Manny Díaz Jr.

Manny Díaz Jr. (born March 2, 1973) is a Republican member of the Florida Senate, representing the 36th district, which encompasses the Hialeah area in northwest Miami-Dade County, since 2018. Previously, he served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing parts of Broward and Miami-Dade Counties from 2012 until his election to Senate. He serves as the Chairman of the Senate Education committee and Vice- Chair of the Senate Education appropriations committee. Diaz sits in the Education Commission of the states.

This article is about the Florida State Senator. For the former Mayor of Miami, see Manny Diaz (Florida politician).
Manny Díaz Jr.
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 36th district
Assumed office
November 6, 2018
Preceded byRene Garcia
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 103rd district
In office
November 6, 2012 – November 6, 2018
Preceded byBarbara Watson[1]
Succeeded byCindy Polo
Personal details
Born (1973-03-02) March 2, 1973
Hialeah, Florida
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Jennifer "Jenny" Díaz
ChildrenDominic, Madison
Alma materSt. Thomas University (B.A.)
Nova Southeastern University (M.S.)
ProfessionTeacher, school administrator

History

Díaz was born in Hialeah, graduated from Miami Springs High School, and attended St. Thomas University, where he graduated with a degree in human resources in 1994. He then attended Nova Southeastern University, graduating with a Master's degree in educational leadership in 1998. Díaz then began working as a teacher and a coach at Miami Springs High School and Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School, and then became an assistant principal at Hialeah-Miami Lakes. In 2010, Díaz ran for the Miami-Dade County School Board, but lost to Perla Tabares Hantman in the primary, receiving only 39% of the vote to her 61%.[2]

Florida House of Representatives

In 2012, following the reconfiguration of Florida House of Representatives districts, Díaz ran in the newly created 103rd District in the Republican primary against former State Representative Renier Díaz de la Portilla and Alfredo Naredo-Acosta. Despite the nastiness and perceived closeness of the race,[3] Díaz ended up defeating his opponents by a wide margin, winning 55% of the vote to Díaz de la Portilla's 39% and Naredo-Acosta's 6%. He faced only write-in opposition in the general election and won by a wide margin.

While serving in the legislature, Díaz sponsored legislation that would "allow more private online education providers , some from outside Florida," to offer classes to public school students; allow students to take classes in public virtual schools in other counties, and require the Florida Department of Education "to create a catalogue of online offerings."[4]

Also while in the legislature, Diaz took the steps to increase privately operated, tax-payer funded charter schools in Florida, providing more access to students across Florida. The Hialeah Republican works as chief operating officer of the private non-profit Doral College, sits on the Education Committee and the K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee.

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References
  1. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=759902
  2. "August 24, 2010 Primary Election". Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  3. Caputo, Marc (August 13, 2012). "A voter's guide to Miami-Dade's nasty primaries". Miami Herald. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  4. McGrory, Kathleen (May 6, 2013). "State lawmakers increased education budget by $1 billion". Bradenton Herald. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
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