Sending a “Trump Republican” to Tallahassee? In this Miami climate?

There’s political loyalty, and then there’s political self-harm.
Ashley Perez-Biliskov — sister of Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez and the early favorite to inherit his District 116 seat when he terms out next year — recently sent out a mailer that manages to be both bold and oddly out of touch. Front and center: a smiling photo of her, a shot of Donald Trump, and the line, “Help send a Trump Republican to Tallahassee.”
This isn’t even a general election mailer. It’s a petition drive — the political equivalent of a handshake and a clipboard — meant to get Perez-Biliskov on the ballot.
Which raises a fair question: has anyone in this operation been watching Miami politics lately?
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Because last month was not exactly a victory lap for “Trump Republicans” in South Florida. Voters just rejected them — loudly, repeatedly, and in races that were supposed to be safe. Most notably, Emilio González, twice endorsed by Trump, lost the Miami mayor’s race anyway — to the first Democrat to win that seat in almost 30 years. That defeat followed a string of local state and national losses and underperformances by candidates who thought a Trump hug was still a golden ticket.
Spoiler alert: It’s not.
Apparently, that memo didn’t reach Kendall.
Perez-Biliskov’s candidacy is already unusual. Not illegal. Not unprecedented. But interesting. She’s the sister of the sitting House Speaker, running to replace him in a district shaped by his fundraising power and political machinery. Voters may or may not mind the family succession, though they have lately been rejecting dynasties. But they’re definitely going to notice it.
So, why lean into a national brand that’s been actively repelling swing voters, young voters, and college-adjacent voters — all groups that live inside HD 116?
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This is a district with FIU, Miami Dade College, Dolphin Mall foot traffic, and a large population of voters who may be conservative-leaning but are not necessarily MAGA-branded. It’s a district that has voted Republican, yes — but also one that exists in a county where Trump-heavy messaging keeps producing diminishing returns.
And yet here comes the mailer, screaming Trump Republican, as if November didn’t just happen.
Perez-Biliskov, who has already been endorsed by Sen. Rick Scott, frames herself as an “America First” conservative, a healthcare professional (speech pathologist), a mother of two young girls, and a first-generation Cuban American. All of that is standard Republican primary language in Miami. None of it requires plastering Trump’s image on your first voter contact — unless the strategy is to turn a local legislative race into a loyalty test to a president whose brand is increasingly radioactive in Miami-Dade.
This isn’t about ideology. It’s about math.
Even within Republican circles, there’s a quiet acknowledgment that Trump endorsements don’t travel the way they used to in South Florida — especially with educated suburban voters and students who don’t live on political Twitter. Slapping Trump’s face on a petition mailer isn’t persuasion. It’s signaling. And the signal seems aimed at a shrinking slice of the electorate.
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Meanwhile, her brother has thrived by being strategic, disciplined, and laser-focused on power, fundraising, and relationships. Danny Perez may have flown on a private jet to the inauguration early this year and posted selfies with the new president, but he doesn’t need Trump’s photo on a flyer to dominate Tallahassee. So why does she?
Maybe this is about the primary, even though she doesn’t have one yet and may not have one ever. Perez-Biliskov is the heir apparent and has raised more than $155,000 so far this year, according to the Florida Division of Elections financial reporting, mostly in the first quarter after she officially filed.
Maybe it’s about pleasing a base. Or maybe it’s just muscle memory — the reflexive belief that Trump branding still scares Democrats and electrifies Republicans everywhere.
But calling yourself a “Trump Republican” in 2026, in a district packed with college campuses and recent reminders of MAGA losses, feels less like confidence and more like denial.
In politics, timing is everything. And this mailer feels like it’s running in the wrong year.

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