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Age
44
Education
Bachelor of Science in Public Relations
Hometown
Sahuarita, AZ
County
Pima
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/voteluisforfl/
Campaign Phone
813-444-8634
The top issue I hear from voters at the door is the cost of homeowners insurance. We must make fixing this crisis our top priority. I support ensuring the Florida Catastrophic Fund is used to protect policyholders, not simply bail out insurance companies. We should keep Citizens Property Insurance as a strong public option while increasing competition from financially stable, nationally backed insurers. That will require working with stakeholders and building bipartisan coalitions to deliver real results.
My second priority is public education. We need to strengthen our public schools by fixing the voucher system, paying teachers a fair salary, and supporting teachers' unions. By bringing educators, parents, advocates, and lawmakers together, we can find common-sense solutions that improve student outcomes and invest in Florida's future.
This is where our role as public servants is most important. We should work with community organizations and trusted local nonprofits to help eligible voters obtain the identification and documents they need to register and cast their ballots. At the same time, I will fight for policies that roll back voter suppression laws and protect every eligible American's right to vote. Expanding access to the ballot box requires collaboration between legislators, community leaders, and advocacy organizations. When we work together, we can remove unnecessary barriers and ensure every eligible voter has the opportunity to make their voice heard and help shape the future of our communities.
Our campaign is already doing the groundwork to address one of Florida's biggest challenges: affordable housing. We've been meeting with faith-based organizations that are using the Live Local Act to build truly affordable housing on their own properties. These partnerships show what's possible when communities come together to solve local problems. In the Legislature, I would fight to increase funding for nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and community partners that are creating stable, affordable housing and helping families build a stronger future.
I believe the decision to have an abortion is one that should be made between a woman and her doctor. As a man, I will never fully understand what it is like to face that deeply personal decision. My faith teaches me not to judge those who find themselves in that situation, but instead to respond with compassion, empathy, and understanding. I trust women and their families to make the decisions that are best for their health and their future, free from government interference.
I believe local governments are in the best position to understand the unique needs of their communities. Over the past several years, Florida has seen an increase in state preemption laws that have limited the ability of cities and counties to address local challenges. While the state has an important role in setting broad standards, local leaders should have the flexibility to make decisions on issues like housing, environmental protection, transportation, and workplace standards when those decisions reflect the needs of their residents. I support restoring a stronger balance between state and local government by respecting home rule, encouraging collaboration instead of mandates, and ensuring local communities have a meaningful voice in the policies that affect their daily lives.
I am personally impacted by this issue which is exactly what we need in elected officials. Floridians have overwhelmingly asked for an expansion in healthcare yet legislators would rather play partisan politics with our lives.
Healthcare should not be a privilege reserved for those who can afford it. As federal support declines and more Medicaid costs are shifted to the states, Florida must step up to protect access to quality, affordable healthcare.
That starts with expanding Medicaid, which would bring billions of federal dollars back to Florida while providing coverage to hundreds of thousands of working families. We should also invest in community health centers, strengthen our mental health and substance abuse services, support rural and underserved providers, and make prescription drugs more affordable.
From the conversations I've had while knocking on doors, affordability is the issue voters raise most often. The number one concern is the rising cost of homeowners insurance. While eliminating property taxes may sound appealing because families are looking for relief, it does not solve the underlying affordability crisis. We need to focus on bringing down homeowners insurance premiums by holding insurance companies and other stakeholders accountable, increasing transparency, and putting consumers first. We also have to do a better job of educating voters about what their property taxes fund, including public schools, public safety, infrastructure, and other essential local services. If we fail to address the insurance crisis and explain the value of these investments, families will continue to struggle while insurance company profits take priority over the people they are supposed to serve.
Age
62
Education
BA in Political Science from University of South Florida (1986) and a Master of Public Administration from University of South Florida (1990)
Hometown
Tampa, FL
County
Hillsborough
Instagram
@suarezforflorida
Campaign Phone
813-575-4352
-Reducing prices for gas, groceries and housing. In terms of gas and groceries, we should be more diligent as a state in finding providers that are fixing prices (see the recent news on egg producers) and work to take these producers to court for gouging our consumers. In addition on gas prices, if the Governor had allowed the state to have a 30-day gas holiday and had a set price had set the average Florida price within the order, we could have given consumers immediate relief, made gas providers set a price with a small range so they could not set prices higher without the tax. Action needs to be taken with consumers in mind during these very chaotic times. On housing, please see my answer below.
-Find solutions to lower insurance costs (see my answer below)
If the law that passed the Legislature this year is not thrown out by the courts, then I will work with my colleagues to find the best way to allow voters an access point for the types of situations mentioned above.
While serving on Tampa City Council, I always promoted more housing coupled with additional transportation options. I will propose a revolving loan state fund for cities and counties to create transit-oriented development projects with housing targeted to workers such as teachers, first responders and medical personnel. The fund could partner with non-profits, transit systems and city and county government, to provide awards for transit centers with housing and commercial space. It would create seed money and impetus to invest in housing for workforce housing and help build a more connected community.
I do support access to abortion and would like to see our state have the same level of access prior to the overturning nationally of Roe v. Wade.
We need to corral state intrusion into county and city power. As a Tampa City Council member, we saw numerous times in which the state pre-empted our ability to serve our City. One specific example was the tree ordinance to protect individual property rights AND our community. The ordinance which I, the development community, neighborhood associations and City Councill worked on for 3 plus years and a compromise we crafted. Unfortunately, the Legislature preempted our efforts and it became null and void. Local communities should ALWAYS have the ability to work as we did on Council to solve problems that are unique to our citizen's wants and the need of our city. And it should not be subject to the whims of one the Legislature to dictate policy that does not have a state-wide scope.
I support the state accepting Medicaid funding which has routinely been rejected by the last 2 Governors. The influx of those dollars would help immensely in reducing costs for the most vulnerable citizens. Also, because of the loss of the tax credits through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the State should fill the gap and provide their own tax credit so more Floridians can access the ACA. As one of the leading states for enrollment, we need to be sure to provide the missing subsidy to our citizens in order to make the ACA access more affordable.
We should fund the “My Safe Florida Home” grant program and allow all homeowners to be eligible to receive it. Governor DeSantis suggested putting $450 million into the program but it never passed the Legislature. By providing the grants to harden homes, legislation can be passed to have the ALL homeowners policies an automatic 15% discount on those homes. It will create a system where improving your home can lead directly to reduced pricing. This is already the case with most insurance companies, the only difference its the state requirement during rate filings that companies MUST provide the discount automictically and second that the state would provide the funding to "harden" homes to qualify for the discount.
