But Democrats over perform in Trump district

Personal injury attorney and first time candidate Mike Redondo beat perennial candidate and longtime activist Johnny Farias in the special election for Florida House 118 Tuesday, with a squeaky 52% of the vote to keep the seat red. Republican Juan Fernandez-Barquin held the seat until the governor named him Miami-Dade Clerk and Comptroller in June.

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the library, there is a special election that ends Tuesday for the Florida House 118 seat to replace Juan Fernandez-Barquin, who was named Miami-Dade Clerk and Comptroller by the governor in June.

The candidates are Democrat Johnny Farias, an electrical contractor and former community councilman in his third attempt at elected office, and Republican Mike Redondo, a personal injury attorney on his first run.

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Two of the three candidates in the special election for Florida House seat 118 to replace State Rep. Juan Alfonso Fernandez-Barquin — appointed Miami-Dade Clerk and Comptroller by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June — will meet and greet Kendall voters Thursday night. But the Republican is sitting it out.

Mike Redondo, the frontrunner and best funded candidate — $226,000 as of the last campaign finance report, with more than $62,000 from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee — probably thinks he has nothing to lose by skipping the meet and greet sponsored by the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Association.

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There will be no primary as three candidates — a Republican, a Democrat and an independent — qualified to run in the special election for House seat 118, vacated when Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Juan Fernandez-Barquin as Miami-Dade clerk and comptroller.

First time candidate Mike Redondo, a Republican personal injury attorney, and perennial candidate Johnny Farias, a Democrat electrician and former community councilman, will duke it out with independent Francisco “Frank” de la Paz. It is somewhat of a swing seat. The predominantly Hispanic district, previously held by Democrat Robert Asencio, is a narrow sliver of Miami-Dade County west of the Florida Turnpike, including Goulds, Kendall, Sunset, and South Miami Heights.

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Gov. Ron Desantis hasn’t yet called for a special election to replace State Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin, who he named Miami-Dade Clerk to replace the late, great Harvey Ruvin. But that doesn’t stop the wannabes from chomping at the bit.

Already two Cuban-American Republicans have said they will run for the seat, which stretches from Tamiami through Kendale Lakes, The Crossings and goes al the way to South Miami Heights: Miami Beach firefighter Christian Chavez and personal injury attorney Mike Redondo, who has come out swinging at the “radical left,” positioning himself as an ultra conservative and sounding like an echo of DeSantis.

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