
Succeeded by Daniella Levine Cava
Member of the Miami-Dade County Commission
from the 7th district
In office
January 3, 2005 – April 12, 2011
Preceded by Jimmy Morales
Succeeded by Xavier Suarez
City Manager of Miami
In office
May 9, 2000 – January 29, 2003
Appointed by Joe Carollo
Preceded by Donald Warshaw
Succeeded by Joe Arriola
Personal details
Born Carlos Antonio Giménez
(1954-01-17) January 17, 1954 (age 72)
Havana, Cuba
Party Republican
Spouse
Lourdes Portela
​
(m. 1975)​
Children 3
Education Barry University (BA)
Signature
Website House website
Campaign website

Carlos Antonio Giménez (/hiˈmɛnɛz/ hee-MEH-nez; born January 17, 1954)[1][2] is an American politician and retired firefighter serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 28th congressional district since 2023.[3] He was redistricted from Florida's 26th congressional district in 2022, which he represented since 2021. A Republican, he served as mayor of Miami-Dade County from 2011 to 2020.[4] He served as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner from 2003 to 2011, and was the fire chief of the Miami Fire-Rescue Department.

Giménez supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, but in 2020 he ran as a supporter of President Donald Trump and was endorsed by him. He defeated incumbent Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in the election.

Giménez serves as one of the Republican assistant whips under Steve Scalise.[5]

Early life and education

Giménez was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1954 into a prosperous landowner family from the Oriente province. His family immigrated to the United States after losing their lands in the Cuban Revolution and the subsequent agrarian reforms, settling in what became Miami's Little Havana.[6]

Giménez attended Christopher Columbus High School near Miami and earned a bachelor's degree in public administration from Barry University.[7] In 1993, he completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.[7]

Miami Fire-Rescue Department

Giménez joined the Miami Fire-Rescue Department as a firefighter in 1975.[8] He was appointed fire chief in 1991, becoming the first Cuban-American to hold the position, and served until 2000.[7]

Giménez is a former member of the International City Managers Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Fire Protection Association, the Florida Fire Chiefs, and the Fire Officers Association of Miami-Dade. He also served on the Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue Advisory Committee and as the chair of the Legal Issues Subcommittee.

Miami City manager (2000–2003)

From May 2000 to January 2003, Giménez served as city manager of Miami proper, appointed by then-mayor Joe Carollo to replace incumbent Donald Warshaw.[9] During his tenure, the city government (exiting a fiscal crisis) improved its bond credit rating from junk status to in excess of investment grade.[10]

Miami-Dade county commissioner (2005–2011)

Giménez during his tenure as county commissioner

In 2004, Giménez was elected as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner for the county's 7th district, beating former mayor of Miami Xavier Suarez.[11][12] His district included Miami proper, the Village of Key Biscayne, Coral Gables, South Miami, Kendall, and Pinecrest.[13][14][15]

County mayoralty (2011–2020)

Mayor Carlos Giménez meets with Mark Andrew Green, USAID Administrator

Giménez was elected mayor of the metropolitan government of Miami-Dade County, Florida on June 28, 2011, in the 2011 Miami-Dade County mayoral special election. Incumbent mayor Carlos Alvarez had been recalled in one of the largest recall elections of a municipal official in U.S. history.[16] No candidate got over 50% of the popular vote in the first round, so a runoff election was held. Giménez won the runoff with 51% of the vote to Julio Robaina's 49%.[17]

During his 2011 campaign, Giménez promised that if elected, he would cut his own salary. After he was elected, he kept this promise, cutting his own salary and benefits by 50%.[18]

Giménez was reelected in the 2012 Miami-Dade County mayoral election with 54% of the vote against multiple candidates,[19] and in 2016 with 56% of the vote against school board member Raquel Regalado.[20]

Cooperation with ICE

In 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting "sanctuary" jurisdictions that limited or refused to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, ordering a review of their access to federal funding.[21] Miami-Dade received a letter from the administration that the county had been flagged as a sanctuary jurisdiction. Giménez then ordered the director of his corrections department to begin honoring all requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Miami Dade County Board of Commissioners formally codified his order by a 9 to 3 vote.[22][23] The Department of Justice later confirmed the county was no longer flagged as a sanctuary jurisdiction.[24][25] In December 2018, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal dismissed a lawsuit filed in state court challenging the county's detention policy.[26]

Election administration

In the lead-up to the 2020 election, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, Giménez limited the number of ballot drop locations.[27] His office sent mail-in ballots to voters later than required by state law.[27]

Before the 2020 election, the Miami Heat sought to make AmericanAirlines Arena the early voting site for downtown Miami. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the NBA had sought to "channel demands for social justice into a voting drive by turning arenas into polling places." The city was close to signing an agreement with the Heat that included a ban on political advertising in the arena while voting was underway. Giménez intervened and the city ultimately selected the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, a previous longtime polling location, as Miami's early voting location, citing its proximity to a Metromover station as well as access to ground-level parking. The Frost Museum site was smaller than the arena and elections staff had not mentioned it on a draft list of 33 early voting sites that the staff worked on to prepare safe voting during a pandemic.[28]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida § District 26

In January 2020, Giménez announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2020 U.S. House election for Florida's 26th congressional district.[3] He was term-limited from running again as mayor.[29] Four years earlier, in the 2016 presidential election, Giménez had endorsed Hillary Clinton.[30] In 2020, he said that he had "made a mistake" in supporting Clinton.[31] Having previously distanced himself from Trump, Giménez ran as a pro-Trump Republican in 2020. He ran on a platform of repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)[32] and opposing a carbon tax.[32] Trump endorsed Giménez in January 2020.[33] On August 18, 2020, Giménez won the Republican primary election, defeating Omar Blanco with 59.9% of the vote.[34][35] In the general election, he defeated incumbent Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.[29][36] He was likely aided by Trump's strong showing in Miami-Dade County: he carried the 26th district with 53% of the vote after losing it by 16 percentage points four years earlier.[citation needed]

Tenure

In late 2020, Giménez was a member of Freedom Force, a group of incoming Republican House members who "say they're fighting against socialism in America".[37][38][39][40] On February 4, 2021, he joined 10 other House Republicans voting with all voting Democrats to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her House Education and Labor Committee, and House Budget Committee assignments in response to conspiratorial and violent statements she had made.[41]

In March 2021, Giménez voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.[42]

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:[43]

  • Committee on Armed Services
    • Subcommittee on Readiness
    • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
  • Committee on Homeland Security
    • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection
    • Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security (Chairman)
  • Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party

Caucus memberships

  • Climate Solutions Caucus[44]
  • Republican Main Street Partnership[45]
  • Republican Governance Group[46]

Political positions

Epstein files

During the congressional debate over the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Representative Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL) gave mixed public signals about the release of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Earlier in 2025, Giménez downplayed the issue, telling CNN that “Americans are over the Epstein case” and stating that he had not heard concerns from constituents about the files, remarks that were cited by local media as evidence of his reluctance to prioritize the legislation.[47]

Giménez later voted in favor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act when it reached the House floor on November 18, 2025. Reporting noted that the vote occurred after President Donald Trump publicly indicated support for allowing the legislation to advance, at which point most House Republicans, including Giménez, backed the measure.[48]

2016 vote for Hillary Clinton

On Oct. 9, 2016, in a televised debate while running for reelection as County Mayor, Giménez said that he would vote for Hillary Clinton and called on Donald Trump to step down as his party’s nominee. Giménez said on CBS4, “Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I’m not voting for Donald Trump. Obviously, I must be voting for Hillary Clinton.” He continued, “Donald Trump needs to step down. I don’t think he is viable as a presidential candidate.”[49]

2020 presidential election

After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Trump refused to concede while making false claims of fraud, Giménez defended Trump and said he should not concede.[50] He later voted against certification of Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes.[citation needed] Giménez voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13, 2021.[51]

On May 19, 2021, Giménez was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting[52] to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.[53]

LGBT rights

In 2021, Giménez was among the House Republicans to sponsor the Fairness for All Act, the Republican-proposed alternative to the Equality Act.[54] The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and protect the free exercise of religion. While he was Miami-Dade mayor, Giménez announced his support for the Supreme Court ruling Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violate the Constitution.[55]

In 2021, Giménez was one of 29 Republicans to vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.[56] This bill expanded legal protections for transgender people, and contained provisions allowing transgender women to use women's shelters and serve time in prisons matching their gender identity.[57]

On July 19, 2022, Giménez and 46 other Republican representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[58]

Gun rights

In March 2021, Giménez was one of only eight Republicans to join the House majority in passing the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.[59]

Veterans

Giménez voted against the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 which authorized $797 billion in new spending and expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service.[60]

Electoral history

Miami-Dade County mayoral election, 2016[61]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos A. Giménez (incumbent) 475,547 55.83%
Republican Raquel Regalado 376,249 44.17%
Florida's 26th congressional district election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos A. Giménez 177,211 51.7
Democratic Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (incumbent) 165,377 48.3
Total votes 342,588 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic
Florida's 28th congressional district election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Giménez (incumbent) 134,457 63.69
Democratic Robert Asencio 76,665 36.31
Total votes 211,122 100.0
Republican hold
Florida's 28th congressional district election, 2024[62]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carlos Giménez (incumbent) 210,057 64.57
Democratic Phil Ehr 115,280 35.43
Total votes 325,337 100.00
Republican hold

Personal life

Giménez is married to Lourdes Portela, with whom he has three children.[63] Giménez is Catholic.[64]

See also

  • List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
  • Hispanic and Latino conservatism in the United States

References

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  2. ^ "Carlos A. Giménez". Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Batchelor, Amanda (January 23, 2020). "Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez announces run for Congress". Local 10 Miami. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  4. ^ "Gimenez elected Miami-Dade mayor". The Miami Herald. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  5. ^ Nicol, Ryan (January 20, 2021). "Carlos Giménez secures spot on House GOP whip team". Florida Politics. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  6. ^ Hiaasen, Scott (May 9, 2011). "Gimenez seeks top Miami-Dade county job". The Miami Herald. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c "Alumni Relations : Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida". www.barry.edu. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  8. ^ Marquis Who's Who Biographies, OCLC 464397729
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  54. ^ "Fairness for All Act (H.R. 1440)". GovTrack.us.
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  59. ^ Juliegrace Brufke (March 11, 2021). "The eight Republicans who voted to tighten background checks on guns". The Hill.
  60. ^ Derby, Kevin (June 9, 2022). "Marco Rubio, Brian Mast Help Shape Burn Pit Legislation". Florida Daily. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
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  63. ^ "Carlos A. Gimenez - Mayor". Miami Dade County. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  64. ^ "Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress" (PDF). PEW Research Center. December 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2023.