Carlos Giménez | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Debbie Mucarsel-Powell |
| Constituency | 26th district (2021–2023) 28th district (2023–present) |
| 7thMayor of Miami-Dade County | |
| In office July 1, 2011 – November 17, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Carlos Álvarez |
| Succeeded by | Daniella Levine Cava |
| Member of theMiami-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 ofMiami | |
| 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) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| 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 retiredfirefighter serving as theU.S. representative forFlorida's 28th congressional district since 2023.[3] He was redistricted fromFlorida's 26th congressional district in2022, which he represented since 2021. A Republican, he served asmayor ofMiami-Dade County from 2011 to 2020.[4] He served as aMiami-Dade County Commissioner from 2003 to 2011, and was thefire chief of theMiami Fire-Rescue Department.
Giménez supportedHillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, but in 2020 he ran as a supporter of PresidentDonald Trump and was endorsed by him. He defeated incumbentDebbie Mucarsel-Powell in the election.
Giménez serves as one of the Republican assistant whips underSteve Scalise.[5]
Giménez was born inHavana, Cuba, in 1954 into a prosperous landowner family from theOriente province. His family immigrated to the United States after losing their lands in theCuban Revolution and the subsequentagrarian reforms, settling in what becameMiami'sLittle Havana.[6]
Giménez attendedChristopher Columbus High School near Miami and earned a bachelor's degree in public administration fromBarry University.[7] In 1993, he completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government atHarvard University'sJohn F. Kennedy School of Government.[7]
Giménez joined theMiami 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, theInternational Association of Fire Chiefs, theNational Fire Protection Association, the Florida Fire Chiefs, and the Fire Officers Association of Miami-Dade. He also served on theFederal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue Advisory Committee and as the chair of the Legal Issues Subcommittee.
From May 2000 to January 2003, Giménez served ascity manager of Miamiproper, appointed by then-mayorJoe Carollo to replace incumbent Donald Warshaw.[9] During his tenure, the city government (exiting a fiscal crisis) improved itsbond credit rating fromjunk status to in excess of investment grade.[10]
In 2004, Giménez was elected as aMiami-Dade County Commissioner for the county's 7th district, beating formermayor of MiamiXavier Suarez.[11][12] His district included Miami proper, theVillage of Key Biscayne,Coral Gables,South Miami,Kendall, andPinecrest.[13][14][15]
Giménez was elected mayor of themetropolitan government ofMiami-Dade County, Florida on June 28, 2011, in the2011 Miami-Dade County mayoral special election. Incumbent mayorCarlos Alvarez had been recalled in one of the largestrecall 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 toJulio 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 the2012 Miami-Dade County mayoral election with 54% of the vote against multiple candidates,[19] and in2016 with 56% of the vote against school board member Raquel Regalado.[20]
In 2017, PresidentDonald Trump signed anexecutive 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 byImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). TheMiami 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, theFlorida Third District Court of Appeal dismissed a lawsuit filed in state court challenging the county's detention policy.[26]
In the lead-up to the 2020 election, which took place during theCOVID-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, theMiami Heat sought to makeAmericanAirlines Arena the early voting site for downtown Miami. In the wake of the murder ofGeorge 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 thePhillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, a previous longtime polling location, as Miami's early voting location, citing its proximity to aMetromover 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]
In January 2020, Giménez announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2020 U.S. House election forFlorida's 26th congressional district.[3] He was term-limited from running again as mayor.[29] Four years earlier, in the2016 presidential election, Giménez had endorsedHillary 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 apro-Trump Republican in 2020. He ran on a platform of repealing theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare)[32] and opposing acarbon 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 DemocratDebbie 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]
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 stripMarjorie Taylor Greene of herHouse Education and Labor Committee, andHouse Budget Committee assignments in response to conspiratorial and violent statements she had made.[41]
In March 2021, Giménez voted against theAmerican Rescue Plan Act of 2021.[42]
For the119th Congress:[43]
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]
On Oct. 9, 2016, in a televised debate while running for reelection as County Mayor, Giménez said that he would vote forHillary 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]
AfterJoe Biden won the2020 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 thesecond 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 theJanuary 6 commission meant to investigate thestorming of the U.S. Capitol.[53]
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 rulingObergefell 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 theViolence 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 theRespect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[58]
In March 2021, Giménez was one of only eight Republicans to join the House majority in passing theBipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.[59]
Giménez voted against theHonoring our PACT Act of 2022 which authorized $797 billion in new spending and expandedVA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service.[60]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Carlos A. Giménez (incumbent) | 475,547 | 55.83% | |
| Republican | Raquel Regalado | 376,249 | 44.17% | |
| 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 | ||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Carlos Giménez (incumbent) | 134,457 | 63.69 | ||
| Democratic | Robert Asencio | 76,665 | 36.31 | ||
| Total votes | 211,122 | 100.0 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Carlos Giménez (incumbent) | 210,057 | 64.57 | ||
| Democratic | Phil Ehr | 115,280 | 35.43 | ||
| Total votes | 325,337 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
Giménez is married to Lourdes Portela, with whom he has three children.[63] Giménez isCatholic.[64]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor of Miami-Dade County 2011–2020 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 26th congressional district 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 28th congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 255th | Succeeded by |
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| People | |
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| Other | |
