David Rivera

David Rivera
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 25th district
In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Mario Díaz-Balart
Succeeded by	Joe Garcia (Redistricting)
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 112th district
In office November 5, 2002 – November 2, 2010
Preceded by	Mario Díaz-Balart
Succeeded by	Jeanette Núñez
Personal details
Born	David Mauricio Rivera (1965-09-16) September 16, 1965 (age 55) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Florida International University (BA, MPA)
Website	Official website

David Mauricio Rivera (born September 16, 1965) is an American Republican politician from Florida. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for one term, representing parts of South Florida from 2011 to 2013.

Early life, education, and early career[]

Rivera was born in New York City on September 16, 1965 and moved to Florida in 1974. Both his father, a cab driver, and his mother Daisy, a driving instructor, had fled Cuba after the political rise of Fidel Castro.^[1] He graduated from Miami Christian High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Political Science from Florida International University in 1986 and his MPA in 1994.^[2]

After college, Rivera worked as Public Affairs Director for the Washington D.C.-based Valladares Foundation, an international human rights NGO. The organization was founded by U.S. Ambassador Armando Valladares, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Then, he worked for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting managed by auspices of the U.S. State Department. He has also been an adjunct professor in the FIU School of Policy and Management. His articles on U.S.-Cuba relations have been published in The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald.

Florida House of Representatives[]

In 2002, he ran for Florida's 112th state house district. He defeated Ray Gonzalez in the Republican primary, 52–48%.^[3] He won the general election unopposed. He won re-election unopposed in 2004, 2006, and 2008.

In the Florida House, Rivera chaired the rules committee before serving as chairman of the appropriations committee from 2009 to 2010, where he pushed to create new professional schools at FIU and helped the Miami-Dade delegation work within a tight state budget. “We are all geared toward finding cost savings,” he explained to the Herald. Alongside his support for tax-free back-to-school shopping holidays, Rivera sponsored a measure forbidding places of higher education in Florida from sponsoring and paying for research trips to Cuba.^[4] And it was Cuba, perhaps more than any other issue that emerged as Rivera’s main issue concern in Tallahassee: “It’s the most important issue to me,” he said in the winter of 2004. “I think every Cuban American from whatever walk of life has a moral obligation to continue the cause of a free and Democratic Cuba.^[5]

In addition to his legislative office, he has served the Republican Party as State Committeeman for the Republican Party of Florida and as the Executive Director for the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County.^[6][7]

U.S. House of Representatives[]

Elections[]

2010

In January 2009, Rivera filed to run for the state senate seat being vacated by J. Alex Villalobos.^[8] However, when neighboring U.S. Congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart decided not to run for another term in 2010, his brother, U.S. Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, opted to run for a new term in Lincoln's district rather than his current one. This created an opening in the seat and prompted Rivera to announce he would run for Florida's 25th congressional district on February 25, 2010. On August 24, he won the Republican primary with 63% of the vote.^[9] On November 2, Rivera defeated Democratic nominee Joe Garcia 52%–43%.^[10]

2012

Redistricting resulted in Rivera's district being renumbered as the 26th district. It lost its share of Collier County and picked up the Florida Keys, as well as portions of Miami-Dade County. While the old 25th leaned Republican, the new 26th is more of a swing district and is equally split between Democrats and Republicans. In a rematch from 2010, Garcia defeated Rivera 54%–43%.^[11][12]

Committee assignments[]

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
  • Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

Later career[]

In May 2014, Rivera announced he would run for Congress again.^[13] He was defeated in the Republican primary, coming in fourth place with 7.5% of the vote.

In March 2016, David Rivera announced he would run for the open state house district 118, but lost to Democrat Robert Asencio by 53 votes.^[14] In March 2017, Rivera announced he would run for the state house again in 2018, this time in neighboring district 105.^[15]

See also[]

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
• List of federal political scandals in the United States

References[]

External links[]

• David Rivera for State Representative District 118 official campaign site
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission