José Javier Rodríguez says he's running for attorney general to become ‘the people's lawyer'
Former Miami Democratic state Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez (via Twitter).
Saying that he wants to make Florida safer and less expensive, former state Sen. José Javier Rodriguez announced Monday that he is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for attorney general in 2026.
'Corrupt deal makers have taken over Florida, and we are paying the price,' says Rodriguez in a video message announcing his candidacy posted early Monday afternoon.
'Our power company is planning the biggest rate hike in U.S. history. Our insurance goes up every year. Powerful interests get away with everything they want, looking out for themselves and making deals at our expense and at our children's expense. And who do we have to stop them? Nobody. Because our attorney general, the guy who should be taking them to court, is too busy enriching himself and only looking out for himself.'
That last reference is to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was selected by Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve out the remainder of Ashley Moody's four-year term in February after he appointed her to the U.S. Senate.
Rodriguez, 46, is a Miami attorney with Cuban roots who graduated from Harvard Law School before getting into electoral politics. He first ran for office in 2012, when he won a House seat representing a portion of Miami-Dade County. In 2016, he left the House and won a seat in the state Senate representing various cities in Miami-Dade (including downtown Miami).
His time in the Legislature ended abruptly in 2020 when he lost his bid for re-election to his Senate seat to Republican Ileana Garcia by just 32 votes out of more than 210,000 cast.
However, it was later exposed in state court that former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles had orchestrated the candidacy of a no-party-affiliated 'ghost candidate' named Alex Rodriguez by offering him $50,000 to enter the contest to take votes away from José Javier Rodriguez.
Alex Rodriguez received 3% of the vote that year. Ultimately, Artiles was sentenced to 60 days in jail for his involvement in that operation.
In 2021 Rodriguez was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as assistant secretary for employment and training in the U.S. Department of Labor. He wasn't confirmed however, until March of 2024, clearing the U.S. Senate on a narrow 50-48 vote.
A strong advocate for combatting climate change during his time in the Senate, in 2019 Rodriguez filed a bill that would have allowed property owners to sell home-generated solar power to other people or tenants living in their homes.
Such legislation if enacted could have become a threat to investor-owned utilities like Florida Power & Light. It was later reported that then-utility CEO Eric Silagy sent an email to lobbyists for the utility after the bill was introduced, writing, 'I want you to be make his life a living hell…seriously.'
Rodriguez referenced that comment in his campaign video on Monday.
'I made my career taking on the corrupt and powerful,' he said.
'When I did, they promised to make my life a living hell. Seriously. So I gave 'em hell right back. Seriously. As an attorney, fighting for janitors, security guards, and cab drivers whose wages were stolen. As a state senator, taking on special interest giants who want more and more of our hard-earned money at every turn. And as an assistant secretary of Labor, proud to fight every day for American workers. And now I'm running to be your attorney general, because Florida needs somebody in its court, and I've never been more ready to take on the corrupt and powerful.'
Rodriguez is the first major Democrat to announce his candidacy for the AG position, which has been held by Republican lawmakers ever since Bob Butterworth left office due to term limits in 2002.
Uthmeier previously served as DeSantis' chief of staff and has already faced several controversies during his short time in office, which could invite a primary challenge from a fellow Republican. A federal judge has said that she may hold him in contempt of court for informing law enforcement officers that they don't need to follow a court order barring enforcement of a newly enacted state immigration law.
Uthmeier has also had his name mentioned in the Hope Florida saga. Specifically, he chaired a political committee called Keep Florida Clean last year that was created to oppose Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational cannabis use for adults.
Keep Florida Clean was the ultimate recipient of millions of dollars of the original $10 million that the Hope Florida Foundation received from a $67 million Medicaid overpayment settlement with the state. Uthmeier has denied any involvement in how that money came to Keep Florida Clean.
Like any Democrat now running statewide in what has become a very red state, Rodriguez will definitely be an underdog should he win the Democratic party's nomination for AG next year. Evan Power, the Republican Party of Florida chair, blasted the South Florida Democrat as being a 'failed politician and liberal ambulance chaser.'
'José Javier Rodriguez has spent his career coddling criminals, chasing ambulances, and auditioning whatever political gig he can land,' Power said in a statement. 'Floridians support fighters who protect communities, not far-left hacks who put criminals first.'
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
20 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
FCC Commissioner Simington Steps Down, Joining Starks
Two members of the Federal Communications Commission announced that they'll leave the agency this week. Democrat Geoffrey Starks, who had previously announced he was stepping down without identifying a departure date, said he will leave on Friday. Republican Nathan Simington will also depart at the end of the week.
The Hill
21 minutes ago
- The Hill
Collins opposed to PEPFAR, global health rescissions proposed by Trump
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Wednesday that she is opposed to a Trump White House proposal that would claw back money Congress has already appropriated for global health programs, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). 'I do not support the rescission for PEPFAR and global health programs,' Collins told reporters as she walked into a meeting in the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. The White House on Tuesday sent lawmakers a request to rescind $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, which were targeted for cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Congress needs to approve the rescissions package to codify the DOGE cuts. The package would cut nearly $9 million from PEPFAR and $400 million from global programs intended to control the spread of HIV/AIDS. Congress has 45 days to act on the package, which will be considered on a procedural fast-track in the Senate, allowing it to pass the upper chamber with a simple majority vote. Collins in a statement Tuesday said the Appropriations Committee 'will carefully review the rescissions package and examine the potential consequences of these rescissions on global health, national security, national security' and other congressional priorities.
Chicago Tribune
21 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
President Donald Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's big bill making its way through Congress will cut taxes by $3.75 trillion but also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO also estimates an increase of 10.9 million people without health insurance under the bill by 2034, including 1.4 million who are in the United States without legal status in state-funded programs. The package would reduce federal outlays, or spending, by nearly $1.3 trillion over that period, the budget office said. What is the CBO? A look at the small office inflaming debate over Trump's tax bill'In the words of Elon Musk, this bill is a 'disgusting abomination,'' said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, reviving the billionaire former Trump aide's criticism of the package. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he called Musk late Tuesday to discuss the criticism but had not heard back. 'I hope he comes around,' Johnson told reporters. The analysis comes at a crucial moment in the legislative process as Trump is pushing Congress to have the final product on his desk to sign into law by the Fourth of July. The work of the CBO, which for decades has served as the official scorekeeper of legislation in Congress, will be weighed by lawmakers and others seeking to understand the budgetary impacts of the sprawling 1,000-page-plus package. Ahead of the CBO's release, the White House and Republican leaders criticized the budget office in a preemptive campaign designed to sow doubt in its findings. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the CBO has been 'historically wrong,' and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the CBO was 'flat wrong' because it underestimated the potential revenue growth from Trump's first round of tax breaks in 2017. The CBO last year said receipts were $1.5 trillion, or 5.6% greater than predicted, in large part because of the 'burst of high inflation' during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. White House Budget Director Russ Vought said when you adjust for 'current policy' — which means not counting some $4.5 trillion in existing tax breaks that are simply being extended for the next decade — the overall package actually doesn't pile onto the deficit. He argued the spending cuts alone in fact help reduce deficits by $1.4 trillion over the decade. Democrats and even some Republicans call that 'current policy' accounting move a gimmick, but it's the approach Senate Republicans intend to use during their consideration of the package to try to show it does not add to the nation's deficits. Vought argued that the CBO is the one using a 'gimmick' by tallying the costs of continuing those tax breaks that would otherwise expire. Leavitt also suggested that the CBO's employees are biased, even though certain budget office workers face strict ethical rules — including restrictions on campaign donations and political activity — to ensure objectivity and impartiality. 'When it comes time to make prognostications on economic growth, they've always been wrong,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said at a press conference. Asked if it's time to get rid of the CBO, Scalise did not dismiss the idea, saying it's valid to raise concerns. Alongside the costs of the bill, the CBO had previously estimated that nearly 4 million fewer people would have food stamps each month due to the legislation's proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. The bill, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act after the president's own catch phrase, is grinding its way through Congress, as the top priority of Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate — and face stiff opposition from Democrats, who call it Trump's 'big, ugly bill.' All told, the package seeks to extend the individual income tax breaks that had been approved in 2017 but that will expire in December if Congress fails to act, while adding new ones, including no taxes on tips. It also includes a massive buildup of $350 billion for border security, deportations and national security. To help cover the lost revenue, Republicans want to slash some federal spending. They propose phasing out green energy tax breaks put in place during Democrat Joe Biden's presidency. New work requirements for some adults up to age 65 on Medicaid and SNAP would begin in December 2026 and are expected to result in less spending on those programs. Republicans argue their proposals are intended to make Medicaid and other programs stronger by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. They want the federal funding to go those who most need health care and other services, often citing women and children. But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said those claims are bogus and are simply part of long-running GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as most states have expanded Medicaid to serve more people under the program. 'They just want to strangle health care,' Schumer said. The package also would provide a $4 trillion increase to the nation's debt limit, which is now $36 trillion, to allow more borrowing. The Treasury Department projects the debt limit will need to be raised this summer to pay the nation's already accrued bills. Now in its 50th year, the CBO was established by law after Congress sought to assert its control, as outlined in the Constitution, over the budget process, in part by setting up the new office as an alternative to the White House's Office of Management and Budget. Staffed by some 275 economists, analysts and other employees, the CBO says it seeks to provide Congress with objective, impartial information about budgetary and economic issues. Its current director, Phillip Swagel, a former Treasury official in Republican President George W. Bush's administration, was reappointed to a four-year term in 2023.
